THE ATL Group of companies has signed dealerships with two of Germany’s leading motor vehicle marques, Volkswagen and Audi, which will now see their renowned automobiles sold in Jamaica by ATL Autohaus, a division of ATL Automotive Limited.

The new dealerships see ATL, headed by Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, investing US$13 million in the construction and fitting of new premises for the dealerships, with US$8 million committed for this year alone.

Already three premises, comprising of a total of 42,000 square feet, have been earmarked for the dealerships. In May of this year an 8,000-square foot facility, located on Oxford Road and offering sales and full services for Volkswagen passenger and commercial vehicles, together with Audi cars, will be open to the public. In the meantime, people with Volkswagen vehicles can get them serviced at ATL’s workspace at the Oxford Road location from March 15.

The Oxford Road facility will be in close proximity to the proposed site of Sandals City Hotel, which is due to open in 2012.

In July of this year another dealership site will be opened in Bogue, Montego Bay. Coming in at 9,000 square feet, it will house not only Audi and Volkswagen but also Honda, the dealership which ATL initially started in 1997. This new dealership will be the best ever seen in the country’s

second city, combining both German and Japanese specifications.

Next year sees the grand opening of ATL Autohaus’ magnificent 25,000-square foot dealership on Hagley Park Road. Honda Motors, which has served ATL very well for 13 years, will continue to operate from Hagley Park Road with its sister dealerships close by.

ATL sees growth in the automotive industry in Jamaica. With over 400,000 vehicles in Jamaica and that figure expected to increase year on year, the Group sees it as good business to partner with Volkswagen, which already is Europe’s leading car manufacturer and poised to surpass Toyota as the world’s leading car brand by sales.

Volkswagen

aims to be number one

Founded

in 1937, Volkswagen is based in

Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen means “people’s car” in German and its current tag line is “Das Auto”. By November of last year — before Toyota was beset by mechanical and technical difficulties leading to massive recalls worldwide — Volkswagen had briefly overtaken it as the world’s leading car manufacturer selling 4.8 million compared with Toyota’s 4 million, according to IHS Global Insight. Volkswagen has set itself a target of becoming the undoubted and sustainable number one car maker by 2018, having already surpassed General Motors on its way to taking on Toyota.

The Volkswagen Group comprises all the Volkswagen brands including the Beetle, Jetta, Passat, Golf, Polo, Rabbit, and the Touareg as well as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, Skoda, Porsche and Scania heavy trucks.

The German automobile company has won many awards over the years. Consumer Reports named the Golf GTI as the the top sporty car under US$25,000 and it was included in Car and Driver magazine’s “10 Best” for 2007. In 2008 Motor Trend ranked the Passat first in

its class.

Last year saw the new Volkswagen Golf Eos coupe convertible and the new Golf GTI claiming top awards at the awards held in London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. The new Golf won the prize for “Best Small Family Car”.

Group Editor of What Car? Steve Fowler said at the ceremony: “While the Porsche Boxster S is a sensational sports car, and the Mazda MX-5 offers fresh-air fun at a low price, neither can compete with the Volkswagen’s combination of driving pleasure, everyday practicality and affordability… Volkswagen’s convertible is a cracking car to buy, then as well as a hoot to own. What more can you ask for?”

The year also saw Volkswagen’s latest security system honoured at the BusinessCar Techies Awards with the advanced electronic Intelligent Key being named Best Security Device.

This is a new standard feature on all Volkswagen Touareg 4×4 and Phaeton models. The key maintains a record of whether the car has been locked and alarmed. By simply pressing a button on the key and looking at the red light indicator, an owner can check, even when not with the car, the ‘locked’ status of his or her vehicle. It can also provide vital evidence to insurers and fleet managers as they confirm by interrogating the car key’s data chip whether the vehicle was secured or if thefts or break-ins occured.

The end of the decade also saw Volkswagen bagging the International Engine of the Year Award for its 1.4 TSI twincharge engine. The award is a milestone for Volkswagen, having beaten out Toyota for its new electric hybrid power plant.

For the year 2009, Volkswagen posted sales of 105.2 billion euros resulting in a net profit of 960 million euros. Deliveries to customers increased year-on-year to 6.44 million vehicles from 2008.

“Revenue and operating profit for 2010 are expected to exceed the prior-year figures,” the company said in a statement following a supervisory board meeting held on Friday. Volkswagen is expected to carry out a rights issues to underpin its bid to overtake Toyota as the world’s biggest automaker by 2018 and possibly help reduce debt at Porsche, the luxury sports car maker it took over last year.

“We therefore anticipate that our deliveries to customers will be higher than in 2009. We will also continue to focus on cost and investment management and optimising our business,” Volkswagen said in a commentary on its financial performance for 2009.

Audi making ‘progress through technology’

Audi is fast gaining on its illustrious German premium car-making competitors, Mercedes and BMW, and has vowed to supersede them in terms of sales in the not-too-distant future. According to Vice-President of Audi Latin America, Juergen Deforth, four years ago Audi had 16 per cent of the premium market segment in the region (which includes the

Caribbean) and last year it finished with 28 per cent.

“We have set ourselves the target of becoming number one in the premium market segment in the region. We are already number one in both Europe and China. As far as the Caribbean is concerned we are already number one in both Trinidad and St Lucia.

“I am very pleased that we have found a reputable partner in the ATL Group for our cars in Jamaica and, in a short period,there is no doubt that ATL Autohaus will be the number one brand in the premium segment

in Jamaica.”

In 2008, Audi set a new record selling over one million vehicles and racking up revenues of 34.19 billion euros which resulted in profits of 3.17 billion. Headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bravaria, it has been a subsidiary of Volkswagen since 1964.

Audi Latin America is determined to push the brand across the

Caribbean and here its marketing manager Michael Adolf will play an instrumental role.

“As far as Jamaica is concerned, we are looking to replace both Mercedes and BMW in the premier segment. The quality of Audi’s engineering, technology and styling speaks for itself and we are gaining on our competitors in practically every territory in the world. Our expectation is to be the leading brand in the countries in which Audi has a presence in the Caribbean by 2015. Our goal is to have 33 per cent market participation in the premium segment of the region,” said Adolf, talking with Sunday Finance from Malaga in Spain.

Audi’s advertising strapline is “Vorsprung durch Technik”, a German phrase which translates as “progress through technology”, and that is what Audi is all about. It gained ground with its air-cooled engine technology, the cylinder engines of the Audi 60, its galvanised body work, the quattro system, and its Q7 which takes on the very best of SUVs.

Vorsprung durch Technik, as they say in Germany, Austria, London, New York and now Jamaica.