In East, Dealer Tunes Up for Sales of VWs

With bright Volkswagen and Audi flags fluttering outside, and a perimeter fence freshly painted baby blue, it’s hard to miss Sven Erkner’s auto repair garage amid Ruedersdorf’s drab surroundings.

As the head of one of a new network of VW dealerships planned for East Germany, Erkner, 28, says he knows the competition will be tough, but he’s ready.

“We’ve got an advantage over others because I’ve concentrated on VW and know the car,” he said in an interview. “We’ve already got a lot of orders.”

Erkner’s garage is a rare family business that managed to survive a crippling 87% business tax imposed by the Communist authorities. In part, it was tolerated because it serviced the Soviet Embassy’s fleet of Ladas--business that helps explain the photo of Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev amid the array of semi-nude Czech calendar pin-ups and Volkswagen auto engineering diplomas that cover the walls of Erkner’s small office.

In a stroke of auspicious timing, Erkner two years ago gave up his Communist Party membership and his job as a salesman in the Department of Foreign Trade and returned to the family business that he had once rejected as a place with no future.

Because his grandfather once worked at the VW plant in Wolfsburg, he studied the car carefully and has the diplomas to show it. His knowledge gleaned from selling East German goods in the West has given him an understanding of bank credits and other elements of Western finance.

“We’re going to build a 16 by 20 meter (52 ft. by 65 ft.) glass showroom and expand the repair and service area,” Erkner said with a confident smile.

“The boom we expect (in auto sales) after July 1 will be followed by a trough,” he predicted, but there wasn’t an ounce of doubt in his voice. “I’m sure we’ll make it. All we have to do is work hard.”