Shanghai VW may halve sales centers to six

Shanghai, March 19 (Gasgoo.com) Shanghai VW is planning to merge its 12 distribution centers to six, Beijing Times reported today, citing an insider of the joint venture. The carmaker may merge its Beijing-Tianjin Sales Service Center with its Shanxi Sales Center of the nearby province.

This will be the second move by Shanghai VW to restructure its sales centers nationwide after adjusting its marketing and sales systems in 2005. And the measures are similar – to halve the sales centers, with six executives staying in charge of the sales centers and meanwhile acting as vice general managers of Shanghai VW Sales Company, who are empowered to make specific decisions in the respective units on behalf of the company.

The insider said that the merging and restructuring of these sales centers will be completed by June this year.

After overtaking FAW VW as the top seller of China-made sedans, Shanghai VW extended its lead in February's sedan market with sales of 42,899 units, up from 40,000 units it sold in January. Boosted by the sales tax cuts for small cars, Shanghai VW's Polo series saw sales growth of nearly 90% last month.

Shanghai VW fell short of its sales target in 2008, and the company has announced a more conservative 1% sales growth plan for this year, aiming to sell 495,000 units, compared with 490,000 sold in 2008. Its price cuts in mid-February were an effective move to boost sales.

Later this year, Shanghai VW is set to launch the Volkswagen SUV Tiguan model as one of the German carmaker's flagship models for the Chinese market.