Farmer Audi repeats title success

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Farmer Audi celebrate winning five trophies at the Audi Excellence Awards 2020  

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Ebbett Audi enjoyed a successful night at the glitzy ceremony  

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Dean Sheed, left, general manager of Audi NZ, and Blair Woolford, general manager of Farmer Audi  

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Dean Sheed, left, and Andrew Unternahrer, dealer prinicipal of Ebbett Audi  

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Comedian and actress Urzila Carlson was MC for the night  

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The 2020 Audi Excellence Awards were held in Auckland at the end of March  

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Dean Sheed, general manager of Audi NZ, addresses guests at the annual awards  

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Craig White, left, general manager of European Financial Services, and Scott Windelburn, business manager at Continental Cars  

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Staff and partners from Southern Motor Group and Queenstown Motor Group: Demetri Raffills, left, Kate Crawford, Craig Brook, Kyleen Brook, Tracy Wright, Duncan Wright, Yvonne Cummings, Ken Cummings  

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 Claire Dalton, national sales manager for Audi NZ, and Blair Woolford, general manager of Farmer Audi  

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Oona Brown, left, wife of Audi’s national service manager Alex Brown, Claire Dalton, national sales manager, and Megan Brewer, Audi brand and communications manager  

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Alex Brown, left, Audi’s national service manager, and Richard Scott, service manager at Giltrap Audi  

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Mark McCartney, marketing manager of Audi NZ, and Samantha Headifen, marketing manager at Farmer Autovillage  

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Alex Brown, left, national service manager of Audi, and Richard Wren, service manager at Ebbett Audi  

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Pene Hemus, left, marketing/sponsorship co-ordinator for Giltrap Audi, Mark McCartney, Audi marketing manager, and Caid Szopa, digital marketing co-ordinator at Giltrap Group  

Farmer Audi in Tauranga has been named the marque’s Dealer of the Year for the second year running.

It was one of six gongs for the dealership at Audi New Zealand’s annual Excellence Awards, which were handed out during a glitzy celebration in Auckland.

Farmer Audi’s other successes included Blair Woolford being named sales manager of the year, Mark Ferguson winning the parts manager of the year category, and Shaun Marburg taking out two non-metro titles for sales specialist and Audi Sport sales specialist.

The company’s Samantha Headifen also scooped the marketing award for its customer communications around Covid-19 and an innovative programme to introduce more people to e-tron.

Woolford, general manager of sales at Farmer Audi, says: “Being recognised as the Audi Dealer of the Year for the second year running is a well-deserved reward for our extremely hard-working and close-knit team.

“I am especially proud of their commitment to treating customers with respect and integrity, which has been critical in developing the strong relationships that we have with our customers.”

Ebbett Audi of Hamilton was another big winner as it took out four awards. It won the crown for customer satisfaction, while Doane Hattingh topped the technician of the year category, Ben Aldred was named apprentice of the year, and Annika Lourens collected the service advisor of the year award.

Audi dealerships in Auckland walked away with five of the event’s top prizes. Continental Cars Audi claimed three of those, with Scott Windelburn picked as business manager of the year, Kerry Hoffman prevailing in the Audi Sport sales specialist section and Nathan McAlwee was named used car sales manager of the year.

Giltrap Audi claimed a double as Cameron Gemmel won the metro sales specialist award and Richard Scott topped the service manager category.

Dean Sheed, general manager of Audi NZ, says the Audi Excellence programme rewards those across its dealer network that deliver outstanding results across the metrics it applies to customer service.

“It is critically important that our customers are treated with the utmost care, and the challenges of 2020 provided an opportunity for our dealers and staff to really follow through on that focus,” he explains.

“Congratulations to all of the winners for their outstanding performances in 2020. Especially Mike Farmer and the team at Farmer Audi – it is a fabulous result for their hard work throughout what was a difficult year for everybody.”

Audi Excellence Awards 2020

Category: winner; finalists

Apprentice of the Year: Ben Aldred, Ebbett Audi; Andrew Lewis, Archibald’s Audi

Technician of the Year: Doane Hattingh, Ebbett Audi; Michael Lanham, Farmer Audi

Service Adviser of the Year: Annika Lourens, Ebbett Audi; Andrew Crosthwaite, Ebbett Audi

Service Manager of the Year: Richard Scott, Giltrap Audi; Richard Wren, Ebbett Audi

Parts Manager of the Year: Mark Ferguson, Farmer Audi; Andrew Cox, Eurocity

Business Manager of the Year: Scott Windelburn, Continental Cars; Kelsie Bidois, Farmer Audi

Metro Sales Specialist of the Year: Cameron Gemmell, Giltrap Audi; Kerry Hoffman, Continental Cars

Non-Metro Sales Specialist of the Year: Shaun Marburg, Farmer Audi; James Jones Ebbett Audi

Metro Audi Sport Sales Specialist of the Year: Kerry Hoffman, Continental Cars; Cameron Gemmell, Giltrap Audi

Non-Metro Audi Sport Sales Specialist of the Year: Shaun Marburg, Farmer Audi; James Jones, Ebbett Audi

Sales Manager of the Year – Used: Nathan McAlwee, Continental Cars

Sales Manager of the Year – New: Blair Woolford, Farmer Audi; Jason Young, Ebbett Audi

Marketing Award: Samantha Headifen, Farmer Audi; Giltrap Audi

Customer Satisfaction – Dealer of the Year: Ebbett Audi, Robertson Prestige, Archibalds Audi

Audi Overall – Dealer of the Year: Farmer Audi; Giltrap Audi, Ebbett Audi