D'IETEREN AUTO AVIS EUROPE BELRON

06 PROSPECTS AND OBJECTIVESD’IETEREN ANNUAL REPORT 2010D’Ieteren Auto“D’Ieteren is less cyclical than manybelieve. Witness our profit resiliencethrough the recent crisis.”4.Public authorities aretrying to reduce carusage in cities and taxCO 2emissions. Hasthis policy affectedD’Ieteren Auto?We notice a trend towards the purchaseof smaller vehicles and smallerengines. This is certainly linked tothe increasing “green” awarenessamong motorists and to CO 2incentives.Roughly one third of new carssold in Belgium in 2010 benefited fromthe government incentives. The qualityof the Volkswagen group’s brandand model ranges enables us to playan active part in this development,thanks to appealing small models andcleaner engines.5.Although many carmanufacturers havelaunched or will shortlybe launching electricvehicles, Volkswagenseems to be laggingbehind. Doesn’t thisthreaten D’IeterenAuto’s marketshare in Belgium?Did you know that VW was a pioneerin this area? The fully electric GolfCitySTROMer was launched in 1993!But the market is not ready yet for theelectric car, with the lack of charginginfrastructure and the uncompetitivetotal cost of ownership of electricvehicles compared to their dieselengineequivalents. What’s more,Belgium has been hesitant so farin offering incentives for electricvehicles. We’ll have to be patientuntil electric vehicles become asignificant part of the market andof the car park. That said, electricalvehicles are one of the prioritiesof the Volkswagen group, whichannounced the E-Up! for 2013. We’lltherefore be ready when needed.6.Are you concernedthat the importcontract betweenthe VW group andD’Ieteren may endat some point?The VW group’s practice is to distributethrough importers in smallerEuropean markets such as TheNetherlands, Belgium or Switzerland.Our relationship with VW has been inplace for 62 years now! And on severalrecent occasions, VW group presentedus with the “Best Importer” award,thereby showing its appreciation forthe role we play in Belgium and the20% market share we achieved.