7:40 am, March 17, 2023
Audi and sister firm Ducati are planning to launch 100 joint dealerships across the world where customers can buy both cars and bikes.
Following trials in Brazil and Germany (pictured), VW’s Premium Motor Group – which combines Audi, Ducati, Lamborghini and Bentley – said the car and bike showrooms have already been set up in 20 locations.
In an interview with Car Dealer, the chief financial officers for the two brands said they now hoped to increase those further, ramping up numbers to 100 – including some in the UK.
Ducati CFO Henning Jens told Car Dealer: ‘This is a synergy we see with the Audi group from the Ducati side and we have a model growth plan – and that includes, of course, an increase in the network.
‘We think we can speed up this growth of the network with the support of the already existing Audi dealerships.
‘We talk about different products, but we also see the cross-selling potential.
‘When we talk about sporty cars, not any car, we talk about premium cars, then we talk about sporty and premium bikes – customers are sometimes the same.
‘Many of our customers own a sporty car from our other sister brands and they also own motorbikes. So it’s a very, very obvious potential we can tap into there.
‘Wherever we enter into the market with a combined dealership, what we can see is that it definitely helps the market share. So we are very, very much looking forward to this cooperation.’
Audi and Ducati showroom in Wolsburg, Germany
The Ducati CFO could not say how many of these combined dealerships they wanted to set up in the UK as the Ducati brand is already pretty well represented here.
Audi CFO Jürgen Rittersberger added that Audi dealers have also benefitted from Ducati’s motorbike customers in those joint showrooms.
The news was released at the same time the premium brands reported a record year of profit.
The four manufacturers clocked up record profits for 2022 of £6.85bn (€7.6bn).
