“Our sales partners are our strategic competitive advantage,” says Horst Hanschur, Head of Sales Strategy at AUDI AG. “We are therefore cooperating closely with our partners with the implementation of our future business model.”
During the European Dealer Council’s conference, AUDI AG presents its new sales model and its plans for the future. The online business, which is being massively expanded, will play an important role in the development of the new sales model. As part of a new digital partnership with dealers, an Internet platform will be further developed to facilitate the entire purchasing process as far as contract signing, including financing, payment and even part exchange of a used car.
In addition, customers are to be individually addressed with new, urban sales formats (such as Audi City, myAudi Sphere or pop-up stores). At the same time, retailing is to become more flexible and efficient. Customers will also profit from an array of tailored services. For example, cars will be kept up to date via mobile telephony with the help of over-the-air software updates. A key access point is the myAudi customer portal, in which all digital solutions are booked, managed and used via an intuitive interface.
The Ingolstadt-based automobile manufacturer sees further potential in new mobility concepts. For example, the company plans to roll out Audi on demand next year also with dealers in selected European markets – modeled on the approach in the United Kingdom, where customers can already use some dealerships as contact points for this service. In this way, Audi’s partners will also benefit from this new digital business segment.
Other topics at the event include a new agency model in the fleet-car business based on the German model, improved processes in everyday business, and even more efficient job roles at car dealerships. For the latter point, the manufacturer has worked out the special “Audi Retail Experience” customer service concept together with its retail partners and has already started a pilot phase in the first dealerships. In addition, following the great success of the Audi Approved :Plus program for used cars up to five years old, the brand has extended its premium customer promise to older cars. The aim of the measures presented is to exploit additional opportunities in the current sales model, to ensure the profitability of the sales organization and to meet changing digital customer expectations.
The new contract forms the basis for the upcoming sales strategy and combines innovative future elements with a proven infrastructure. In addition to the dealer, service and agency agreements, the new contract contains for the first time extensive agreements on e-commerce, the reorganization of customer and data management, the sale of digital products and the further development of the Audi Sport brand. In most European markets, the signed contracts are to be returned by the end of this November and the new contracts with the European dealers will take effect in April 2020.
The administrative order provides for a fine of EUR 800 million in total, consisting of the maximum penalty as legally provided for of EUR 5 million for negligent regulatory offences and the disgorgement of economic benefits (Abschöpfung wirtschaftlicher Vorteile) in the amount of EUR 795 million. According to the findings of the investigation carried out by the Munich II public prosecutor, monitoring duties had been breached in the “emissions service / power engine approval” organizational unit in the context of the monitoring of vehicles regarding their regulatory conformity. According to the results obtained by the Munich II public prosecutor, these breaches of monitoring duties were concurrent causes of certain V6 and V8 diesel aggregates developed by AUDI AG not meeting regulatory requirements; also, AUDI AG failed to discover that diesel engines of the types EA 288 (Gen3), in the United States and in Canada, and EA 189, world-wide, that were produced by Volkswagen AG were advertised, sold to customers, and placed on the market with an impermissible software function in the period from 2004 and continuing to have an effect until 2018.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
The One Young World movement (OYW) works to achieve positive changes in social, ecological and economic terms. Every year, committed young thought leaders from all over the world meet with leaders from the fields of politics, business, science and culture to exchange ideas and opinions. The goal is to assume responsibility and together to make the world a better place to live. Audi’s Board of Management Member for Human Resources Wendelin Göbel: “We take our social responsibility very serious. We want to be a sustainable employer, remain competitive, inspire our customers and ensure a future worth living for everyone.”
Due to the increasingly sophisticated design of its cars and the high quality standards at Audi, the company inspects all components directly after production in the press shop. In addition to visual inspection by employees, several small cameras are installed directly in the presses. They evaluate the captured images with the help of image-recognition software. This process will soon be replaced by an ML procedure. Software based on a complex artificial neural network operates in the background of this innovative procedure. The software detects the finest cracks in sheet metal with the utmost precision and reliably marks the spot.