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Audi Canada

Newsletter

Editorial

Dear partners,

Dear colleagues,

After a strong finish in 2015 with a record year for Audi Canada we also had a fast start into 2016 with an all-time best monthly re-sult in January for both new and CPO sales. We sold 1508 vehicles, which is a 7% increase vs. previous year, and 445 CPO vehicles at a 12% year over year increase. Congratulations to all of you and your teams for this great result.

In January we also started the Auto show season with a successful show in Montreal where we had 2 premiers for the Canadian market. The new Audi A4 received excellent feedback from the press and from customers alike, and the Audi S8 plus created a lot of excitement, especially its handpainted “florettsilver matt” colour was a real eye catcher. The other Audi models were also very well received at the show, especially the new Q7, which has a lot of fans.

As of now there is unfortunately no news on the Diesel topic. The discussions between the manufacturer and the authorities are ongoing, but no solution has been approved yet. We continue to have our regular update calls with the dealer council members, and as soon as we have any news we will immediately share it with you.

I had the opportunity to talk directly with many of you during our “celebration dinners” in January. I think it is essential to open up the lines of communication for the success of our long-term relationship. In light of some concerns you have voiced we have organized 3 roundtable meetings in Toronto, Vancouver and Montre-al in February with dealer principals where we will have the opportunity to discuss all relevant topics face to face.

I am looking forward to having open forum discussions with you during our round table meetings and hope to see many of you during the upcoming Toronto Auto show. The vehicles we will be displaying will drive a lot of excitement for our new products and the Audi brand.

 

Yours,

Daniel Weissland

Nr. 02/2016, February 2016

 

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Audi Canada

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Audi Canada

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Audi Canada

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Audi Canada

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Audi Canada

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With a successful January behind many of you for both New and CPO, there is quite a bit to review with the enhanced stair-step structure and over-performance bonus between 110% and 120% of target.

New Terms of Trade guidebooks and an at-a-glance operational guide were pub-lished on January 22nd. Please review the communication sent by Mandy Pal. These guides provide detailed information regarding the enhancements. This includes examples of how payouts are calculated under various scenarios, such as with the Quarterly Catch-Up at 100% and 110% of target and the treatment of vehicles over 120% of target.

To help you track how you have earned your bonuses at the end of each quarter, adjustments to the summary report will be made. The new annual targets for Cus-tomer Delight and Loyalty were also issues last month and will be reflected on your Terms of Trade reports.

Sales Training News

Audi A4 launch training ILT

The launch training ILT for the new Audi A4 is now well underway. This training focuses on the new A4 features, technology, driver assistance systems and an ex-tended test drive.

Audi Sales Manager Core Training

Sales Manager Core training is for Audi Sales and CPO Managers to develop the required knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviors expected by Audi Canada and AUDI AG.

Sales Manager Core training will be offered in Toronto March 2-4, in Montreal on March 15-17, and in Vancouver on March 22-24. Invites have already gone out to eligible participants.

After Sales Training News

To ensure you and your employees get all your training class confirmation emails, please update your email address in the CRC, found under My profile. 

Network Development 

Audi Canada Academy 

 

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Audi Canada

Newsletter

Launch Audi Q7

Launch communication is ongoing, specifically with print insertions as well as out-of-home and in the digital space, with re-targeting activities to drive traffic to the audi.ca/Q7 pages.

Launch Audi A4

Following Q7 launch communication, the Audi A4 launch communication will con-tinue. With the communicative positioning of “Progress is intense” we emphasize the technology features of the car. The media strategy is focused to generate awareness and also to drive consideration in order to increase traffic to your dealer-ship. We will invest in video assets on TV and online, but also invest heavily in search, re-targeting and other digital initiatives.

As configurator and model pages are already live, here are the next important launch communication milestones:

February 19th: dealer marketing material (classic and digital admats, social media assets, dealer PDF ) on Audihub

February 22nd:

Shipping of dealer DVDs to dealerships

A4 Loyalty DM will be sent out and in consumer’s homes. Please work with your AGMs and Portfolio Managers to determine who has the loyalty offer to allow you to conduct follow up calls. Included is the actual A4 DM that can be used.

March 5th: Go live with enhanced model pages

March 28th: Start of mass media communication

More information on the launch communication will come towards the end of Feb-ruary.  

Digital Marketing

We will start to roll out recommendations of model pre-configurations this month within the model pages. Further roll-out to almost every model will continue where users need more guidance due to complexity of different lines and offer structures.

Social Media

The following videos and content is accessible via our social channels:

“Chain Reaction” – Project with RedBull including the RS7

#quattroroadtrip: Four skiers make a roadtrip from Vancouver to Alaska in search of an adventurous experience

Land of quattro contest: Audi drivers are asked to share their ultimate quat-tro experience to win attractive prizes

Q7 educational videos to explain the technology features of the car 

 

Marketing 

 

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Audi Canada

Newsletter

Dealer Marketing

Spring into Audi Event

The Spring into Audi Event retail creative will be available via the Audihub effective March 1st. Included is print, Ad Mat and digital material. Various options will be offered for dealers to choose from for the launch of the campaign.

Chinese New Year Advertising

Assets were created for the Chinese New Year celebration. Two versions will be available on Audihub for dealers to download. Assets such as Ad Mats and Digital Banners showcasing the all-new Q7 and the A6 will be available starting February 8th.

CRM

Audi Magazine

The winter issue of Audi Magazine will be available to readers starting mid-February with Toronto Auto Show. This new issue will focus on highlighting the all-new Audi A4 and Audi R8. The magazine will also feature an array of interesting articles and stories, some of which include the Design Miami event and a quattro Roadtrip from some of the world’s best skiers in an Audi Q5 from Vancouver to Alaska.

Experiential Marketing

Auto Show Details

With the successful showcase at the Montreal Auto Show for the brand, and the unveiling of the Audi A4 and the S8 plus now complete, we are moving forward with plans for the Toronto Auto Show. Press day is scheduled for February 11th. We will open proceedings from the Audi stand and are delighted to confirm the addition of the following very special guests now included in this showcase:

Audi h-tron (press day)

RS7 Piloted driving concept

Audi R18 e-tron quattro

Unveiling of the Audi R8 and the RS7 performance with the theme of Audi Sport

Audi A3 e-tron test drive on site

The opening ceremony will commence with a speech by Martin Sander, SVP Americas, AUDI AG. The very first press event of the show will be broadcast live on globeandmail.com!

We hope to welcome you all to the Audi stand over the course of the event. Should you wish to attend a public day from February 12th – February 21st, please email Vanessa.Kolczuga@audi.ca

 

Marketing 

 

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Audi Canada

Newsletter

Marketing 

The remaining show locations and dates are included below for your reference.

Toronto Auto Show Invitation

Ontario auto dealers will have exclusive PDF invitations for the Toronto Auto Show available to download on Audihub by February 6th to invite your customers to come and attend.

In addition, 64 Handraisers from last year’s Toronto Auto Show will be sent an email inviting them to participate in the Audi A3 e-tron test drive. Handraisers that sign up and book a test drive will be given 2 tickets to the Toronto Auto Show. 

Show  Date 

Toronto  Feb 11th – Feb 21st 

Quebec  Feb 29th – Mar 6th 

Calgary  Mar 8th – Mar 13th 

Ottawa  Mar 16th – Mar 20th 

Vancouver  Mar 23rd – Mar 28th 

Edmonton  Apr 6th – Apr 10th 

 

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Audi Canada

Newsletter

2017 Model Year Audi A4 exclusive Paint

Audi Canada is excited to announce the Audi exclusive exterior paint pro-gram for the 2017 model year A4. The all-new A4 can now be ordered with Audi exclusive exterior paint at an MSRP of $3,200. Please see the order guide for more information on requirements for leasing and how to order Audi exclusive items.

Audi R8 Coupé

Even faster, even more powerful, even more dynamic: The new Audi R8 is the brand’s sporty top model. The top version, the Audi R8 V10 plus – now the most powerful and fastest production Audi ever – has a power output of 610 hp, a top speed of 330 km/h and a 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time of 3.3 seconds.

Close co-operation between race-car engineers, race drivers and develop-ers has certainly paid off. This car brings concentrated motorsport compe-tence from the racetrack to the road. The completely revised vehicle con-cept of the Audi sports car assures this. It features an even more powerful naturally aspirated V10 engine – mounted according to the mid-engine principle – that fascinates with its unique sound. The high-torque engine, a new type of lightweight design and an improved quattro drive system with fully accessible and variable torque control make the Audi R8 even more dynamic – off the racetrack as well.

The new Audi R8 Coupé will have its Canadian premiere at the Canadian Interna-tional Autoshow in Toronto (February 12th-21st, 2016). Stay tuned for the upcom-ing pricing and program bulletin that will be released shortly.  

Product Planning 

 

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Audi Canada

Newsletter

2016 Canadian International Autoshow

Audi Canada will be opening the Canadian International Autoshow on Thursday, February 11th at 8:40 AM with Martin Sander as the guest speaker.

The Audi press conference will follow with featured vehicles including the 2017 Audi RS7 Sportback Performance, R8 5.2, h-tron, RS7 piloted drive concept and R18 e-tron quattro. The majority of the Canadian automotive press corps along with mainstream media will be attending and you can expect to see coverage in a variety of media outlets in the coming weeks.

Audi Tech Day: quattro in Innsbruck, Austria

Audi Canada will be participating in an AUDI AG technology day focusing on quat-tro from February 15-17th in Innsbruck, Austria. Two Canadian journalists will be attending this event from various media formats – web, blog, print. You can expect to see coverage in the following weeks.  

Latest Audi News

The 10 finalists for the 2016 World Car of the Year awards have been announced, with the winner to be announced March 24th at the New York Auto Show.

Finalists are the Audi A4 Sedan and Avant, BMW X1, Hyundai Tucson, Jaguar XE, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Mazda CX-3, Mazda MX-5, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Skoda Superb, and Toyota Prius.

World Car contenders are selected in a secret ballot by 73 international auto jour-nalists. Their choices are based on their evaluation of each candidate as part of their ongoing work.

The “Road to the World Car” began in Frankfurt September 15th followed by a four and a half day stop in Los Angeles for test drives of the North American, Japanese and Swedish contenders in November. The next stop is the Geneva International Auto Show March 1st when the top three finalists will be announced.

Last stop is New York where the winner will be declared. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the group’s partnership with the New York Show.

Public Relations