Volkswagen names top dealer for 2013

VOLKSWAGEN Group Australia has named Paul Wakeling Volkswagen in New South Wales as its 2013 National Dealer of the Year.

The Campbelltown retailer south-west of Sydney also took out the 2013 Provincial DOTY award.

At a ceremony in Sydney last weekend, VGA managing director John White paid tribute to the dealership’s managing director Scott Wakeling in delivering “exceptional service to his customers and his outstanding ongoing commitment to the Volkswagen brand”.

“As a true partner of Volkswagen, he saw the potential and future of the brand and backed his belief by investing in property and state-of-the-art facilities,” said Mr White.

“He has shared this passion with his people who continue to drive the business forward daily.” Mr Wakeling is no stranger to national dealer excellence awards, having last year picked up a ‘Distinguished Dealer’ trophy in Mitsubishi’s annual program.

The family-oriented multi-franchise motor group – Scott is the son of Paul and Margaret Wakeling – has also won awards in previous years with other brands, including a top-ranking ‘Chairman’s Award’ in Holden’s ‘Grand Masters’ retailer recognition program.

Mr Wakeling said this week that it was “great kudos for our hard-working Volkswagen team and a hearty congratulations to them all, especially our department heads Josh Redhouse, Gary Thompson, Matt Soster, George Carlia, Paul Burgess and Nathan Clarke”.

“The award is scored in lots of areas including financial reporting, vehicle target achievement, parts target achievement, service reporting and quality, as well as customer satisfaction,” he said.

“I’d especially like to thank our loyal customers who have shown us much support in the past and hopefully well into the future.” Other 2013 DOTY category winners (and their representatives) were: Rural DOTY: Dwyers Volkswagen, Victoria (Anthony Dwyer) Major Rural DOTY: Bathurst Volkswagen, NSW (Peter Spratt) Metro DOTY: Rex Gorell Volkswagen, Victoria (Brett Gorell) Major Metro DOTY: Gold Coast Volkswagen, Queensland (Brett Frizelle and Tania Webbern) and Commercial Vehicles DOTY: Barloworld Volkswagen Five Dock, NSW (Socrates Dalamangas).

Last year’s (2012) National DOTY award went to Barloworld Volkswagen Bayside in Melbourne, while Barloworld Volkswagen Mascot, in Sydney’s south, secured the coveted title for 2011.

Mr White used the awards presentation to thank the company’s entire dealer network “for their valued contribution to our business” in what was a difficult year for the Volkswagen brand, which was involved in safety-related issues, including major recalls and a coronial inquiry, and finished with only 0.1 per cent growth over 2012 despite another record-breaking result for the industry overall.

Volkswagen’s 54,892 new registrations last year was enough to hold on to eighth position on the top 10 sales chart, for a 4.8 per cent share of the market, although this was down 0.1 per cent on the previous year and below expectations after annual sales growth of between 18 and 26 per cent from 2010 to 2012.