Volkswagen recognises retailer fleet achievement

Volkswagen Fleet Services has recognised the achievements of its top-performing retailers and staff at a special Fleet Awards event at a five-star hotel. As five-times winner of the Fleet News Manufacturer of the Year Award, Volkswagen puts its success in the company car market down to a combination of first class products and quality service provided by its staff.

According to Volkswagen’s Head of Fleet Services, Vincent Kinner, it’s the people serving the customers who really make a difference. That ethos was the driving force behind Volkswagen’s Fundamentally Fleet programme, which was launched in June 2005 with the aim of educating, motivating and recognising excellence within the retailer network.

Throughout the year participating candidates from Retailers across the UK have undertaken a series of activities designed to measure their capabilities, skills and product knowledge. Following assessments during the year, the 30 top performing Fleet Sales Managers and 50 Fleet Sales Executives took part in Assessment Centres at the Volkswagen Group’s National Learning Centre in Milton Keynes.

Awareness and understanding of environmental issues were among the most challenging and rewarding activities according to candidates, giving them a good understanding of Volkswagen’s BlueMotion range which sees the introduction of Golf, Golf Plus, Golf Estate, Jetta, Passat saloon and Estate variants next year.

The Awards event was held at the luxury five-star Grove Hotel in Watford on 15 December, as a way of recognising retailers’ performance as well as looking ahead and planning for the future. The event began with a business meeting, at which the department’s 2007 performance was confirmed and 2008 fleet objectives outlined. There was also a presentation on the new models to be launched next year: Tiguan, Passat Coupé and Scirocco.

In the evening a dinner was held for 250 people, including the Managing Director of Volkswagen Group UK, Robin Woolcock and Hans Andree, Head of Fleet Sales and Rent-a-Car at Volkswagen AG. Vincent Kinner presided over the official awards ceremony, turning the spotlights on those individuals who had demonstrated their passion for Being Volkswagen, that is to say, ‘doing ordinary things extraordinarily well’.

Commenting on the event, Kinner said: ‘I’m delighted to be able to meet so many individuals who make such a difference to our business. There were many new faces in the programme this year and the quality of candidates was particularly high. Attending this event has made me extremely proud of Fundamentally Fleet and what it has achieved, and it also gives me great confidence that Volkswagen Fleet Services can continue its success in the coming year.’