Nestled in the Adelaide Hills district, Duttons Volkswagen in Totness took out Volkswagen Group Australia’s 2018 National Dealer of the Year award, the 2018 Volkswagen Rural DOTY award and was one of 10 dealerships from its 100-strong network to take out a ‘Premium Dealer Award’.

Duttons’ Murray Bridge Hyundai was also recently crowned 2018 Platinum Dealer of the Year, marking it as the number-one dealership for the South Korean brand in Australia last year and also bringing with it coveted ‘Platinum Dealer’ status.

Fully loaded: Duttons Automotive managing director Jack Dowling has his arms full with VW’s 2018 National DOTY award and Rural DOTY award

Duttons Automotive is a third-generation family owned business that represents seven brands across three dealerships – two in Murray Bridge and one in Totness (Mount Barker).

Managing director Jack Dowling was on hand at Volkswagen Group Australia and Hyundai Motor Co Australia’s respective awards presentation ceremony and paid tribute to the hard work and dedication of staff across the group.

Duttons Adelaide Hills sales manager Adrian Murray also recognised their efforts, saying he was “incredibly proud” of the team that showed “such focus and determination to be the best”.

“Awesome effort – a massive win for us and our clients,” he said.

Presented during the week-long ‘Volkswagen Annual Experience Summit’ held in Brisbane recently, the German brand’s top retail awards also saw another South Australian dealership, Southern Volkswagen in Reynella on Adelaide’s southern suburban fringe – established by Joanna and Peter Altman in 2012 – named Provincial DOTY.

The Metro DOTY award went to Sydney City Volkswagen based in Botany, south of the CBD, which is led by Darryl Pribut and Anthony Politis and has featured in previous years at VW’s annual retail awards.

As part of the program, VW awards a select group of 10 retailers ‘Premium Dealer’ status each year, with others reaching this mark in 2018 including three in Victoria (Berwick Volkswagen, Ferntree Gully Volkswagen, Waverley Volkswagen), three in New South Wales (Paul Wakeling Volkswagen, McCarrolls Volkswagen and Sutherland Volkswagen) and one in Tasmania (Jackson Volkswagen).

Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) director of customer experience and marketing Jason Bradshaw said the winners were chosen from a “balanced scorecard, not merely sales results, reflecting our brand’s commitment to quality across the entire customer experience”.

Mr Bradshaw also pointed to the recent ‘Experience Summit’ – which included more than 800 VGA staff and delegates from the national dealer network and was billed as the biggest customer training exercise held by an auto importer in Australia – as an example of programs that are leading to improved results in sales and aftersales areas.

He has also established a week-long “immersive training program” for dealers and will take 35 representatives to the United States for this later in the year.

“Since 2016 we have taken 400,000 responses to our customer sales and aftersales experience survey,” Mr Bradshaw said. “Customer feedback confirms that programs like the Experience Summit have translated to meaningful improvements.

Southern Volkswagen DP Joanna Altman with VGA director of customer experience and marketing Jason Bradshaw (left) and director of passenger vehicle sales Ben Wilks

“Independent studies like JD Power’s Sales Satisfaction Index also shows improvement, specifically a six-position improvement in rank year-on-year.

“Volkswagen remains the only automotive brand to publish on its find-a-dealer website the performance of its dealerships as measured by customers, by displaying an easy to understand star rating for every dealership across sales and aftersales.”

Hyundai’s points-based 2018 Platinum Award program marks the sixth year the scheme has been running and, according to HMCA, “encompasses performance metrics in every area of dealer operations, from sales to stock control and from parts and service to accounting”.

The company says that reaching Platinum Dealer status “requires operational excellence across the business spectrum, and flags the dealers who have risen above all others” in a particular year.

As well as Murray Bridge, there were 11 dealerships at this level last year, including no less than eight in Victoria – Dandenong Hyundai (DP Shane Lennon), Harrison Hyundai (Nic Harrison), South Morang Hyundai (Anthony Calderone), Cranbourne Hyundai and Berwick Hyundai (Tom Davis and Anthony Bell), Jefferson Hyundai (Matt Fraser), Lakeside Hyundai (Dan McMonagle) and Werribee Hyundai (Jim Vuckovic).

That left two in New South Wales – Castle Hill Hyundai (Neil Berry) and Heartland Hyundai (Lee Pitcock) – and two in Queensland – Llewellyn Hyundai (Wade Llewellyn) and Zupps Hyundai (Peter Campbell).

By Terry Martin

Murray Bridge Hyundai dealer principal Jack Dowling (centre) with Hyundai Motor Co Australia chief executive JW Lee (left) Hyundai Motor Asia-Pacific head YT Lee