VW Australia says market is stable but media is talking it down

Volkswagen Australia expects to post its seventh year in a row of sales growth and plans to expand its dealer network to cope with demand.

Sales of Volkswagen vehicles have more than tripled over the past six years and the maker is on track for another record. So far this year the maker is ahead of last year’s all-time high by 17 per cent.

Buoyed by new models, the managing director of Volkswagen Australia, Anke Koeckler, told Motoring.com.au: “The market is still at a stable level, it’s all production driven.

She said Volkswagen could have sold more cars locally if it had better supply of runout models. “But we didn’t have the availability. We did our planning 12 to 18 months before.”
 
Furthermore, Toyota’s sales drop of 22 per cent – because of interruptions to supply in the wake of the Japanese tsunami in March – had dragged the rest of the market down. Market leader Toyota customarily accounts for one in five new cars sold in Australia.

“We still in Australia have a very strong economy … but the media increases the negativity about what happens in the US and Europe. It’s always about psychology. We shouldn’t talk it down, we are still in a lucky situation here in Australia. I think we have to make sure … that the consumers are getting back their confidence.”

She said Volkwagen planned to expand its dealer network over the next two years.

“We want to have 100 dealers by 2013, right now [we have] 85. We are looking at more rural dealers.”

She said the next six months “will be very exciting” for Volkswagen because, by the end of the year, it will have refreshed or replaced several key new models, including Touareg, Tiguan, Jetta (pictured), and Passat.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...