The new Audi Terminal is spread over 3 levels displaying up to 57 brand new cars.
A one-hour plus wait for the event to begin, quite what you don’t expect in the lines of German precision, was the curtain raiser to the Audi event on Sheikh Zayed Road last week. But when the curtains finally parted, figuratively speaking, out emerged a gorgeous surprise for the attendees, none other than the flamboyant JLO, clad in the utmost resemblance to her real self, rather than the glitter that marks its presence (or absence!), to be followed by one of the most engaging multimedia extravaganzas for a showroom launch, accentuated by a set of gymnasts that interacted with the dynamic digital projections on a super-wide screen.
Spanning three levels for usual shopping, customisation and exclusive, the new Audi Terminal is almost a museum other than a shopping paradise for car lovers.
Come to think of it, it couldn’t be any less pronounced. After all, it was the inauguration of the world’s largest Audi showroom for brand new cars!
Jennifer Lopez, sans the glamour of gold outfits, was the redemption factor for the unprecedented invitation crowd - here she is with the dynamic CEO of Al Nabooda Automobiles, Rajaram.
Al Nabooda had VIPs thronging the AED 118 million facility on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, built on three levels to create a tangibly different buying and browsing experience that included a customization bay in the mid-level. The special appearances for the evening included the R8 V10 Plus, RS 4 Avant & the Audi Etron Quattro besides the dancing, singing, acting star Jennifer Lopez herself.
The inaugural evening was one of the most remarkable openings in the land of automobiles, Dubai.
Earlier, the CEO of Al Nabooda Automobiles took us on a brief journey 40 years rearwards, about the establishment of Audi in the Middle East by the visionary Al Nabooda. Audi sold 57 cars in the region in the first year… sheer coincidence that the showroom can display the very same number of cars among its three levels. As the brand sold almost 2200 units this year and hopes to sell 3000 next year, the new facility is set to open its doors to customers on December 3rd and spans more than 15,000 sqm across three shopping levels.
In the legendary Silver Arrow series, the 16 cylinder 1936 Auto Union Type C classic car was flown in.
In the presence of Khalifa Juma Al Nabooda, Chairman of Al Nabooda Automobiles, Luca de Meo, Member of the Board for Sales and Marketing of AUDI AG, and Chief Executive Officer of Al Nabooda Automobiles, K. Rajaram, started the celebrations by pressing the symbolic Audi ignition button.
Specially flown in for the event was the Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 race car – the first hybrid vehicle to win the 24 hours of Le Mans
A total of 1.2 million man-hours and a 320 strong team working double shifts allowed the completion of the build three months ahead of time. The Audi terminal Dubai is the first phase of a AED 900 million investment program that includes the opening of new Audi facilities in Fujairah and Sharjah in 2013. A new state-of-the-art Audi Service Center for Dubai with 60 work bays is planned to open within the next two years.
