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Volkswagen Group Australia has officially cut the ribbon to open its Australian headquarters in Alexandria, NSW.
The ceremony was held during the Australian visit of Dr Robert Büchelhofer, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG and President of the company’s Asia-Pacific Region.
Dr Büchelhofer was joined for the opening by Mr Stefan Jacoby, Volkswagen AG’s Asia-Pacific Vice President and by Volkswagen Group Australia’s Managing Director Mr Peter Nochar.
Volkswagen Group Australia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, assumed distribution of Volkswagen vehicles in Australia from 1st January 2001. The company’s staff of 60 people handles all aspects of the company’s operations from the Alexandria headquarters; some members of the team transferred from the previous importer but more 60 per cent of the employees are new.
Volkswagen’s arrival in Alexandria has provided a further boost to the growing business environment surrounding Sydney’s Airport – already the company has linked with local businesses to provide services such as car detailing.
According to Dr Büchelhofer, the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia reflects the growing importance of the Asia-Pacific region in Volkswagen’s worldwide strategy.
"Much of Volkswagen’s sales and earnings growth during the last 12 months has been driven by success in the markets of North America and Asia-Pacific," Dr Büchelhofer said. "The timing of direct distribution in Australia could not be better and we are looking for significant growth in this market to a number of 20,000 Volkswagens up from today’s 7000 in the next five years."
In the same period, Volkswagen Group Australia plans to almost double the number of Volkswagen dealerships in Australia from the current 37 to 70.
While opening the current Australian headquarters site, Dr Büchelhofer revealed that Volkswagen Group Australia will relocate to a new purpose-built headquarters in 2003.
Located within the Lakes Business Park - about three kilometers from Volkswagen’s existing site - the new building will be a symbol of excellence and reflect the high standards Volkswagen incorporates in all of its activities.
Dr Büchelhofer added Volkswagen Group Australia’s planned volume growth will be assisted by significant new models, including entrants in the luxury segment.
"All these new models will reflect the highest quality, fascinating technology and outstanding value-for-money which has made Volkswagen the number one automotive company in Europe and a leading global company," Dr Büchelhofer said.
To underline its commitment to the Australian market, Volkswagen Group Australia has already announced a three-year multi-million dollar sponsorship of the Australian Football League (AFL), launched a works racing team of Beetle RSi models contesting the Australian GT Production Car Championship and significantly increased its advertising and marketing expenditure.
Some impressive results are also on the board for the new company – in March Volkswagen sold 848 passenger cars, beating the traditional luxury segment rivals to become Australia’s best-selling European automotive brand.
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