Almost unnoticed, A.T.U has been selling new EU cars and EU short registrations of all current makes in specially set up sales corners in 50 of its 600 German branches since mid-April. The actual seller of the cars is the Swiss multi-brand wholesaler Delta-Car. It offers a comprehensive service ranging from cross-brand new car configuration and quotations to financing and trade-in of old vehicles through to registration of the desired car.

Customers benefit from the sometimes considerable price differences for new cars within the EU, as Delta-Car in turn purchases the vehicles from 150 large dealers in various EU markets. A.T.U calls the project a "test balloon", but has already prepared 150 employees in a four-day training course for the sale of new cars and the handling of the complicated IT processing.

In connection with its entry into the new car business, the workshop chain is apparently hoping to attract affluent new customers, who until now have generally turned to a brand dealer for the purchase and, above all, the workshop support of a new or young car. A.T.U's entry into this new business segment has so far gone almost unnoticed because the workshop chain's PR machine is still at a standstill. The advisors in the test branches are to be given sufficient time to find their feet in the new sales role.

"kfz-betrieb" is the most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry and has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for 98 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German automotive trade (ZDK), the professional lobby for around 40,000 car dealerships and workshops. Daily news from the entire automotive industry is available at www.kfz-betrieb.de and in the daily newsletter. The parent company Vogel Business Media is one of the leading German providers of specialist information with around 100 trade journals and 60 websites as well as numerous international activities. Its headquarters are in Würzburg.