Audi will swap to company model for EV gross sales

BERLIN — Audi options to swap to company income for its electrical models starting in 2023.

By this model, cars and trucks will be offered straight by the brand name to stop shoppers, with sellers acting only as intermediaries.

So considerably Audi has been selling its individual EVs this kind of as the e-tron and e-tron GT by its licensed dealership network

“This is an critical stage for the human-centric orientation of our profits model and the following sensible stage into an electrical future,” an Audi spokesperson advised Automotive News Europe in an email.

The information was to start with reported by Automobilwoche, a sister publication of Automotive Information Europe.

The spokesperson stated, having said that, that sellers “continue to be the spine” of Audi’s organization, adding that the change was becoming created to concentration on the “fast transforming” purchasing behavior of the brand’s clients.

“We are continuously increasing our gross sales method and are coming up with the gross sales strategy of the long run jointly with our dealers in buy to further more maximize buyer satisfaction,” the spokesperson mentioned.

“On line product sales are getting more value and most of the buyers are setting up their buying procedure with information and facts accumulating on the net. The excellent interlinkage concerning all channels in purchase to present a seamless buyer experience is turning out to be crucial.”

The spokesperson stated that during income by means of the company product, the dealers would continue to be involved in the acquire course of action as an agent and would be the central interface to the shopper.

“Direct, human get hold of stays an crucial differentiating element for an personal top quality experience,” the spokesperson reported.

Audi stated it designs to make the change “in a staggered manner in essential European marketplaces commencing in 2023,” which entails Germany, France, the Uk, Italy, Spain, Poland, Ireland and Sweden.

A rollout to other markets is becoming at the moment being regarded, but initial new contracts have to be negotiated with dealers, a course of action that is not envisioned to conclude before 2022.

“The planned introduction of the company design will take area jointly within just the Volkswagen Team in purchase to reduce the complexity for multi-model sellers and investors and at the similar time to optimize synergies,” the spokesperson reported. “We search ahead to a successful exchange and collaboration with our dealers in the upcoming months.”

VW Group’s main VW model has previously been relying on the agency model with the launch of its 2020 for its new ID3 and ID4 battery-run models.

Other automakers are building regarded their options to swap to the agency design, most not long ago Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius, who explained in an interview with Automotive News Europe that the automaker is organizing to develop the providing model in a range of European nations around the world, as element of a bigger approach to streamline and digitalize the product sales and distribution system.

Amid the other automakers who have adopted the agency design are BMW, which now makes use of it in South Africa, and Honda and Toyota who practice it in New Zealand.

A the latest study by Roland Berger located that the company model could lower distribution costs by 1 to 2 % in the quick phrase and up to 10 per cent in the lengthy expression.

A December 2020 Capgemini survey of 6,000 consumers and 50 dealers in key European markets and China, indicated sellers and customers alike are receptive to the agency selling model.

“The present-day income product is not sustainable, and an adaption is vital to remain competitive,” the report stated.

Nevertheless, 80 per cent of the dealers surveyed by Capgemini, expressed concern in excess of the deficiency of price transparency for equally dealers and consumers.