Tuesday, October 05, 2010, 08:20 pm

Apple's iPad coming to all U.S. Mercedes-Benz dealerships

By Josh Ong

After a successful iPad pilot program with an initial 40 dealerships this summer, Mercedes-Benz is expanding its iPad program to all 355 U.S. dealerships this fall.

Mercedes-Benz Financial announced the news on Tuesday, Macworld reports. Dealerships should receive the iPad 3G by the end of October.

The "overwhelmingly positive" results from the test program were surprising, said vice president of marketing Andreas Hinrichs. "The feedback was so positive we said, we need to push this out to all the dealers and take the financing process to a new level."

This summer's iPad pilot program was revealed in May. Using the company's custom MB Advantage app, dealers were able to file lease returns directly on the iPad instead of having to write notes and then input them into a computer at their desk later.

Dealers kept customers on the showroom floor to close deals by using the iPad to apply for loans and fill out paperwork. Although the test program did not provide conclusive evidence that buyers are more willing to purchase a vehicle if they stay in the showroom, officials "seemed encouraged by the results," the report noted.