Porsche 2003 Annual Report Download - page 39

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decision to widen the scope of the company’s operations
by entering a new segment of the market. The success of
the Cayenne has more than compensated for the life-cycle-
related decline in sales of the Boxster and 911.
New Vehicles via a selective Dealer Network
During the year under review, the EU Competition Commission
reached a decision that allows Porsche to continue selling
its vehicles via a selective European dealer network based on
specific brand criteria. The specimen contract agreed with the
Commission for our sales and service organization ensures that
our vehicles are sold in separate showrooms and by specially
trained staff. Moreover, franchised dealerships may not open
sales outlets at other locations without Porsche’s agreement.
As in the past, Porsche will accept new service centers as
official members of the service network only if they meet
specified criteria and quality standards. In this important area
there is now no longer any question that we will maintain our
customer service at the highest level, in line with Porsche
quality standards.
Porsche Brand Architecture
We will continue to promote the Porsche dealership exterior
design concept worldwide. Since we began to do so in 2000,
the dealer organization has invested considerable sums in im-
plementing this corporate design. According to current plans,
our sales partners will invest a total of nearly EUR one billion
in construction work by the end of 2006. The architectural
design of Porsche dealerships makes an important contribu-
tion to perceived brand value. The design concept has been
extremely well received by dealers and customers alike;
the high-tech architectural styling effectively highlights the
fascination of our cars.
Most of the building work has taken place in the newer, fast-
developing markets of Southern and Eastern Europe and in
China. During the review year, new dealers opened exclusive
showrooms in Zagreb, Riga, Bucharest and in Peking. In Western
Europe and North America many new dealership buildings
have been erected and existing ones refurbished. A substantial
number of new building projects are under way or at the
planning stage. In 2004, in line with our program of keeping
the Porsche brand separate from those of other manufacturers,
for the first time more than half of the Porsche dealerships
had exclusive showrooms and workshops.
A new workshop design concept provides service-only partners
with an opportunity to upgrade their premises. In addition, a
special architectural design will be available for pre-owned
vehicle centers, so that these can also benefit from the Porsche
retail design concept.
Comparison with the Best: the KPI System
The KPI, or Key Performance Indicator System, helps dealers
and importers – the key players in a successful sales operation
– to work more closely together on improving their business
processes. The KPI system supplies an in-depth analysis of
the performance of the dealership that goes beyond purely
financial key figures such as net profit, profit on sales, or equity
ratio. In addition to these fundamental figures, the system
provides data on other areas important to the development of
the business. It can produce performance reports on all areas
of the company, including comparisons with competitors’
activities.
Our subsidiaries in the Germany, the United Kingdom, France,
Italy and Australia have already obtained positive results with
the system. Porsche Iberica and Porsche Middle East will be
the next to introduce this important tool.
Information Management within the Dealership Network
Since January 2004, the “Porsche Partner Network” has en-
abled every authorized dealer to transact business processes
electronically and access training packages and information
online. The linking of dealers to Porsche AG’s systems acts as
a basis for selective new-vehicle sales and service business.
Because information can be made available faster, this will
improve Porsche customer service throughout the world.
The “Porsche Vehicle Sales Assistant (PVA)”, a multimedia IT
support system for Porsche sales staff, became more firmly
established within our international dealership organizations
during the year under review. The PVA takes sales staff
through the sales process step by step, from initial advice