Mazda, Audi name top dealers

MAZDA and Audi recently held their annual dealer ‘excellence’ awards, recognising the top-performing retailers for their respective brands in areas such as sales, aftersales, marketing, customer service and facilities.

Queensland dealers Grand Prix Mazda (Brisbane) and Wippells Autos (Toowoomba) again featured in the strong-performing Japanese brand’s ‘Master Dealer Excellence Awards’, each securing master dealer status for the 19th consecutive year in the program, which has been running since 1994.

Other Mazda dealers to receive excellence awards this year were Key Motors (Qld), Goulburn Mazda (NSW), John Newell Mazda (NSW), Penrith Mazda (NSW), West End Mazda (NSW), Ballarat City Mazda (Vic), Bendigo Mazda (Vic), Echuca Mazda (Vic), Graeme Powell Mazda (Vic), Max Kirwan Mazda (Vic), Ringwood Mazda (Vic), Werribee Mazda (Vic), Australian Motors Mazda (SA) and Paradise Motors Mazda (SA).

Mazda Australia managing director Doug Dickson, who is retiring at the end of this month, said the program allowed the company to “recognise those in our dealer network that strive for excellence and best business practices, and is our way of supporting those who help us achieve outstanding results year-on-year”.

These results include a record 103,886 new vehicle registrations last year for a 9.3 per cent share of the market. The Mazda3 also reaffirmed its status as the nation’s most popular vehicle, with more than 44,000 sold in 2012.

Audi held its sixth annual ‘Mark of Excellence’ awards presentation at a gala event in Sydney earlier this month, paying tribute to its expanding retail network last year with a revised format that now includes ‘major metropolitan’ as a category alongside ‘metropolitan’ and ‘provincial/rural’.

The inaugural major metropolitan award was won by Audi Centre Parramatta, with Audi Centre Gold Coast in second and Audi Centre Sydney third.

In accepting the award, Parramatta dealer principal Nick Pagent said the accolade recognised the hard work, focus and leadership of general manager Brian Moro and his team.

Top metro dealer was Victoria’s Audi Barry Bourke – the Berwick-based retailer in Melbourne’s outer east which last year won the award for best provincial/rural dealership, but has been reclassified this year.

Second and third respectively in the metropolitan category was NSW’s Audi Centre Mosman and Audi Centre Newcastle.

The top provincial/rural award was won by Victoria’s Audi Centre Ballarat, which the company described as an “extraordinary achievement” considering it only joined the German luxury brand’s network in April 2011.

In second place was Tasmania’s Audi Centre Launceston, with Audi Centre Hobart third.

Audi Australia managing director Andrew Doyle said “it requires extreme focus and determination to succeed in such a competitive market”.

“For this passion and drive, we thank our committed dealer network for their ongoing support in growing the Audi brand in this country,” he said.

As GoAuto has reported, Audi Australia recently appointed long-serving finance executive Rhonda Soulakellis as general manager of dealer development as its works on a plan to secure luxury car market leadership by the end of this decade.

The company’s head of finance for the past 16 years, Mrs Soulakellis will oversee a newly created dealer development department of seven staff members that the company describes as part of its global Strategy 2020 in which it aims to become the leading luxury brand in Australia and markets worldwide.