Audi Korea, which saw car sales almost double this year, aims to sell 16,000 vehicles next year, its recently-appointed managing director Johannes Thammer said at a press meeting on Tuesday.

The new Korean chief of Audi said the carmaker launched 14 new models this year into the market, with its car sales increasing 43.6 percent to 14,046 units in the first 11 months from a year ago.

He predicted a further 6 to 8 percent growth in sales next year, citing the market outlook that was recently announced by the Korea automobile Importers and Distributors Association, a business lobby for foreign carmakers here. 

Thammer, 57, who took office Friday, was also named as the representative of Volkswagen Group, the seller of Audi, Volkswagen and Bentley brands, in Korea. Park Dong-hoon remains managing director of Volkswagen Korea.

“Next year will be a year of consolidation for Audi,” he said, pledging to enhance customer experience, especially after-sales service, based on his career as the global after-sales chief at Audi Group.

According to him, Audi plans to add eight new dealerships, including four expansions, to operate a total of 23 showrooms. The number of repair centers also will increase to 22.

With the expansion of repair shops, the number of handled vehicles will increase 26 percent from the existing 134,940 units per year to 170,040 next year.

The Audi head also said the carmaker will come up with renewed lineups next year to include high performance sports cars such as the A5 Sportback and R8.

Thammer, born in Germany in 1955, is an automobile expert with more than 30 years of extensive experience ranging from product control to marketing, brand management, sales and after-sales service.

He started his career at Audi AG as a product-control specialist in 1982. He then served in diverse positions, including president of Audi China sales division and sales strategy and project head of Volkswagen Group in recent years.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)