Australia to head Audi Sport push

Australia will be the second country in the world to establish dedicated new Audi Sport retail outlets following the soaring local popularity of the German brand’s S, R and RS performance models.

Last year sales of those models increased by no less than 172 per cent to 1121 vehicles here – almost double the number of M models sold by BMW (623 – down one per cent) and within about 500 units of the dominant Mercedes-AMG (1650 – up 34 per cent).

Of the record 16,000 Audis sold here last year, seven per cent were S/R/RS models – up from three per cent in 2012 and making Australia one of largest markets in the Audi Sport world, both overall and per capita.

The release of Audi’s all-new RS Q3 and RS 7 Sportback later this week will bring to seven the number of R and RS models simultaneously available in Australia, where the range-topping RS 4 Avant, RS 5 Coupe, RS 6 Avant, TT RS Plus and R8 models are already offered.

In addition to S-Line variants, Audi also offers hot S versions of its A3 Sportback, A4 sedan and Avant, A5 Sportback, Coupe and Cabriolet, A6 sedan, A7 Sportback, TT and Q5, with the facelifted S8 super-limo to come in March, followed by the new S3 sedan in April, the all-new S1 quattro hot-hatch around July and the new S3 Cabrio later this year.

To capitalise on the model range expansion, Audi Australia will follow Audi UK in establishing the Audi Sport sub-brand via a “shop within a showroom” strategy in at least four new “terminal-style” Audi dealerships currently being built or about to begin construction.

Among them is the four-storey Audi Centre Melbourne, which is currently being rebuilt in the Victorian capital’s CBD at a cost of $20 million. Owned by high-profile luxury car dealer Bobby Zagame, it will be Audi’s second biggest Australian outlet after the flagship Audi Centre Sydney.

Most of Audi Australia’s 37 dealerships were redeveloped as part of a $270 million investment between 2007 and 2010, but other new ‘terminal’ outlets in the pipeline include Doncaster, Bendigo and Hobart.

The ‘Audi Sport Sales Concept’ is officially only a pilot project in Australia, but is likely to become a permanent part of the German luxury giant’s retail model as it seeks market dominance over traditional rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which it outsold in January this year.

To be rolled out over the next 12 months, the Audi Sport showrooms will display merchandise, alloy wheels and accessories, as well as being plastered with distinctive red-and-white, floor-to-ceiling signage featuring the brand’s four-sided ‘Red Rhombus’ logo.

The same branding strategy will be applied to all future advertising and marketing activities for Audi Sport vehicles, in an attempt to differentiate them from mainstream models.

Apart from S, R and RS models from Audi’s performance vehicle division -- quattro GmbH, which recently celebrated its 30th birthday -- the Audi Sport sub-brand also covers, motorsport, customer racing, merchandise and S-Line personalisation packages.

“We’re proud to be one of the world’s first launch markets for Audi Sport, which shows its potential here,” said Audi Australia Managing Director Andrew Doyle.

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