Volkswagen Dealer Profitability Improves Amid Tight Sales Market

Volkswagen Dealers Profitability Increases Ahead of Industry Average

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Aug. 6 -- Volkswagen of America, Inc., has announced that Volkswagen dealer profitability has increased to as high as 2.45 percent, ahead of the 2006 industry average of 1.5 percent.

In a tough year for vehicles sales, Volkswagen-exclusive dealers have reported an average return on sales of 2.45 percent. Across all dealers in the Volkswagen network, profitability has improved to 2.05 percent as of June 2007. These numbers are up sharply compared with December 2006 where profit percentages were 1.44 for Volkswagen-exclusive dealers and 1.5 for all Volkswagen dealers on average.

"Dealer profitability is at the core of our dealer network strategy," said Matthias Seidl, chief operating officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. "Dealer profitability is important because it benefits the customer -- profitable dealers are better able to hire and retain great sales and service personnel and ensure high customer satisfaction."

In order to maintain and grow dealer profitability, Volkswagen will maintain around 600 dealers for the foreseeable future and is working to increase Volkswagen-exclusive dealerships. The focus will continue to remain on performance in terms of sales and customer satisfaction.

"We have a way to go before we achieve a return on sales of 2.5 percent on average across all dealers, early indications are that our strategy is starting to pay off," Seidl concluded.

Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Passat, Passat wagon, Eos, and Touareg through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. Visit Volkswagen of America online at vw.com.