Audi 2008 Annual Report Download - page 47

oday is a red letter day in
Cai Zhengdong’s life. Barely
35 years old, in the Middle
Kingdom – where age is equated with
experience, wisdom, and prosperity –
he is considered to be at a rather fool-
ish time of life. Yet Cai belongs to the
China of new values and new prosperity.
He has already done well for himself:
This design engineer heads a 20-person
team at an electrical-appliance fac-
tory on Beijing’s outskirts. Even so, he
is rather nervous when the doors of
Beijing DAD Automobile Sales open
and senior staff welcome him like roy-
alty. Today, Cai is taking delivery of his
new Audi TT. Meticulously polished,
his sports car shines in this new glass
building near Beijing’s 4th Ring Road.
Deaoda is one of the largest Audi deal-
ers in the world and one of 125 deal-
erships in all of China. In 2008, Deaoda
sold some 2,300 new vehicles – a year-
on-year increase of nearly 10 percent.
Shi Guiyuan, President of Deaoda,
knows what customers expect from a
luxury brand. No less than 28 sales-
people go the extra mile in this presti-
gious complex to anticipate every
conceivable wish a visitor might have.
This dealership intertwines Audi’s typi-
cal functional elegance with Chinese
Copy Michael Kirchberger
Photos Katharina Hesse
T
Customers collecting their new Audi. They
often spend hours of excitement getting a
feel for their automotive dream come true.
43