Audi eyes 8500

AUDI Australia is confident it will continue to grow in sales at a rapid pace this year, driven by fresh product and new facilities.

“Certainly, we will have a record year – that’s for sure. And we will have another double-digit growth year again,” Audi Australia managing director Joerg Hofmann told GoAuto at the recent Melbourne International Motor Show.

“I believe that we will sell more than 8500 cars this year, remembering that we achieved over 7200 cars last year.” Among the new-model activities will be the vital next-generation A4 range unveiled in Melbourne, and the A3 Cabrio, which Mr Hofmann reckons will be the “surprise package of the year”.



Left: Audi Australia managing director Joerg Hofmann.

“Unless the economy crashes down or whatever, I think we are well prepared and that we will be successful again,” he said.

“(Also) we will have a completely refurbished dealer network within the next the years... like the Five Dock airport facility.” However, while there may be a few more dealers, to take the total number to 40, new ones will mostly be in rural areas where Audi’s coverage is not as good.

“I’m not just a fan of just increasing the number of dealerships because (you end up) ruining their profitability,” Mr Hofmann said. His stated goal is to hit 15,000 vehicles by 2015, but the Audi chief is confident that this could be achieved earlier.

“We still have to increase brand awareness. Still not everybody knows Audi in Australia. If we want to grow to the final big level, we should be reaching broader demographics and broader audiences,” he said.