Audi eyes top prestige spot

A rush of new product in recent years has given a solid run of double- digit growth, including a 12 per cent improvement in showroom results in the first half of this year at a time when the overall prestige segment is down by 12 per cent.

The German brand is aiming for 10,000 sales this year despite the global economic crisis, and says Australians are flocking to Audi. "We are already ahead of target," says Joerg Hofmann, managing director of Audi Australia. "In 2004 the Audi franchise was certainly not the most attractive one, and we were 20th, 24th, 18th, something like this. And now we are number one or number two. "I can't tell you exactly when, but I can tell you we will (reach this target) earlier. "If we crack 10,000 this year, which I believe we will, then I think it be very unlikely we will get another year of 30 per cent growth (in 2010), because the base gets higher and higher. But I certainly tell you we will have another record year next year. I'm very confident."

Hofmann knows he must pass BMW and Mercedes-Benz to hit his target, but says he can already see signs of worry in the rival camps. "These people they are bit desperate sometimes, they can't understand why we are so successful," Hofmann says. "Fair enough, we can smile about it, because we overtake them all very soon. They start throwing dirt and say we discount and whatever kind of crap comes to their mind, I mean I'm bored about it. We just move on and in two or three years we are ahead of all of them."

The Audi model rush will continue this year with the arrival of the TT RS coupe in October with a 2.5-litre turbo engine and 250 kiloWatts, as well as the V12 diesel version of the giant Q7 SUV.

November will bring an S5 cabriolet with a supercharged V6 engine, followed by the five-door A5 Sportback hatch in the first quarter of 2010. "Audi has always had great products, even five or six years ago," Hofmann says.

"The problem was the brand was not perceived the way it should be. The marketing was wrong, the dealership was wrong, the organising of the people was wrong. These are the factors we fixed when we took over the business here in Australia."

Hofmann said Audi would continue to post record sales this year and next. Audi is also solidly back in the black after years of losses, with Hoffman reporting the latest financial result a solid $1.7 million ahead of budget.

"We reached break-even two years earlier than anticipated. And in the meantime for the last two years we are on a solid, profitable path," he says. "We will have the most profitable year this year. We achieve our financial budget to Germany by more than one million Euros."

Hofmann's forecast comes in the same week as the official opening of the brand's giant $50 million Lighthouse headquarters in Sydney. The eight-story complex, which houses everything from the Australian brand headquarters to a dealership and 'performance space' for artists, is the largest of its type in the world.

"You can only build new dealerships, invest in brands and do sponsorships and whatever if you're profitable," Hofmann says.

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