Home soil

After the last 17 years presiding over the Audi brand in numerous world markets, Jeff Mannering has ‘come home’ to take over the reins of Audi Australia. The appointment marks a return to where it all started for Mannering with Audi in the late 1990s and comes at a time when he sees the Australian market on the verge of great change.

Much has changed Down Under since those early days, and in the intervening years, Mannering has accepted roles throughout the Middle East and Asia – vastly different markets, cultures and experiences – where he has been instrumental in establishing new markets and logistics operations as well as growing market share in each of the regions he has overseen.

Now back on home soil he sees tremendous potential and change ahead, but also acknowledges the challenges to be overcome, both universal issues and those challenges that are specific to Australia.

That international experience though stands him in good stead to oversee the next phase of Audi Australia’s growth, with an exciting line-up of new models poised to arrive over the next 12 to 24 months, including cutting-edge fully-electric and plug-in hybrid models. There’s a great deal to celebrate as Australia, like the rest of the world, emerges from the shadow of the pandemic and deals with global issues that include supply issues and the ongoing European conflict. 

From his initial role as regional parts manager for Audi Australia in 1998, Mannering’s roles have seen him go from establishing the Audi brand in the Middle East in 2005, before being appointed as Group Managing Director of Audi Volkswagen Middle East (AVME) in 2008. 

In 2012 he was asked to take on the role of Managing Director of Audi Singapore and after seven very successful years in that role, he moved to head-up the brand’s operations in another significant Asian market as Executive Director of Korea in 2019. 

Such a globetrotting resume is a far cry from his first job delivering spare parts while pursuing a dream of playing football. Back then, this sporting dream trumped going straight to uni, and while it may have been a means to an end at the time, there are nevertheless aspects of that very first job that stay with him to this day. 

“I originally got a job delivering parts for John Robinson Nissan in Rockdale,” he says. “And I remember John Robinson [the owner of the business] made a point of shaking the hand of every customer who bought a car, wishing them ‘many happy years of motoring’.”

“Obviously I can’t shake everyone’s hand when they buy an Audi, however I remember it was an exceptional customer experience as the owner of the business made time to say congratulations! It is a small thing that I have always remembered and I really love talking to our customers,” says Mannering.

“I love participating in our MyAudi dinners and other experiential events that we do. You really get the feel of the markets and how your brand’s going when you talk to the people who are driving the cars.”

Ultimately, business won out over Jeff’s first grade rugby league dream and after working across several different brands in retail, an offer to join Audi as regional parts manager piqued his interest even if he couldn’t easily call an Audi model to mind at the time.

“I was offered the position and I said sure, and can you tell me what an Audi model is!” He laughs.

At the time the Audi brand was relatively new in Australia and A3, A4, A6 and A8 models were the mainstay of the brand’s presence Down Under.

That exposure to the Australian operation from the beginning led to nine years with Audi Australia before heading for that first international challenge in the Middle East region, headquartered in Dubai.

“With so many nationalities represented, different dialects and not being fluent in the language, it certainly helped to actually listen to what was being said – it’s one of the most important things I learned during that time along with the importance of forming a relationship” he says of the seven years he and his family spent in this part of the world.

Singapore was likewise a dynamic environment with its own set of challenges – most noticeably from a business perspective the difference of going from a ‘no tax’ market to the highest tax rates in the world. 

With a strict limit on the number of cars allowed to be registered in Singapore each year, the cost of car ownership is amongst the highest in the world with registration fees alone reaching as high as $100,000 per vehicle when demand was at its highest.

“This very much determined the types of cars we sold,” says Mannering. “In the middle east it was all sports cars and SUVs while in Singapore the A3 was the biggest volume – all because of the cost.”

Also tasked with steering responsibilities for Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Tahiti and New Caledonia, the Singapore role was multi-faceted and the different population and social dynamic allowed for the introduction of innovations such as Audi on Demand.

Korea offered up different conditions again and the challenges of dealing in this case with strict government policies favouring locally manufactured products. The task was made all the more difficult by the advent of the pandemic. Nevertheless, over his three years in Seoul, the Audi Brand was completely relaunched and went from selling practically zero cars to more than 25000 cars a year. 

It was also nice to actually have seasons again. “We went from hot and very hot in Dubai, to just hot in Singapore and then in Korea we had 40 degree summers and minus 25 winters,” he laughs.

It also provided an excellent understanding of electric vehicles given its outstanding infrastructure and high per capita take-up of the new technology. While on a personal level, the mountainous terrain was ideal for indulging his passion for hiking – the perfect counterbalance for the wealth of international cuisine available in Seoul.

Now back home, that amassed experience will be brought to bear on the Australian market as it recovers from recent world events and looks to the future.

“I wouldn’t call it a market condition, it’s just the world that we live in at the moment,” says Mannering of the unique combination of pandemic, supply-chain issues and the ongoing conflict in Europe.

“But in the coming months supply will slowly improve and start to get back to normal so we’ll be going back to a supply driven market. We have to be sure that the entire organisation and all stakeholders are ready and that we maintain the highest levels of service and customer focus.”

Then there is the push for a greater EV presence in Australia and the various obstacles that need to be overcome.

“Australia is still somewhat behind a lot of countries when it comes to EV readiness. Consumers’ focus and understanding regarding sustainability in itself is a driving force behind people wanting electric cars,” he says.

“Distance is certainly an issue in Australia – in Korea it was maximum 30 kilometres between charging stations – but investment in new charging infrastructure has quadrupled in the last year or so and you’re going to see that increase and come on very fast.”

“Also, technology is coming on very quickly in the products we’re developing and will go a long way to removing the obstacle of range anxiety.”

Of course Mannering accepts it’ll require plenty of hard work, but his focus is on solutions as opposed to the problems.

“As automotive companies we have to think outside the box at times, because mobility is changing,” he says.

“In Korea, we took the idea of Audi on Demand further and offered a concept we called Charging on Demand, where customers could arrange Audi to come and get their car while they were at work and have it charged for them.”

“We had the [charging] infrastructure at the dealerships in Korea, so it was a way of utilising that.”

It’s important to look at the strengths of each market and look for ways to make the most of those strengths he says.

“Australia has some advantages over other markets I’ve worked in because here we have home charging and that’s a very efficient way to charge your vehicle,” he says, pointing to the fact that the bulk of trips are of short duration and a single charge each week would be more than sufficient to meet most needs.

Certainly great change is in the air and while Mannering is excited by the possibilities, his personal philosophy and emphasis on a personal approach remain unchanged.

“The customer is the focus of everything we do,” he says. “Audi is not just about buying a car, it’s about the various experiences around the car – whether it’s a service experience, a digital experience or one of the customer-centric events we have around the country.”

Those early lessons remain as relevant today with over 70 model variants available in Australia as they were back when there were less than 10.