AUDI AG: New Brand Architecture in Tokyo Heralds Audi Quality of Sales Drive

Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi Board Member for Marketing and Sales, today opened the first Audi terminal in Japan’s capital. The trendsetting dealership architecture was designed by the renowned office of Allmann Sattler Wappner. It heralds a major investment campaign into the brand’s international sales network, jointly undertaken by AUDI AG and its dealers.

The strategy for the Ingolstadt-based premium carmaker envisages high growth: Audi wants to expand its product range to 40 models, targeting to sell 1.5 million cars in 2015. This equals a 50 percent sales increase within seven years, for which the brand with the four rings wants to win customers in the USA and Europe as well as in the young Asian markets.

“We’ve got the right products in the pipeline for our ambitious growth plans”, Schwarzenbauer said. “Now we’re setting the course in sales and marketing. Audi’s sales organization will invest six billion euros by 2015.”

The campaign promoted by AUDI AG and its partners is currently unmatched within the industry. “The commitment of our dealers demonstrates that they are just as convinced of the strength of our brand and our products as we are,” Schwarzenbauer added.

The most visible sign of the comprehensive quality of sales campaign is the Audi terminal. Its visionary architecture, with a multilevel design that can be flexibly adapted to the given conditions, was designed for downtown locations. With its help, Audi is moving from the periphery into the city – and thereby follows its customers. Instead of a singular showpiece building at corporate headquarters, it brings sophisticated architecture to hundreds of dealerships worldwide.

“For us, it is about bringing the brand to our customers, with trendsetting dealerships that put people into the focus,” Schwarzenbauer said. AUDI AG is accompanying the movement of the terminals into the cities with greater emphasis on advertising in metropolitan areas. Adds Schwarzenbauer: “We will communicate even more clearly what makes Audi the most progressive premium car brand in the world.”

It is the tenth Audi terminal that opens in Tokyo today. Further examples of the new Audi corporate architecture are already located in cities such as Munich, Geneva and Sydney. By the end of 2012, more than 350 Audi terminals are to be created worldwide.

AUDI AG sold a total of 964,151 cars in 2007 and thus achieved its twelfth consecutive record year. With revenue of €33,617 million and profit before tax of €2,915 million, the company attained its best figures ever. Audi produces vehicles in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm (Germany), Gyor (Hungary), Changchun (China) and Brussels (Belgium). At the end of 2007, production of the Audi A6 started in Aurangabad, India. The company is active in more than 100 markets worldwide. AUDI AG’s wholly owned subsidiaries include Automobili Lamborghini Holding S.p.A. in Sant’Agata Bolognese (Italy) and quattro GmbH in Neckarsulm. Audi currently employs around 57,000 people worldwide, including 45,000 in Germany. The brand with the four rings invests more than €2 billion each year in order to sustain the company’s technological lead embodied in its “Vorsprung durch Technik” slogan. Audi plans to significantly increase the number of models in its portfolio by 2015 to 40.