• South Yarra Volkswagen Crowned as 2010 Volkswagen Dealer Of The Year

    MULGRAVE, AUSTRALIA – January 31, 2011: Volkswagen Group Australia has officially announced the winner of the 2010 Volkswagen Dealer of the Year Awards at a gala event in Melbourne on Saturday.

    Ms Anke Koeckler, Volkswagen Group Australia’s Managing Director presented Mr Francis Mohammed, Dealer Principlal of South Yarra Volkswagen, Victoria, with the award as National Dealer of the Year.

    “South Yarra Volkswagen is a deserving winner as 2010 National Dealer of the Year with excellent performance and service across the board. But 2010 was also marked by the entire Volkswagen dealer network embracing the brand and taking it to new heights in Australia with an excellent all-time sales record. This result is the best proof of how professional and high achieving our dealer network team is and we can be very optimistic for the year ahead.”

    A total of six awards including regional categories as well as the overall Commercial Vehicle Dealer of the Year and the National Dealer of the Year were announced.

    The 6 trophies were handed over to:

    Southern Region Dealer of the Year – South Yarra Volkswagen, VIC
    Central Region Dealer of the Year – Lennock Volkswagen, ACT
    Northern Region Dealer of the Year – Wippells Volkswagen, QLD
    Western Region Dealer of the Year – Albany Volkswagen, WA
    Rural Dealer of the Year – Woodley Motors, NSW
    Commercial Vehicle Dealer of the Year – Burwin Volkswagen, VIC


    As part of the gala event, Ms Anke Koeckler also announced a $100,000 donation on behalf of Volkswagen Group Australia to the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal to help those affected by the wide spread flooding in Queensland.

    Volkswagen Group Australia congratulates all the winning dealers and their dealership staff.
    Comments 7 Comments
    1. anthony's Avatar
      anthony -
      I found them pathetic,Camberwell were far more impressive with all my dealings with both...
    1. STV4SYT's Avatar
      STV4SYT -
      I have bought my last 2 cars from South Yarra and have found both Sales and Service staff to be top notch. I will quite happily buy my 3rd from them and the 4th.

      As for Camberwell, don't get me started, my first Golf GT TDI was originally bought from them and somehow the car that was on the dock in Melbourne and ready for delivery "next week" when i placed the order somehow made its way back to South Africa where it was going to take another 7 weeks to get back to Melbourne !?!?!?.

      South Yarra had the same car (identical spec) on the floor and i had it in 4 days, even with a slight mix up and them having to find one from NSW for me.

      I tried Camberwell again when i bought the GTI last year (closest dealer to home) and to be honest i dont appreciate standing on a showroom floor without even being acknowledged for 30+ mins each time and really dont appreciate getting my car blocked in the car park for a further 20 by their delivery guy. Especially when i am a serious buyer.

      Obviously everyone has had positive and negative experiences with various dealers but if VW customers voted SYVW no1 then they must be doing something right.
    1. Corey_R's Avatar
      Corey_R -
      Quote Originally Posted by STV4SYT View Post
      Obviously everyone has had positive and negative experiences with various dealers but if VW customers voted SYVW no1 then they must be doing something right.
      Exactly, on all accounts!
      If you struck off all the car dealers in Australia that someone complained about.... well, we'd all be walking!
      All you can do is take note of both the good and the bad comments about a dealership, and well, if they've managed to be voted Number 1, then they must be doing a lot more right, than wrong.

      Good comments STV4SYT.
    1. anthony's Avatar
      anthony -
      I bought my Jetta from South Yarra,got a good deal,but even on delivery,everything seemed to be too much trouble for the salesperson.

      The dealer principal never introduced himself,just milled around,but when I had initial annoying niggles with the car,I found both service centres to be downright rude,and service manager not interested in getting teething troubles sorted out.

      When my Partner needed a new car a month later,I suggested a Golf,and we went to Camberwell.
      They were wonderful,NO ATTITUDE,good deal,and great delivery process.

      I then took my Jetta there,and told them about my issues.
      They introduced me to the workshop manager,and sorted everything out.

      They looked after me well throughout my 3 and a half year period with the Jetta,and the Golf,after 4 years,is still being well maintained by them.

      I would buy VW again,but never from South Yarra,certainly from Camberwell...
    1. stormshark's Avatar
      stormshark -
      Have to say after initial communication issue, i found SYVW very good to deal with and their follow up excellent.Their service dept albeit Xy have been probably better even than the sales dept.No surprise to me they won this award!
    1. apples's Avatar
      apples -
      Quote Originally Posted by anthony View Post
      I found them pathetic,Camberwell were far more impressive with all my dealings with both...
      It was the other way round for me.

      At Camberwell, booked a test drive of the manual TDI and the salesman wasn't even there when I turned up. Also booked a test drive for the manual TSI and was made to wait an hour as another salesman had double booked their only car in stock. They would not budge on pricing at all. Never received any follow up calls.

      South Yarra on the other hand were fantastic. The salesman I dealt with was great - a lot of follow up calls but no pressure at all and offered me what I thought was such a great price that I bought from him.
    1. anthony's Avatar
      anthony -
      I have to eat humble pie.
      We are getting a new family car,and after much looking over the past 3 weeks,have deceided on a Passat 2.0 125 TDI Highline wagon.

      I have dealt with and visited many of the dealerships in Melbourne,but are going to buy this vehicle within the next 5 days from South Yarra.

      Their deals are just the best.............
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