VW boss leaves on a high note

Talk about leaving on a high note. The outgoing managing director of Volkswagen Australia, Jutta Dierks, will depart for her new international role as the company posts a record sales month locally.

Several brands are expected to post bumper sales in June thanks to the Federal Government's stimulus package and renewed consumer confidence, but Volkswagen is understood to have had a blinder -- posting an average of almost 900 passenger car sales per week.

This figure, combined with an anticipated average of about 150 commercial vehicles a week, is expected to see Volkswagen approach or eclipse 4000 sales in June -- an all-time Australian record for the company.

In the five months to May, VW was down 9.4 per cent in a market that was down 19 per cent, but early feedback from VW and several other manufacturers indicates that the sales decline eased in June. Some brands are expected to post sales increases.

Jutta Dierks will leave Australia next month to take up her new job at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, where she will be responsible for VW in North America, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.

Australia's most successful female car executive leaves an impressive four-and-a-half-year track record behind.

When she took over Volkswagen Australia in January 2005, VW sold 10,000 cars a year and had 0.9 per cent market share. Last year the company sold almost 30,000 cars, and had 3 per cent market share.

Volkswagen Australia became a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group (as opposed to being looked after by an independent distributor) in 2001. She says she came to Australia with no official target from head office other than to "see what you can do".

"There was no target," Dierks told the Carsales Network. "But we were not in good shape at that time and [the board] said 'have a look and see what you can do'. I had no idea we would have this much success."

She said her proudest achievement -- increasing the sales of diesel Volkswagens in Australia, which stimulated the rest of the diesel car market -- was combined with her most embarrassing moment.

In her maiden speech to the media at the Melbourne motor show she revealed Volkswagen's bold diesel initiative but the news fell on deaf ears.

"We didn't have much to say at the time, there were no new products coming around the corner. We were thinking, 'what can we say?'

"So I decided to talk about my diesel strategy, and how we are going to increase the number of diesel cars we sell in Australia. I looked at the audience and as I was saying this journalists were putting their notepads away. I couldn't believe it.

"At that time I didn't understand why Australia was not a big diesel market. In Europe diesel is 60 per cent of the market, so I thought there was some opportunity here. But everybody thought I was crazy."

Now, Dierks says, diesels are more widely accepted as passenger cars in Australia. In 2005 diesel vehicles accounted for 14 per cent of the total new-car market, last year almost one in five (24 per cent) new vehicles sold was powered by diesel.

As most car executives do, Dierks says the dealer network was key to the brand's success over the past four years.

In 2005 VW had 54 dealers nationwide, today there are 64.

"The dealers really suffered a lot back then. We didn't give them the right model range, the right volume and the right prices, so over time we fixed that."
 
One of Dierk's biggest legacies is her reputation for negotiating a good price from the factory so the cars have a competitive RRP in local showrooms. An example, when the Mk V GTI went on sale, its starting price was $39,990 – $4500 cheaper than its predecessor despite having more power and equipment.

"If you have the right price you can do the volume. But head office needs to see you have a plan."

Dierks also had a reputation for being honest about Volkswagen's quality issues. Unhappy with some aspects of the South African-made Golfs, she got on a plane and went to the factory herself to negotiate better quality controls. Today, the latest generation Golf range comes from Germany.

Jutta's husband of more than 30 years, and high school sweetheart, Peter Dierks, will continue in his role as the general manager of marketing for Volkswagen Australia for another five months before being posted to Germany. She says she is looking forward to returning home, where she will be able to spend more time with their two daughters, who also work for Volkswagen.

"I love Australia, you guys really have it lucky out here," she said. "My only regret is that, although I visited every dealer, I didn't really get to see enough of Australia."

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