VW dealer staff excel at world champs

FOUR Australian Volkswagen dealership staff have received top rankings at the European auto giant’s 2012-13 Retail Qualification World Championships.

All four representatives achieved either first or second place for the Asia-Pacific region in their respective category, while three finished in the top-10 world rankings at the championships held recently at Volkswagen AG headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Cameron Morgan from Barloworld Mascot in Sydney achieved a world ranking of fourth in the technician category after placing second in the Asia-Pacific region, while Tony Court from Bayford Volkswagen in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Camberwell was ranked seventh in the world for parts advisors and first throughout Asia-Pacific.

Lawrence Kertesz from the Jackson Motor Company in Tasmania took out eighth in the world and first in the Asia-Pacific region in the sales consultant category, and Andrew Barstow from Burwin Volkswagen in Ferntree Gully, south-east of Melbourne, finished second in the region for service advisors and 16th overall.

The team competed against about 300 other participants from 80 countries over the two-day event, during which they demonstrated skills in a variety of practical and theory-based assessment categories.

A teamwork-based group task was also part of the program, and in this event the Australian team placed seventh in the world.

Volkswagen says that an important aspect of the world championships is determining “the current state of knowledge in the Volkswagen dealership and service organisations in the participating countries”.

“With the aid of this information, country-specific training programs can then be devised and implemented,” the company says.

“The world championship therefore has a key role to play in a targeted improvement in the level of training among Volkswagen sales and service employees around the world.”

The dealers represented at the championships have all previously featured in Volkswagen’s Dealer of the Year awards program in Australia.