Volkswagen intends to durably improve its good position in Germany in a strong competitive environment with a three-year boost program. Up to the end of 2023, the company will be investing a triple-digit million-euro figure in the expansion of digital and showroom sales in the German market. “Germany is our home market. We will be providing a further significant boost to sales here and will be making Germany a model for other markets, also with respect to digitalization,” says Klaus Zellmer, Board Member for Sales, Marketing and After Sales at Volkswagen. “With ACCELERATE, we intend to make Volkswagen the most attractive brand for sustainable mobility. This also includes an excellent customer experience during the purchasing, leasing or servicing of a Volkswagen. We want to set standards in this area.”
Volkswagen has never invested additional funds of this order of magnitude in sales and distribution in Germany before. Among other items, the planned investments of the program include the upgrading of dealerships and showrooms, a broad-based product and service training offensive for dealers, the introduction of new vehicles, an extension of training in the field of e-mobility, more replacement mobility for customers during servicing appointments and a digitalization boost for dealerships and online sales. Volkswagen also intends to make its brand presentation in Germany more attractive, more innovative and more emotional. The funds which have been approved are in addition to the coronavirus support already agreed with dealers by Volkswagen.
Holger B. Santel, CEO Volkswagen Germany: “Our dealership organization is putting its tremendous performance capabilities to the test every day under Covid conditions. Withthis boost program, we want to lay the foundations to make these efforts even more successful in the future.”
As one of the program’s first milestones, Volkswagen will be launching online sales together with dealers from the summer onwards. The main focus will be on the models of the ID. family in agency business. This will be followed successively by the online marketing of new and used vehicles held by dealers. The results of the pilot projects are good and the feedback received from the dealers involved has been positive. Zellmer: “A strong brand needs a strong presentation. We need customer proximity and local presence. Customer orientation also means taking into account severe changes in purchasing behaviour. It goes without saying that our sales system must be available to customers both online and offline. This is why we are implementing a digital marketplace in the first step for the ID. fleet, followed by vehicles in stock as well as new and used cars together with our dealers.”
Volkswagen has also fundamentally modernized its model range and is powerfully positioned on the German market. Volkswagen already offers two successful electric models based on the MEB, the ID.3 and ID.4, has hybridized its fleet and is launching the next generation of its bestsellers such as the Tiguan, Polo or Golf with all derivatives. There are also attractive newcomers like the Arteon Shooting Brake and the T-Roc Cabriolet.
Up to 2024, Volkswagen will further expand its product portfolio with additional strong models – including the Taigo CUV, the SUV coupe ID.5 and the production versions of the ID. BUZZ and ID. VIZZION studies.
Digitalization and e-mobility are cornerstones of the ACCELERATE strategy. This way, Volkswagen is forging ahead with the transformation of the brand and stepping up the pace on the way to becoming a software-oriented mobility provider. New data-based business models, software integration in the vehicle and the development of a digital ecosystem will become core competences of Volkswagen. In addition, the company is accelerating the electrification of its fleet and will bring autonomous driving to the mass market by 2030. This way, Volkswagen is underlining its positioning as the most attractive brand for sustainable mobility.