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Volkswagen to Sell VW and Audi Cars through Separate Shops in Japan

12/27/96

Nikkei English News reports that Volkswagen Group Japan has announced its intention to begin marketing Volkswagen and Audi cars with a full-scale campaign. Company sources say that it will sell the cars at different outlets, reversing the manner in which it currently sells the two brands.

By marketing the vehicles separately, the group plans to address the fact that Volkswagen customers differ from Audi customers demographically. The company will set up several pilot shops next fiscal year, and then develop specialty outlets for each of the brands. Initial outlets will be placed in and around large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. Early next year the company will open showrooms for each brand at its head office in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture.

Japanese sales of the two brands from January to November 1996 totaled 55,123 units. The company predicts that that figure will rise to about 60,000 units by the end of the year, and expects VW cars to account for 50,000 of those sales. VW's previous record annual sales total was 53,461 units, which it attained in 1990 through its former sole sales agent, marked by Yanase & Co.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel