Pulman Charity Golf Day an annual success

Pulman recently hosted the hugely successful annual charity golf day at its usual location, Chester le Street Golf Club.

The golf day is a fantastic event that brings together local businesses and raises a great deal of funds for local charities, namely the NSPCC and the Freeman Hospital.

With great prizes on offer and donations from sponsors such as Adidas, the competitors enjoyed every minute and with the completion of the charity auction, the whole event raised £10,000 for the charities above.

The golf day also benefitted from celebrity endorsement with auction items donated by Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen of the England Cricket Team.

Pulman would like to thank all the sponsors of the golf day and hope to raise even more funds for charity next year.

To learn more about the golf day, please visit the Pulman Charity Golf Day website.

To learn more about Pulman please visit the Pulman Volkswagen website.

Volkswagen unveils 265PS Scirocco R

Volkswagen unveils their long awaited Scirocco R model, taking the fight to the Ford Focus RS. Click "read more" to get the full low down on this new model.

As the Volkswagen squad prepares to take to the grid this Saturday for the Nürburgring 24hrs, a new road car model will hit the track to give spectators the first glimpse of the new Scirocco R.

Designed, engineered and developed by Volkswagen Individual, the new car is not only the most powerful and fastest accelerating Scirocco ever produced but also the most focussed R model yet. At its heart is a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder EA113 engine (as opposed to the EA888 fitted to the conventional Scirocco) in heavily revised form. The block has been reinforced with an entirely new alloy head, uprated pistons, conrods and high pressure injectors. An uprated turbocharger generating 1.2 bar of boost is joined by a new intercooler to cope with the extra heat generated. The result is 265 PS and 258 lbs ft of torque – a rise of 65 PS and 51 lbs ft over the Scirocco’s current 2.0-litre TSI engine.

Drive is channelled through the front wheels via a six-speed manual or DSG gearbox. Ensuring greater grip in all conditions, especially on tight corners, is XDS (first seen on the new Golf GTI) an electronic cross-axle traction control system. As with the rest of the Scirocco range, the Scirocco R is fitted with Adaptive Chassis Control (ACC). This allows the driver to select from normal, comfort or sport modes to define the desired suspension, steering and accelerator response settings for the conditions and journey. The braking system has also been uprated with larger discs and callipers, the latter finished in gloss black.

The mechanical changes to the Scirocco R are joined by a purposeful new look. The new front bumper, featuring a set of LED running lights, is dominated by a trio of deep airdams while the Xenon lights, fitted as standard, frame a new gloss black grille element set into which is a single ‘R’ badge. Further back, the mirrors are capped in gloss black while the rubbing strips which run down either side of the standard Scirocco have been removed to be replaced by a set of body-coloured side skirts.

The rear of the Scirocco R features smoked rear light lenses and a new, rear spoiler along with a prominent diffuser finished in gloss black mounted between a pair of new oval tailpipes. The Scirocco badge and engine designation are both deleted in favour of the Volkswagen badge and a single ‘R’ logo. Completing the changes are a set of 18-inch five-spoke wheels with 19-inch versions available as an option.

The uprated look continues inside the Scirocco R. The main contact points are new sports seats complete with ‘R’ logos are joined by a gloss black finish on the centre console, vents and door cards replacing the silver highlights found on the standard car. A new three-spoke, flat-bottomed steering wheel finished in black leather with contrasting white stitching sits in front of new white backlit dials complete with blue needles unique to the ‘R’ models. As standard the Scirocco R will be fitted with a touchscreen CD stereo, 2Zone climate control, six airbags and Electronic Stabilisation Programme.

Pulman Supporting the Bridle Path Charity Golf Day

A charity golf day successfully raised over £4,000 for an Action for Children VIP Christmas party which will see local youngsters enjoy a festive day to remember.

Pulman Volkswagen supported the event which saw forty teams of golfers tee off last week at Whickham Golf Club.

The Volkswagen retailer offered a range of raffle prizes such as a car for the hole in one competition to help encourage donations.

The charitable group, the Sir John Elliot Lodge, Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) has supported Action of Children for the past 22 years by raising money for the Newcastle family project Children’s Christmas Fund. It continually calls upon local businesses to help supports its fund raising events.

Over 50 children from the Newcastle family project of Action for Children will benefit from the money raised.

The youngsters will enjoy a VIP day at a pantomime followed by an exclusive party at the Bridle Path public house in Whickham. Each child will receive a Christmas present from Santa and Birdle Path Christmas fairy.

The charity cheque was presented to the Birdle Path Christmas fairy, also known as Adelle Munro, by the Pulman Volkswagen team.

Thanking everyone Adelle said: “We are very grateful to everyone and delighted to accept the cheque on behalf of the Sir John Elliot Lodge charity group.

“The money raised will enable us to continue the Children’s Christmas party events into 2010. We very much appreciate the kind donations and support of all the golfers and local businesses who have helped to make this possible.”

The children’s Christmas parties have been taking place for the past 21 years and rely entirely on donations raised by the Sir John Elliot Lodge (RAOB) group which has been supporting Action for Children since 1987.

Mike Pulman of Pulman Volkswagen added: “We are very happy to support such a worthwhile charity group; they should be commended for their continual fund raising events. Unfortunately none hit a hole in one but there is always next time.”

Pictured are Michael Lines and Simon Sumner presenting a sponsorship cheque to Adelle Munro.

The new Government Scheme

What does the new Scrappage scheme mean for you?

• You save £2000 when you trade in a car over 10-years old.
• Pulman will dispose of your old car in an environmentally friendly way.
• An improvement in road safety, with new cars including many new safety features as standard.
• Lower road tax costs with new cars having lower CO2 emissions.
• Reduce your fuel costs. New cars are more efficient and have a much higher MPG (miles per gallon) than older vehicles.
• Peace of mind thanks to a full warranty on all new cars.
• A fantastic service from Pulman throughout the ownership of your new Volkswagen.

So how does the scheme work?

Older vehicles are seen as inefficient and costly to keep running. New vehicles benefit from advanced technology which makes them easier to service and run, and also much more friendly to the environment. New vehicles can also help with your fuel costs as they have a much more reliable and higher figure of MPG.

The scheme will start in May 2009 and will run until March 2010 or earlier if the government deem this so.

To qualify for the scheme:

• Car owners must have owned their car for at least 1 year
• Proof of ownership is required.
• The car must have been taxed by the owner over 12 months ago.
• Pulman must ensure cars are collected for recycling within 24 hours.
• Vehicles must be scrapped in an environmentally friendly manner.

Durham: 0191 383 7525

Sunderland: 0191 548 0235

Manufacturing Happy Students

Pulman Skoda welcomed sixth form students from St.John’s School, Bishop Auckland to its state of the art premises on Thursday 26th March.

As part of their BTEC business studies course, the pupils have been researching Skoda and the marketing behind the brand. Sharon Clarke from the school approached Pulman Skoda to talk about their experiences in marketing the brand and the recent successful launch of Pulman Skoda.

Chris Slater Communications Manager said “We were delighted to assist the students, having been a marketing student myself I was delighted to be given the opportunity present our experiences with the Skoda brand”. Andrew Jenkins, Pulman’s in house website designer, was on hand to present the importance of the online marketing the company undertakes.

Sharon said “Its fantastic to be able to bring the students into a retail environment and see the marketing in action, the students took a great deal from the presentation which will now help them complete their assignments.”

Pulman Skoda based on Abbey Road, Durham became an authorised Skoda repairer on 1st February this year.
For more information visit www.pulmanskoda.co.uk or call our Skoda priority line on 0191 383 7500.

Hard work paves the way to a special award

Pulman Volkswagen’s Keith Ramshaw has received a prestigious award for the second year running after achieving record levels of customer satisfaction.

The sales manager, along with his team of eight sales people, achieved the accolade following continued positive feedback from customers.

Throughout 2008, Keith, who led by example, consistently ensured his team provided a personal, friendly and knowledgeable service for customers.

An accumulation of mystery shopper scores, customer satisfaction reports and assements helped secure the award.

Keith said: “I’m thrilled to have been given this award, but couldn’t have done it without the hard work from all members of the sales team. “Our team’s ethic is to make sure every customer is given the correct information to enable them to make an informed purchase while achieving our company goal of delivering a fantastic customer experience.”

Keith, who lives in Durham, has worked for Pulman for the past 10 years. Promoted to the role of sales manager in 2007, his commitment and determination has resulted in him winning the award for two consecutive years.

Michael Lines, brand manager at Pulman, said: “Keith thoroughly deserves this acknowledgment as he continually strives to deliver total customer satisfaction. His team’s positive attitude has inspired everyone at Pulman.”

The Pulman team is now working towards making it a hat trick and winning the 2009 regional title.

Pulman Volkswagen reporting from the Geneva Motorshow

Our very own Michael Lines was on hand to report back with photos from the Geneva motorshow, and especially from the huge Volkswagen stand showing off some of the latest models!

The start of the show appeared to be the new Polo, unveiled for the first time. Using styling cues directly from the new Golf, the new Polo gives a much higher feeling of quality and with the new technology crammed into the latest BlueMotion variant, returns just 87 g/km of CO2!

Also displayed was the fantastic new Golf GTI coming soon to our showroom.

The new Golf Plus also made an appearence, again taking inspiration from the new Golf design.

Check out our exclusive photos from the event and stay tuned to our blog and our website for more information on the latest arrivals to the Volkswagen range.

Click the "read more" link below to see our photos.














Pulman Volkswagen