Volkswagen Group launches aftersales program for VW, Audi certified shops

Volkswagen Group has launched its Roadside Events Platform (REP), which aims to assist customers involved in collisions and direct business to certified Audi and VW repair shops.

Mark Allen, Audi of America collision programs and workshop equipment specialist, shared some of the nuances of the platform during a webinar with Audi- and Volkswagen-certified repair centers on Tuesday. He said REP will eventually allow Audi and VW to handle first notice of loss (FNOL) after receiving permission from customers.

According to Allen, REP and Group Retail Portal (GRP) are part of the group’s Accident Damage Management (ADM) strategy, which he said is an enhanced process designed to provide customers with world-class service throughout the entire accident experience, while contributing to body shop, dealer, and OEM aftersales.

“The pillars of the ADM strategy maximize loyalty, provide a more complete cycle of communication for all parties involved, and maximize profitability for business partners, so you as well as us,” Allen said.

Currently, 89% of Audi vehicles that are involved in U.S. traffic accidents are moving through the repair process outside of the OEM’s certified collision program, “receiving repairs of unknown quality and ability,” Allen said.

“Great customer loyalty and brand loyalty are what we’re looking for,” Allen said. “About 80% of the people who’ve claimed that they’ve had an accident tend to switch, not only cars, but manufacturers and brands. They also tend to look at their insurance coverage and the service that they received from you.

“One negative customer experience can cause a customer to switch brands, and we believe it’s easier to keep a happy customer than to try and buy a new one repeatedly over and over. Positive customer experience, including brand loyalty, is the result of what happens when they’re taken care of at the time of the accident.”

Through the REP, customers have access to easy touchpoints in their cars to ask for assistance, such as through Audi Incident Assistance (AIA).

“We’ve done a lot of new rebranded marketing to create awareness with the customer, and this goes in the car as a hang tag when the car is delivered,” Allen said. “If the accident occurs and the customer’s in the car, it’s not requiring first responders because of air bag deployment.”

For example, Allen said, via telematics, the customer is routed to a specialized call center operated by Bosch to provide the accident information. The call center will then send the repair shop that information, including DTCs, and a diagram showing the damaged areas of the vehicle.

“The specialized team takes the information from the customer, and it’s broken down into two major categories,” Allen said. “One is that it requires a higher threshold of care, and we’re worried about taking care of the customer and making sure that they get the appropriate help, say if the air bags deployed… If not, then we say, ‘Look, we have this great program. We have specialized collision repairers that have been trained, tooled, and equipped that we audit every year to make sure that they’re able to do the repair for you. Can we take that information, and can we make the suggestion to you that there is a place to go to have your vehicle repaired?”

Allen said shops that sign up for GRP and REP will receive two free one-year licenses. A how-to guide on getting started is available here. AIA is complimentary on all new vehicles for four years, including towing, and is offered on pre-owned vehicles through limited warranties with a one-year extension.

Audi expects to offer a branded AIA app by the end of the year or in Q1 2026, Allen said.

Once shops receive the call center emails, they’re responsible for reaching out to customers and making the arrangements, updating the repair progression in the Customer Information Portal (CIP) and GRP, and looking for service leads in Entegral. The sponsoring dealer also receives an email about the accident about five hours later.

Within Entegral, repairers can now see position statements, how-to videos such as welding and using a riveting tool, and videos on how to sign up for GRP through REP, Allen said.

“We’re looking to make this a seamless event for the customer,” he said. “They’re not predisposed to call the auto manufacturer or dealer at their time of need… We’re all conditioned to call the insurance company before we call the auto manufacturer or the dealer, so we’re trying to change that paradigm.

“We are not anti-insurance. It is a customer that needs education, and how do we go about doing that? In this case, what we mean is that we will take the first notification of loss… Be the entrepreneurs. Be the great caretakers that you are. Reach out to the customer, arrange the repair with them, and get them in. The other thing that’s also very good about this is we tend to know about total losses a little bit quicker, and that’s important.”

Allen added that once the app is further developed, preliminary estimates will also be provided. The estimates will be developed by the OEM’s service aftersales team to provide more accurate renderings of vehicle damage based on the information coming from the cars, he said.

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Featured image provided by Volkswagen Group