The company with the four rings is expanding its flexible premium mobility business in Europe considerably and is positioning the umbrella brand Audi on demand on multiple pillars. Customers in ten countries will thus be able to access around 10,000 Audi models and book them flexibly starting in fourth quarter. At the same time, the company is intensifying the integration of its own trade organization into the digital business area and is leveraging additional synergies within the Volkswagen Group.
“With this multi-channel approach, we are going full steam ahead with the comprehensive scaling of our premium mobility services. Together with our trade organization and our partner SIXT, we intend to develop Audi on demand as an umbrella brand for all mobility offers, ranging from short-term-use and subscription models all the way to long-term vehicle rentals,” says Bram Schot, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG and temporary Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales. “In doing so, we are also establishing close connections with the existing mobility services offered by the Volkswagen Group.”
Customers will be able to access the consistent SIXT-fleet of high-quality premium models via the newly developed app and web-portal of Audi on demand in the future and book them for a flexible duration of between one hour and one year. In this way Audi on demand can access the station network of the international operating mobility provider – and therefore numerous new mobility locations in city centers, railway stations and airports. More than 100 new mobility hubs are planned to open in time for the launch in Germany alone. The offer will also be available step-by-step at locations in France, Italy, the UK, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. Furthermore, Audi and SIXT agree a partnership for the usage of Connected Vehicle-/ Telemetry- technologies for the establishment of digital mobility products. The founding of a joint-venture or another cooperation under company law between SIXT SE and AUDI AG is not intended.
Furthermore, Audi is integrating its own trade organization even more deeply into the new digital business area and is thereby creating an additional sales channel: As from the fall of 2019, Audi partners will have a joint IT platform for Audi on demand that is being developed in close collaboration with the Volkswagen Group and the trade organization. The trade organization will be able to use this platform to not only digitalize its rental business but also offer flexible mobility services such as subscription models. This will allow the dealers to access new customer groups and unlock sales opportunities, make more efficient use of their own vehicle fleet and make their offer of used cars more flexible. The company with the four rings has been promoting the integration of Audi on demand into the trade organization since the fall of 2018 and has already opened up ten locations in Spain and the UK. The expansion of further dealer integrated commercial sites in the domestic market and other European markets such as France and Spain is continuing gradually.
While Audi on demand in cooperation with SIXT is focused on short daily rents, Audi on demand in the trade organization is designed mainly for renting out vehicles for a day, a weekend, or to bridge periods in which your vehicle is unavailable. Long-term rentals of up to one year are also possible.
In the future, Audi on demand customers will also benefit from the services that the Volkswagen Group is developing in the context of mobility services. This includes, for example, smart parking for public parking lots.
SOURCE: Audi
