Kuhn+Witte (Jesteburg), the Senger Group (Rheine) with its Oberursel site and Autohaus Robert Kunzmann (Aschaffenburg) are Germany's car dealerships with the best strategies and projects in the three areas of vehicle sales, digitalization and workshop service. The trade journal "kfz-betrieb" named the companies the overall winners of the Automotive Business Awards 2022 in the three categories on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, in Würzburg. They thus prevailed in the top field, consisting of a double-digit number of nominated winning companies.
The trade media brand presented the Automotive Business Award for the first time this year - together with its partners Bank Deutsches Kraftfahrzeuggewerbe (BDK), CG Car-Garantie Versicherungs-AG, Loco-Soft, mobile.de and TÜV Nord Mobilität. The award is open to car dealerships and workshops of all sizes and is aimed equally at independent and brand-affiliated businesses.
The overall winner in the "Sales" category was the car dealership Kuhn+Witte (Audi, VW) from Jesteburg. Kuhn+Witte is playing a pioneering role in the structural change of companies in the industry from traditional car dealerships to integrated mobility service providers: the family-owned company has founded its own brand "Mobile Freizeit" and is bundling its new two-wheeler and motorhome business under this brand.
It also pursues a holistic consulting and service approach to electromobility. The company's sustainability strategy, the creative customer loyalty measures and the special culture at Kuhn+Witte are also exemplary: the management involved the team in the company's transformation process at an early stage, setting the course for successful implementation.
Auto Senger (Mercedes-Benz, VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda, among others), headquartered in Rheine, was the overall winner in the "Digitalization" category with its Oberursel location. The jury recognized the holistic digital and customer-oriented process for workshop service that the Group has developed at the plant and which serves as a blueprint for other companies.
The Senger Group has analyzed, broken down and restructured this process in recent years. The internal steps were followed by the customer-related process elements. The company thus achieves convenience for the customer, simplification and time savings for its own employees and reliably secures business potential.
Customers can book workshop appointments online. When they arrive at the company, the jobs are already prepared in the best possible way and all the parts they need are available. The license plates of the customer cars are recorded and the customers are guided through the workshop gate with the vehicles, with a tire scanner and a vehicle scanner recording the condition of the cars.
A few meters away, the customer can then wait in a lounge for a brief consultation - the consultation is based on digitally recorded vehicle data, which makes the necessary work clear. All in all, this takes the customer 15 or 20 minutes. After payment, the car can even be collected contactlessly via a collection station where the car keys are stored.
In the "Service" category of the Automotive Business Awards, the Robert Kunzmann dealership in Aschaffenburg (Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen Service) came out on top as the overall winner. The jury honored the entire service strategy of the Lower Franconian company. Kunzmann is always quick to pick up on new developments in the workshop business that other car dealerships and workshops do not or not yet have on their agenda.
For example, Kunzmann is one of the first automotive dealerships to use RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technology to prepare workshop orders. This saves time and frees up employees, giving them more time to advise customers.
A separate lead management system for the service business ensures that the company can realize all sales potential for itself. All information on customers' vehicles flows together in a digital vehicle file. The Kunzmann online store for spare parts and accessories is also a benchmark in the industry.
However, Kunzmann's application focused on the traditional business area of tires and wheels. Here, too, the Aschaffenburg-based company shines with a high degree of professionalization - an important strategic move: In the dawning age of electromobility, the tire business will gain in economic importance for car dealerships due to the generally lower maintenance requirements of electric cars.
These are the winning companies of the Automotive Business Awards 2022:
Winning companies in the "Distribution" category
Autohaus Kuhn+Witte, Jesteburg (overall winner in the category)
Auto Saxe, Leipzig
Autohaus Dorn, Ergolding
Autohaus Warncke, Tarmstedt
Autohaus Weeber, Weil der Stadt
Autozentrum Walter, Pforzheim
AVP Autoland, Deggendorf/Plattling
Winning companies in the "Digitalization" category
Auto Senger, Rheine/Oberursel (overall winner in the category)
Auto Empire Trading, Butzbach
Auto Weller, Osnabrück
Autohaus Heinemann/DasAboMobil, Salzgitter
BOB Automotive Group, Essen
Restemeier, Osnabrück
Schloz Wöllenstein/Viasona, Chemnitz
Winning companies in the "Service" category
Autohaus Robert Kunzmann, Aschaffenburg (overall winner in the category)
AVP Autoland, Plattling
Autohaus Glinicke, Minden
Herbrand Fichtenhain, Krefeld
Hermann Klein, Fuldatal
Neils & Kraft, Wetzlar
Auto Weller, Hamm
"kfz-betrieb" is the most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry and has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for over 100 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German automotive trade (ZDK), the professional interest group for around 38,000 car dealerships and workshops. News from the entire automotive industry can be found at www.kfz-betrieb.de and in the daily newsletter. "kfz-betrieb" is a media brand of the Vogel Communications Group. With 700 employees and a turnover of around 100 million, the group of companies is a leading provider of specialist communication and information. The group of companies is represented at 8 locations in German-speaking countries and also internationally with a focus on China. VCG offers a group-owned network of 7 communication agencies and service companies.
