# World's largest Audi centre open next week in Scotland.



## Kell (May 28, 2002)

*World's largest Audi centre to open next week*


New five-acre, 15 million-pound Audi Centre of Excellence in Scotland rewrites the car retailing rulebook
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New 56,000 square-feet Audi retail venue opens to the public in Glasgow on Monday October 11 at 8.00am â€" VIP opening party scheduled for Thursday November 25
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New location for Lomond Audi, which moves from Kyle Street, Glasgow to Braehead (off M8/A8) and is renamed Glasgow Audi 
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Â£15 million premises combines extensive sales and service space with outdoor off-road test track, cafÃ©s, kindergarten, 160-seat restaurant, museum, art gallery and conference facilities for up to 178 delegates
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The worldâ€™s largest Audi retail venue is set to become a new Scottish landmark when it officially opens for business in Glasgow on Monday October 11, 2004, dedicating 56,000 square feet to a premium customer experience that is pure â€˜Vorsprung durch Technikâ€™.

This ultra-modern new landmark Audi retail centre, located in Braehead just off the M8/A8 and minutes from Glasgowâ€™s airport and city centre, is to be formally â€˜christenedâ€™ by a VIP opening reception for customers and celebrity friends of Audi on Thursday November 25.

Set in five acres of landscaped grounds incorporating 300 parking spaces, the three-storey, 110ft high building will be the new home to Glasgow-based dealership Lomond Audi, which in the process will be renamed Glasgow Audi in line with the brandâ€™s latest network policy.

Once it is fully on stream in six weeks time, the German prestige brandâ€™s new flagship site will offer plentiful new and used sales space and an exceptionally accommodating service area with 23 inspection bays, but it will go far beyond this. Customers will also be able to visit an Audi museum housing legendary Audi models such as the R8 Le Mans prototype racer, browse in a spacious art gallery that will showcase up-and-coming artists and enjoy regular fashion shows, film premiers and bespoke special events.

An Audi brand experience
Internet access will be offered in the free internet bar, and breakfast, lunch or a quiet coffee will be available in the bistro-style Le Mans CafÃ©. While adults relax in the cafÃ©, children will be able to safely let off steam in the TT Childrenâ€™s Play Area, which incorporates a miniature racetrack, PlayStation consoles and a two-tier climbing frame. Adults will also have their own play space in the grounds of the Centre in the form of a purpose-built off-road track where the allroad quattro and forthcoming Q7 Sports Utility Vehicle will come into their own.

Glasgow Audi will also offer extensive and fully equipped conference facilities for hire by independent local and national organisations. The largest of the Centreâ€™s three dedicated state-of-the-art conference rooms is located on the Avus deck on the top floor of the building and will be capable of accommodating up to 140 people.

During corporate events delegates will be able to enjoy lunch or dinner from a full Ã la carte menu in the 160-seat silver service restaurant on the top floor, dedicated specifically to conference and event use.

The Centre will also be a place of learning, housing its own Audi Academy training facility which will help Audi employees from all over the UK to familiarise themselves with the latest techniques and processes.

Commenting on the new Centre of Excellence, Managing Director of Audi UK Kevin Rose said: â€œGlasgow Audi combines a new name with an exciting new approach to retailing that fully represents the brandâ€™s core values, and will allow us to develop further our service to our Glasgow customers. It is not only an extraordinary showcase both for Audi cars and for the philosophy of Vorsprung durch Technik, but also a Â£15 million vote of confidence in the powerful future of the Audi brand in Scotland.â€


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Paid for solely by the revenue generated by customers having to replace dashpods and fuel senders outside of warranty.


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## whirlypig (Feb 20, 2003)

Might be a super impressive retail venue but won't be much use if they do what most other dealers do and furnish it with numpty sales staff.


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## David_A (May 7, 2002)

You have to sell a shed load of cars and do a shed load of servicing to pay that off !!


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## ag (Sep 12, 2002)

<RANT>

Personally I would rather have small dealerships. The name on the dealership would be the same as the man that serviced your car. There would be several dealerships in each city and one in most towns. This would generate competition and ensure that when you pay Â£85+VAT for labour, that that labour is not a 15 year old school kid on work experience.
If you want to buy a car, each region would have a dedicated sales facility where a good range of the cars was displayed. This would be run by the manufacturer, who would charge Â£25 for a test drive. This would be reimbersed on a subsequent purchase. You would order the car from whichever dealer you wanted, but not direct from the manufacturer. This would mean that expensive showrooms and demonstration fleet costs could be reduced, as could the numbers of those showroom ornaments known as salesmen.

This whole thing is going to increase the cost of the cars without making them any better. I agree that money spent on coil pack, dashpod and MAF development would be better, especially when these centres will be half empty and staffed by chimps. Not only will your servicing and repairs have to cover the losses made on running a showroom, but also a restaurant and conference suite.

They'll have a supermarket on site next and Tesco will start selling car insurance!

One of AUDI's strengths is its lack of brand image, as with VW. If they forge ahead as they are they are going to alienate those people that find the image of a BMW too Johnny-come-lately and a Merc too Old-money.

</RANT>


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## HighTT (Feb 14, 2004)

*World's largest Audi centre to open next week*

Where is the centre of the world's largest Audi ? :lol:


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## jonno (May 7, 2002)

HighTT said:


> *World's largest Audi centre to open next week*
> 
> Where is the centre of the world's largest Audi ? :lol:


.. presumably an A8 L 6.0 W12 - at a petrol pump near you...


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## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

David_A said:


> You have to sell a shed load of cars and do a shed load of servicing to pay that off !!


If i recall Audi a closing alot of dealers down and haveing one large one to cover a larger area, we're meant to be having a 3-4 million dealership being built just off the M6 jct 14
Jonah


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## b3ves (May 6, 2002)

Why posted on Other Marques? Is it because this is now the liveliest board on the TT Forum


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

I've had first hand experience of these muppets!!

If the standard of service remains the same as it was at Lomond Audi, then god help their customers. Lomond (Glasgow) Audi is the only Audi Dealer in the city of Glasgow and it's one of the reasons I got rid of my TT. The service department are completely incompetent and the service desk is staffed by people who don't know the meaning of the term 'customer service' :evil: But then again, from the experience of other forum members, it appears many other Audi Dealers are staffed by the same numpties.

As for the sales side, when I first decided to buy a TT (when it was first launched in the UK), I put down a Â£500 deposit at Lomond Audi. I was given a lead time of 18 months :roll: Anyway, shortly after putting my deposit down, the stories of the suspension/handling problems became public and I got cold feet and decided to ask for my deposit back which was easier said than done, thanks to the a*sehole salesman who basically refused to return the deposit. I eventually had to write to the Managing Director and, hey presto, a cheque for Â£500 and a letter of apology arrived within a few days.

I wouldn't go anywhere near them, which is difficult when they are the only dealer in the UK's second largest city. As far as customers go, this new idea of having one very large dealer in a city can only be a bad thing IMHO. The more dealers there are of a particular brand, the more incentive the dealer has of giving the customer a good level of service in the hope that the customer will return.


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

jampott said:


> Paid for solely by the revenue generated by customers having to replace dashpods and fuel senders outside of warranty.


Are you not buying another Audi though Tim? :?


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## PaulS (Jun 15, 2002)

> a premium customer experience that is pure â€˜Vorsprung durch Technikâ€™.


lol!

I suppose with all the 'attractions' it will be a good day out, for the kids. Will they be charging an entrance fee? And will they be able to replace a coil pack on the spot, without a fuss? :roll:

Complete waste of money IMO. Marketing gone mad. When you take your car in for repairs, or servicing, will you be seeing a model 'consultant', or an engineer?


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