Audi goes high-tech to boost service

Audi of America Inc. and its dealers are pushing to improve dealership service departments as the luxury brand seeks to more than double U.S. sales.

Audi is offering its 272 U.S. dealers bonuses for meeting prescribed service standards. The company is paying incentives tied to the percentage of a dealership's technicians who are certified as "expert" or higher. It also is offering incentives based on "fixed right the first time" measures and on scores assigned by mystery shoppers in service areas.

At the same time, the company is doubling its technical force in the field and boosting the size of its product support and service technician help line group.

"It all runs more or less in parallel," says Marc Trahan, Audi's director of aftersales, citing the company's campaign to improve service and meet its sales growth targets.

Audi also is introducing new service tools. Among them is a high-tech ignition key that includes a computer chip and transponder. Rival BMW of North America LLC offers a similar feature.

When hooked up to a reader at the dealership, the key automatically can download a range of information: chassis number, fluid levels, service interval, warning lights, mileage and brake pad wear.

Besides saving the customer time, Trahan says, the system ensures accuracy. Once data are entered, they can be shared throughout the dealership without additional clerical work.

Audi is rolling out the service-key feature in Europe as well. But it's tougher in the United States, Audi says, because dealerships here have different computer systems that must be accommodated.

Joel Weinberger, dealer principal at Continental Audi in suburban Chicago, said he expects the emphasis on improved service to pay off in loyalty.

"I've always believed service sells a lot of new cars," Weinberger told Automotive News.

Audi finished barely above the industry average in this year's J.D. Power Customer Service Index. The study measures customer satisfaction with dealership service on vehicles as much as 3 years old.

Trahan says Audi's long-term U.S. sales goal is about 200,000 vehicles a year. In 2007, Audi sold 93,508 cars and trucks in the United States. Through September, U.S. sales were down 3.9 percent to 65,817 units.

If it hits its sales goals, Audi and its dealers will have a much larger vehicle population to service. Trahan says about 600,000 Audis as old as 5 years old are on U.S. roads.

Blake Strong, chairman of the Audi of America dealer council, says the company's dealer body "has really invested in facilities over the last five years," including service departments.

"You've gone from multifranchise dealers to exclusives," says Strong, owner of Strong Audi in Salt Lake City. "That really solves a lot of issues on service capacity."

Audi has 119 stand-alone dealerships in the United States, with 80 in development, Trahan says.

"Providing a top-shelf experience is not all dependent on the facility," he says. "But it helps, of course."