Audi has launched a service plan for the A3, the first time it has developed a product for the volume market.

The three-year/60,000-mile service plan costs £250 and is intended to strengthen the connection between buying a car and loyalty on service and maintenance.

It is transferable when the car is sold and can also be sold retrospectively.

Audi expects the service receptionist to be selling more plans than the sales staff.

It will also try to sell the service plan by direct mail.

Audi, which also offers a service plan on the luxo-barge A8, says service business has risen by 10% over the past year.

Customer retention within the first three years is more than 60%, but the company wants more. “If the service plan is successful on the A3, we will expand it into other models,” says Audi UK managing director Jeremy Hicks.