Zoho

Mercedes-Benz India and Zoho Unveil ‘SKYLine’: A Locally Developed Dealer Management System Redefining Customer Experience

October 28, 2025 — Mercedes-Benz India, in collaboration with Zoho, has launched ‘SKYLine’, a fully customized, decentralized Dealer Management System (DMS) designed and developed entirely in India. Built on Zoho CRM and implemented by Zoho’s Enterprise Business Solutions (EBS) team, SKYLine is engineered to deliver a seamless, integrated customer journey — from vehicle reception to delivery — across the luxury automaker’s nationwide dealership network.

The new platform represents Mercedes-Benz India's strategic focus on delivering a premium, technologically advanced ownership experience. SKYLine introduces a decentralized architecture that empowers each dealership with its own Zoho CRM instance, ensuring operational independence while maintaining standardization and real-time integration with Mercedes-Benz’s central systems.

“SKYLine represents a significant step towards managing our customer service operations, being a key lever that will significantly enhance customer's experience. This bespoke DMS is built by Zoho for our dealer partners, making it seamless and highly integrated into our global systems, redefining customer journey,” said Santosh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO of Mercedes-Benz India. “We are proud that Zoho developed a world-class, highly secured and local ‘no code-no source’ platform like SKYLine for the Indian customers, underlining the unmatched prowess of Indian technological innovation, having international adaptability.”

The system fully digitizes the customer service lifecycle — from service booking and digital check-in to real-time estimates, technician assignment, live job tracking, proactive communication, and post-service feedback. Additionally, SKYLine integrates courtesy car management, pre-owned vehicle refurbishment, and resale operations, supported by visual dashboards and embedded analytics for data-driven decision-making.

SKYLine was developed over a two-year period and is the result of over 5,000 man-days of user acceptance testing and 3,000 man-days of training. Its roll-out has now been completed across all Mercedes-Benz dealerships in India.

“When Mercedes-Benz India came to us with a vision that had no off-the-shelf solution, we saw an opportunity to build something truly unique,” said Mani Vembu, CEO of Zoho. “Together, we have built a decentralized platform that empowers each dealership with autonomy, while maintaining central control and real-time HQ integration.”

To address integration with Mercedes-Benz’s European HQ systems—without making changes on the HQ side—Zoho and Mercedes-Benz co-developed a middleware transformation layer powered by Zoho’s workflow platform, Qntrl. This allows SKYLine to support legacy protocols including REST, SOAP, and file-based communication.

This joint initiative positions SKYLine as one of the region’s most complex and strategically critical DMS implementations, reflecting India’s growing role in global tech innovation.

About Zoho
Headquartered in Chennai, Zoho Corporation is a privately held tech firm offering more than 55 apps across major business categories. The company, which employs over 18,000 people globally, operates its own data centers and does not rely on ad revenue, ensuring strict data privacy. Over 130 million users worldwide trust Zoho for business operations.

About Mercedes-Benz India
Mercedes-Benz India, a pioneer in the country’s luxury automotive market, celebrated 30 years in India in 2024. The company operates a 100-acre manufacturing facility in Chakan, near Pune, with an investment of over INR 3000 crores. With 140+ touchpoints in 50+ cities, it has the widest luxury network in India. Its product line includes locally manufactured sedans, SUVs, and BEVs such as the EQS 580, as well as a robust portfolio of imported vehicles including the AMG range and Mercedes-Maybach offerings.

Source: https://www.zoho.com/news/mercedes-benz-india-and-zoho-launches-skyline-a-bespoke-and-decentralized-dealer-management-system-redefining-customer-experience-by-offering-a-state-of-art-seamless-and-integrated-customer-journey.html

Zoho Expands Fintech Portfolio with Launch of POS and QR-Based Payment Devices

October 7, 2025 – Global technology leader Zoho, headquartered in Chennai, has announced the launch of Zoho Payments POS devices, QR-based payment solutions, and sound boxes, significantly bolstering its fintech suite. Alongside these hardware offerings, Zoho introduced advanced capabilities within Zoho Payments, including tools for salary payouts, virtual account collections, and streamlined marketplace settlements.

This expansion builds on the 2024 debut of Zoho Payments, the company’s unified payment gateway designed to enable secure transactions for businesses. The latest roll-out aims to provide a comprehensive end-to-end payments infrastructure, simplifying both payment collection and disbursement processes.

The announcement was made during the Global Fintech Fest 2025, one of the industry’s largest annual gatherings, co-hosted by the Payments Council of India (PCI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC).

“For most businesses, every payment—such as collecting customer dues or paying vendors, or disbursing salaries—runs through a patchwork of banking portals, gateways and finance applications that need to be connected,” said Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, CEO of Zoho Payment Technologies and Global Head of Finance and Operations BU at Zoho.
“Zoho’s vision is to eliminate these traditional silos that exist between banking, business finance and payments by bringing them into a single, tightly integrated ecosystem... Our comprehensive offerings, which combine end-to-end payment solutions with our broader finance and operations platform, uniquely position us to help businesses easily manage money movement, ensure better compliance, and scale with confidence.”

Key Features Introduced

POS and QR Devices: Businesses can now leverage Zoho's new POS terminals and QR devices for secure, on-the-go payment acceptance.

Salary Disbursements via Payouts: Integrated with Zoho Payroll, the payout feature allows seamless salary processing directly from linked bank accounts, offering enhanced reliability and tracking.

Marketplace Split Settlements: With automatic revenue sharing between platforms and sellers, Zoho Payments simplifies reconciliation and accelerates partner payouts.

Partner Programme: The Zoho Payments Partner Programme introduces attractive incentives tied to the transaction volume processed by referred merchants, creating a scalable revenue opportunity for partners.

Virtual Accounts for NEFT/RTGS/IMPS: Unique virtual accounts can be assigned per customer, invoice, or branch, enabling accurate identification of incoming payments and automatic reconciliation.

On-Demand Faster Settlements (T+1): Businesses, especially SMBs, can now access funds faster, aiding better cash flow compared to traditional settlement timelines.

UPI AutoPay Integration: Through Zoho Books and Zoho Billing, recurring payments can now be automated via UPI AutoPay mandates. For example, fitness centers can auto-collect membership fees monthly with user approvals managed through the system.

Availability

Most of the newly announced Zoho Payments features are available immediately. The Marketplace Settlements and Virtual Account functionalities will roll out in November 2025.

Source: https://www.zoho.com/news/zoho-strengthens-its-fintech-offering-with-pos-and-qr-devices.html?zwcDate=october%207,%202025

Zoho Corp. Expands R&D with New Kottarakkara Campus, Asimov Robotics Acquisition, and Kerala Startup Mission Partnership

July 2, 2025 - Zoho Corporation has significantly expanded its R&D efforts in India with three major initiatives: the opening of a new campus in Kottarakkara, Kerala; the acquisition of Kerala-based robotics startup Asimov Robotics; and a partnership with Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) for its Deep Tech Product Studio initiative.

The Kottarakkara campus, inaugurated by Kerala’s Chief Minister and other dignitaries, will focus on AI and robotics research. Zoho aims to build deep-tech capabilities in India and foster rural development through technology. The campus, with a 250-seat capacity, supports local hiring and internships to bridge skill gaps in coding and robotics.

Asimov Robotics, specializing in robotic solutions for hazardous and repetitive tasks, will continue its R&D work under Zoho’s guidance from the new campus. Meanwhile, Zoho’s partnership with KSUM will strengthen Kerala’s deep-tech ecosystem, enabling startups and organizations to collaborate on product development and innovation.

Zoho has also established R&D associations with several startups and institutions, including Boson Motors, IIT Bombay, and Genrobotics, to promote knowledge sharing and tackle specific research challenges. These efforts underline Zoho’s commitment to making India self-reliant in critical technologies while driving innovation from rural regions.

Source: https://www.zoho.com/news/zoho-corp-expands-its-rnd-efforts-opens-new-campus-in-kottarakkara.html