CRM Implementation in AudiIn the early 2000s, when global automotive markets, especially luxury car markets, were becoming increasingly competitive and consolidated and product innovation was increasingly becoming an imperative for all major luxury car manufacturers, Audi has made the strategic decision to make Premium Customer Experience with CRM support its core competency with a long-term commitment to making the lifecycle and the car buyer experience as simple and personalized as possible. The case mainly chronicles Audi's CRM progress up to 2004 and focuses primarily on operations in Italy and the steps taken in that region. IntroductionAudi is a majority-owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group (VW) and is headquartered in Germany and operates in more than 100 countries. With its commitment to implementing progressive technologies and its technological ingenuity, Audi became a globally respected brand among luxury automakers in the late 1990s. After its entry into the luxury industry in the early 1990s, Audi leveraged its ingenuity and gained a competitive edge on industry metrics of innovative design, safety and performance. Today, Audi remains focused on meeting customer needs by building a brand that exemplifies individuality, exclusivity and excellence. Reasons behind implementing CRM Audi started its CRM initiative mainly due to the following factors:  Changing trends in customer purchasing behavior  Improvements in customer relationships taking place in other industries. Competitive landscape, pressure further increased by the upcoming block exemption rules in Europe Difficulty in managing customer relationships in a dealer-oriented multi-level sales organization.Two main objectives that encouraged Audi to invest in CRM we..... . middle of paper ......or the overall customer touchpoints in marketing, sales and service. Although the case was mainly about CRM implementation and pilot program in Italy, the same program has been launched in many other countries around the world. Going forward, Audi plans to enhance its outbound telemarketing efforts to increase the scope of direct customer interaction. Audi also plans to introduce components of its CRM system into the dealer system in order to achieve comprehensive collaboration. Audi also plans to apply its CRM insights to its mass advertising efforts in order to better target them towards the target customer segment. References  Peppers & Rogers Group (2004), “CRM: ROI Review” for Audi, volume three, number 2.  E. Thompson, A. Bona (2004), “Audi's three steps to a winning CRM strategy”, Gartner Research. http://global.sap.com/corporate-en/news.epx?pressid=1393