Audi Breaks Ground at $50 Million Lighthouse Site, Following DA Approval

SYDNEY - June 16, 2008: Audi Australia Pty Ltd (Audi) has officially turned the first sod on the site where the company will build it’s $50 million Lighthouse facility.

Following the unanimous approval of the Development Application (DA) by the City of Sydney Council at a meeting held on Monday 23 June 2008, a ceremony was held on-site for all Audi Australia staff, including Audi Australia importer and Audi Australia retail teams. Around 100 employees took part in the celebration.

Audi Australia’s managing director, Joerg Hofmann, said the official groundbreaking was an important milestone for the whole Audi team, with all of the final planning steps falling into place following DA approval and the appointment of the building contractor.

“Our new Lighthouse on South Dowling Street at Rosebery will be a beacon for Sydney. With 45 million cars per year passing the site, this brand new Audi facility will be a landmark between the CBD and the airport. With 100 metres of street frontage on this busy arterial road, no-one will miss the Audi brand!” Mr Hofmann said.

“The flagship facility is representative of our outstanding achievements and the investment by our parent company in Australia is a clear message of support based on our year-on-year record growth.

“There’s no doubt it will raise awareness of the Audi brand to a completely new level. Significantly, it also demonstrates AUDI AG’s long term commitment to Australia - a key strategic growth market,” Mr Hofmann added.

Audi has also appointed the highly-regarded Southern Cross Constructions as its preferred tenderer for the building process.

Scheduled for completion in June 2009 when Southern Cross Constructions will officially handover the keys to the building, the development is one of the most significant global investments made to-date by Audi’s Ingolstadt-based parent company, AUDI AG.

Audi’s plan to develop and open the $50 million brand Lighthouse is also a clear indication of the brand’s growth potential in Australia in the coming years.

“A key part of Audi’s growth strategy in the medium term requires investment by the dealer network in facility upgrades, preparing the brand to reach 15,000 unit sales in the year 2015 and to deliver best-in-class customer satisfaction. The total investment in new and upgraded facilities within Australia will exceed $150 million by 2010,” said Audi Australia’s managing director, Joerg Hofmann.

The eight-level, 10,000+ square metre facility, was designed by Audi’s master architect Johnson Pilton Walker. It incorporates a flagship retail showroom and customer facilities, after-sales centre and commercial space which will become Audi’s national HQ. It will also be used as a brand forum for events and new product launches.

The Audi retail and after-sales facility will trade as “Audi Centre Sydney” and will champion benchmark processes, profitability, Corporate Identity, CSI and operational standards. The facility will include space for more than 25 new cars, 70 pre-owned vehicles and 20 productive service bays. The sales volume is expected to exceed 1,000 unit sales by 2015.

Audi completed the purchase of the Rosebery site in late October 2007 for $19.6 million from vendors Babcock & Brown and Payce Consolidated.