The partner association VAPV wants to inform its members in the coming week about the results of the difficult contract negotiations. The performance should not be a walk – despite demonstrably achieved successes.
The German VW and Audi dealers make the next step on the way to a new partnership with the manufacturers. Your partner association VAPV will be on 20 June 2018 the member companies on the Results of protracted and difficult negotiations with the representatives of the brands VW Car, VW commercial vehicles and Audi inform. AUTOHAUS learned this from industry groups familiar with the processes.
For the chairman of the association, Dirk Weddigen von Knapp, and his colleagues on the board, the performance is unlikely to be easy despite proven successes in the contract negotiations. Although the VAPV was able to negotiate a good basis for the future challenges of the companies in the so-called “Syntegration” workshops. But one faces the difficult task of giving acceptance to some dealers that in the near future they will no longer be involved as sales partners and participate in the negotiation successes.
As reported, the contracts for parts of the VW dealership run after the end of March termination only until March 31, 2020. Others partner to leave the net as of March 31, 2023. According to AUTOHAUS information, the fixed-term contracts are sometimes only subject to conditions. The departing dealers therefore have no choice but to sell their businesses, to close or to continue as a service partner.
Further compensation for dealers
A consolation but the VAPV has in the bag: At the meeting to be announced that the Manufacturer make a second compensation payment to car dealerships. There is talk of a “significant” amount in the three-digit million range. With the traders remaining in the net then should be started fluently in a new era.
At the end of the first quarter of 2018 VW had the contracts of its approximately 3,500 trading partners in Europe terminated (we reported). Plans for a reduction of the German distribution network brand sales director Jürgen Stackmann had already announced at the end of January. By contrast, there should be “no significant reduction” across Europe. The new agreements will apply after two years’ notice from 1 April 2020. That should also be the case with Audi: According to Germany sales chief Martin Sander have now all dealers and service partners a letter of intent as a letter of intent for further cooperation.
In the spring high-ranking representatives of VW and Audi as well as of the dealer federation have twelve solutions for the future partnership notified (we reported). The goal: Under the internal working title “aptitude / development: New World”, a high-performance qualification of the sales organization is to be carried out for the first time in close cooperation. With this, manufacturers and retailers want to ensure that the new contracts will bring long-term success for both sides – even if the framework conditions in the country change auto industry, (Rm / rp)