• New 56,000 square-feet Audi retail venue was officially opened at a VIP party on Thursday 25th November, 2004
• New location for Lomond Audi, which moves from Kyle Street, Glasgow to Braehead (off M8/A8) and is renamed Glasgow Audi
• £15 million premises combines extensive sales and service space with outdoor off-road test track, cafés, kindergarten, 160-seat restaurant, museum, art gallery and conference facilities for up to 178 delegates

VIPs and celebrities from the worlds of sport, music and motor racing gathered on Thursday 25th November to celebrate the official opening of the world’s largest Audi retail site in Glasgow, Scotland.

Set in five acres of landscaped grounds incorporating 300 parking spaces, the three-storey, 110ft high Glasgow Audi building offers plentiful new and used sales space and an exceptionally accommodating service area with 23 inspection bays, but it also goes far beyond this. Customers are able to visit an Audi museum housing legendary Audi models such as the R8 Le Mans prototype racer, browse in a spacious art gallery showcasing up-and-coming artists and enjoy regular fashion shows, film premiers and bespoke special events.

Internet access is also offered in the free internet bar, and breakfast, lunch or a quiet coffee can be enjoyed in the bistro-style Le Mans Café. While adults relax in the café, children can safely let off steam in the TT Children’s Play Area, which incorporates a miniature racetrack, PlayStation consoles and a two-tier climbing frame. Adults also have their own play space in the grounds of the Centre in the form of a purpose-built off-road track where the allroad quattro and forthcoming Q7 Sports Utility Vehicle will come into their own.

Glasgow Audi also offers extensive and fully equipped conference facilities for hire by independent local and national organisations. The largest of the Centre’s three dedicated state-of-the-art conference rooms is located on the Avus deck on the top floor of the building and is capable of accommodating up to 140 people.

During corporate events delegates can enjoy lunch or dinner from a full à la carte menu in the 160-seat silver service restaurant on the top floor dedicated specifically to conference and event use.

The Centre is also a place of learning, housing its own Audi Academy training facility to help Audi employees from all over the UK to familiarise themselves with the latest techniques and processes.

Commenting on the new Centre of Excellence, Managing Director of Audi UK Kevin Rose said: "Glasgow Audi combines a new name with an exciting new approach to retailing that fully represents the brand’s core values, and will allow us to develop further our service to our Glasgow customers. It is not only an extraordinary showcase both for Audi cars and for the philosophy of Vorsprung durch Technik, but also a £15 million vote of confidence in the powerful future of the Audi brand in Scotland."