Apr 12, 2010
Audi Australia presented a gala dinner this month to once again acknowledge the top dealership performers of 2009 with the annual ‘Audi Mark of Excellence Award.’
The Metropolitan Dealer of the Year 2009 was awarded to Audi Centre Canberra, which in both 2007 and 2008 won the top Provincial award. Last year was the start of this dealership’s metropolitan operation and with three ‘Mark of Excellence’ gongs in a row the Dealer Principal Richard Rolfe, with the help of his team, is obviously not resting on his laurels to retain the number one spot.
Because Audi Centre Canberra has become a metropolitan dealer, the Provincial Dealer of the Year 2009 went to first-time winner Audi Centre Townsville. Displaying his ongoing commitment to advance the brand’s sales and image in the area, Dealer Principal Jason Collins opened this pristine $2 million Audi showroom facility in March 2009.
These awards and trophies were presented by Audi Australia’s incoming managing director, Mr. Uwe Hagen. He congratulated the winners and all Audi dealers who maintained excellence across all areas of the business: from marketing and selling the vehicles to after-sales service and maintenance and customer relations.
“The annual Audi Mark of Excellence Awards [is] our way of recognizing top performance within our network. Our dealerships are our frontline to the customer, and therefore as a premium brand, it is essential that we are all striving to offer the best customer experience possible,” Mr. Hagen said.
He added, “The entire Audi network prides itself on its culture of high performance, and clearly our sales success in Australia supports this focus.”
The Mark of Excellence awards are not for popularity or most sales, clarified Andrew Doyle, Audi’s general manager of sales.
“They are designed to recognize and reward the dealership that performs the best in relation to targets across the board in the areas of sales, after-sales, customer satisfaction and, as Audi continues to grow in Australia, dealership facilities are also a focus as they need to reflect excellence within the industry,” said Mr. Doyle.
The other winners for the Metropolitan category include Audi Centre Sydney with Dealer Principal Joe King which came in second, and Audi Centre Doncaster with Dealer Principal Kal Hassoun on the third spot. For the Provincial-Rural group, the second and third placers are Audi Central Coast with Dealer Principal Anthony Gee and Audi Alessi Albury with Dealer Principal Tony Alessi, respectively.
Following the carmaker’s achievement of five successive growth years in 2009, this annual event aims to pay tribute to and appreciate the contributions of all Audi dealerships in the country.
Aspiring to maintain this triumph for six straight years in 2010, the brand with the four rings is already on the roll, finishing Q1 sales with a whopping 3,713 units. This all-time record, up 36% versus Q1 2009, is even higher than Audi’s total annual sales back in 2004.
