Volkswagen is making its sales organisation fit for the future. The brand is to fundamentally realign its sales model together with its dealers. The new sales model is to be launched in Europe in April 2020. The objective is to provide seamless individual round-the-clock support for customers, going far beyond vehicle sales on the basis of a unique Volkswagen customer ID.
Each year, the VW brand intends to introduce about five million customers to the new world of mobility around the globe and to offer them individual services on the basis of their ID. The car buying experience itself will also change. Online sales are to be massively expanded and direct sales are to become possible. Five new sales and service formats such as city showrooms or pop-up stores are to be added. At the same time, the sales organisation is to become more flexible and efficient.
The new sales model is being driven by the progressive digitalisation and connectivity of the Volkswagen fleet, which will reach a new level with the introduction of the new, fully connected VW electric ID family in 2020. From then on, Volkswagen customers with their personal ID number are to be at the centre of a fully networked world of mobility including seamless individual support going beyond vehicle purchasing, with round-the-clock availability.
Online business will make a key contribution to the development of the new VW sales model and is currently being massively expanded. Within the framework of its new digital partnership with its dealers, Volkswagen will develop a joint internet platform which will handle the entire purchasing process through to contract conclusion, including financing, payment and even used car trade-ins. Customers will be able to choose from the entire brand model range and to complete their car purchase with their selected dealer online. For Volkswagen, the new platform will offer the possibility of direct sales for the first time, with the brand intending to use this possibility mainly in the fields of software and online services.
People who prefer to maintain personal contact with the brand and the dealer will have a choice of different points of contact in the future. There will be five new formats in addition to the traditional full-feature dealership with sales and service under one roof. Each dealer will only need to have one full-feature facility in the future. Dealers will be able to shape their presentation by agreement with the relevant importer to make their business more effective and customer-oriented, with city showrooms, pop-up stores, service factories, used car centres or scalable, variable-size full-feature dealerships all possible.
