Volkswagen Australia sells $26m worth of cars online since April

Volkswagen Australia says it has had a strong response to making its entire local line-up available to order online.

The company first made its new T-Roc compact SUV available online in January, before expanding it to include the entire range in April.

Since then, the brand says it’s sold 433 vehicle online, with 349 online customers buying a Volkswagen Care Plan.

Eighty per cent of these opted for the full five year Care Plan over the alternate three year version, securing the first year’s service for free in the process.

It means around 2.65 per cent of new VW’s sold since April were via digital means, with the brand reporting 2.4 million visits to its website this year and triple the requests for dealer contact since 2019.

All up, VW Australia says it’s moved $26 million in new vehicles via online ordering so far this year.

Under the program, buyers can configure and personalise their vehicle online, before placing a $500 deposit.

A designated dealer then makes contact within 48 hours to complete the purchase and manage delivery.

Other brands have made a similar move recently, including Mini and VW’s sister brand Audi.

Volkswagen Australia customer experience and marketing director Jason Bradshaw said the growth in online sales was due to new online tools such as stock search, trade-in-valuation and pre-order.

“Our dealership partners, which are always the completion point of purchase and delivery, also directly benefit from our enhanced online ability, not least during the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.