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RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business
His eyes gleam with excitement as he walks towards the newest BMWs and Rolls Royce cars in the showroom. As he goes on explaining about the engineering and impressive design of one of the most expensive vehicle brands in the auto industry, Arno Husselmann, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Motors, the biggest BMW and Rolls Royce showroom in the world, can make you fall in love with the machines.
Abu Dhabi Motors has a wide product range which spans across the segments from the hybrid/electric i-8 sports car, through the luxury segment all-terrain vehicles and sporty saloons and coupe’s/convertibles giving the customers a spectrum to choose from. Apart for many global accolades, Abu Dhabi Motors is known for its over 97 percent customer satisfaction rates in aftersales.
Of the top 20 Service Advisors in the Middle East, Abu Dhabi Motors had 16 advisors in this top 20, of which 1-14 are all Abu Dhabi Motors employees. To know more, we speak to Husslemann, the man behind this notable success, about UAE, driverless cars and the business figures so far.
Excerpts from the interview:
How well is Abu Dhabi Motors doing? How was 2015 for ADM business-wise?
Fortunately business has been exceptionally well. The new 7 Series has taken its rightful place as market segment leader due to its many new technologies, safety luxury and performance features and even us as experienced BMW Manager, wonder how BMW have managed to improve the ride quality so significantly over what was an excellent, previous generation. Our X-drive cars such as the X5, X6, X4, X3 and new X1 are achieving huge gains in sales. Then the 5 Series is always popular and we see strong demand for the 4 Series and our coupe cars such as the 2 Series.
2015 was a record year for Abu Dhabi Motors. We sold 13,650 new BMW’s, a new record for premium vehicle sales in the Middle East and achieved a new record with Rolls-Royce, selling the highest new as well as Provenance cars globally, for the 3rd year in a row. With Bespoke we sold the most Rolls-Royce cars for the 7th year in a row and we were awarded Rolls-Royce Global Dealer of the Year for the 4th time and the first Dealer to achieve this distinction. It is our people, the many outstanding managers and employees who fully understand our commitment to provide ‘Service Excellence’. We do not set out to work considering such results. We set out to provide customers with perfect services.
There are talks about market
slowdown. Has it affected the
business for you in any way?
There are global challenges facing all businesses today and we, as in any business have to rise to certain challenges. To maintain or grow our business is achieved by taking a larger share of the market. That means less for our competitors. We have the best products, employ the best people, have excellent systems and processes, the highest Aftersales standards and bring our cars with the highest levels of available options, individual and Bespoke. We cannot perform badly given the focus and effort we put into our business daily.
We expect an increase in business in 2016. Year-to-date we are 13 percent up in sales volumes over the same first quarter of last year. We market out cars responsibly and make sure we protect our resale values. The value we added in these market conditions was to increase our service plus repairs offer from 5 year’s/100,000 km’s to now 8 years and/or 160,000 km’s for servicing and 6 years and/or 200,000 km’s for repairs.
What are you views on the overall technology of automation in the
automobile sector?
Driverless cars are certainly coming, but there are questions that need satisfactory answers first. If the car has to make a choice to avoid or minimize any risk to its occupants, and that choice is to either drive into a truck or run over pedestrians standing on the side of the street, which choice would be morally right and which choice would the car make? Imagine the legal consequences of this.
At present, we have certain driver systems in place that can enable us to take our feet and hands off the controls, such as “active cruise control†which will automatically stop or accelerate the car according to traffic and driving conditions ahead. We also have lane departure warming systems which can keep the car in its lane. We can refer to this first phase as hands and feet off, but we still need to keep our eyes on the road and our minds engaged.
The next steps in driverless systems will be eyes-off, followed by brain-off. These 2 steps will take longer to reach here, but they are certain to come as technologies advance and answers to the moral dilemma can be found or introduced. Automation will reduce the potential risk of accidents and this is a good thing. These systems will eliminate or reduce the risk of tired or impatient drivers and likely make some journeys more pleasurable, such as families travelling together and being able to interact more. The BMW Group maintains our driverless cars of the future will still have a steering wheel and controls so we can decide when we want to drive or not. But if you need to urgently reply to an e-mail while on the road, you can switch the car to driverless mode, which is hands, feet, eyes and brain-off, whilst the car takes over the controls of the car. Seeing we will always have the choice, I support the advent of driverless cars to arrive as soon as possible.
Can you share the numbers of new vehicles of both brands (BMW and Rolls Royce) that were handed over to buyers in 2015 and 2016 till now?
We had 36% growth in 2015, and YTD our sales are up by 13% with BMW. We are just short of 5,000 new BMW’s delivered YTD in 2016.
What is the newest technology in
automobiles that is defining your
industry in present times?
There are so many good features. Personally our new “Executive Drive Pro†suspension control system combines exceptional ride comfort with dynamic handling characteristics and is far ahead of anything our competitors can offer. Active roll stabilization, for the first time now electro mechanically operated, reduces body lean in corners and enhances the driving experience.
We have Dynamic Damper control and Integral Active Steering, the most advanced systems available that improve steering comfort and stability. We have laser lights, the first company to launch these in a production car, advanced head-up display, Night Vision, Lane Departure Warning, Pedestrian Warning, Active Protection, Executive Lounge, Sky Lounge Panoramic Glass Sunroof with lighting control and efficient dynamics. The newest technology in engines is eDrive, an intelligent drivetrain that unites a high-voltage lithium-ion battery, a petrol engine and an electric motor. The electric motor can power the vehicle independently, or support the engine for more power delivery. During coasting and braking the motor transforms kinetic energy into electric energy, for use by the electric drive system. This technology delivers more power from smaller, more efficient engines, results in lower emissions and lower fuel consumption. The fantastic i-8 has won global appeal for its advanced drivetrain, performance and beautiful design and was the Wheels “Car of the Year†in 2015. BMW is setting the standard which others will have to follow.
Are there any recent projects you are working on?
We are going to be developing our Khalidiya showroom over the next 18 months. This will be the new benchmark showroom in the Middle East. It will also house the largest Rolls-Royce showroom in the world. We have the existing benchmark showroom in Umm Al Nar which is the largest in the world for Rolls-Royce as well as BMW.
What scope of growth do you see in the overall auto industry in UAE the backdrop of Expo 2020?
With any increase in economic activity there will be an increased demand for cars. With an imminent influx of businessmen and visitors, rental car companies, fleet operators and car dealers will have more showroom traffic and opportunities.
What are the latest BMW and Rolls Royce models in ADM at this very moment?
We have just received our first Rolls-Royce Dawn which is an exciting addition to our range. In BMW, we are busy preparing unique BMW i8’s in very special colour combinations and unique interiors. We are the exclusive AC Schnitzer dealer in the UAE and can enhance the sports car appearance of the i8 significantly with the addition of the carbon fibre elements, new light-weight alloy rims and a rear wing. The new M2 has arrived and we will soon get the new M4 with Competition pack as well as the M4 GTS with 500 Bhp and a sophisticated water-injection system. In the latter part of 2016, we will receive the all-new Alpina B7 with 600 Bhp, can reach 0-100 kph n 3.9 seconds and is electronically limited to 310 kph.
All Alpina cars now are supplied as standard with the full BMW International Service plus repair package. The new X3 40i and X4 40i are arriving in late May and these powerful additions will add appeal to already
exciting models.
