First I want to show you some car brands. Volkswagen,the best-selling car brand in Europe.Audi, the world’s third largest luxury car brand after Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Scania, the sweden commercial vehicle producer, Skoda, the famous automobil manufacturer based in the Czech Republic, and SEAT, the biggest Spain car maker. Then the ultra-high performance car brand Lamborghini ,Porsche and Bugatti. And last ,British ultra-luxury car brand Bentley.
All these brands have one thing in common, they are all owned by the Volkswagen group of Germany. * The Volkswagen Group strengthened its position as the top motorcar manufacturer in Europe in 2009 by increasing its market share by half a percent to 21.1%.
* Volkswagen group also is
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According to Volkswagen Group’s Half-Yearly Finaicial Report January-June 2009, for the first half of 2009 the manufacturer sold 652,000 units in China while selling 631,900 vehicles on Germany. So ,China is the biggest market for the VW Group. And also VW has been taking the leading position in the Chinese automotive market for more than 20 years.
Another emerging market Brazil:
Brazil is set to surpass Germany this year to become the 4th largest car market in the world, after China, United States and Japan. And once again, VW is the No.1 carmaker in this exciting market.
Weakness
North American Market:
Volkswagen's puny presence in the U.S. was its greatest weakness. Compare to its strong position in Europe, China and Brazil, VW’s market share in the US, including its Audi brand, is only three percent. The reason can be traced back to its product line, which was not ideally suited to Americans' taste in cars.
The VW focused on smaller or mid-size cars with highly advanced technological features when Americans were more interested in buying larger vehicles, such as SUVs or pick-ups.
Opportunities:
New plant in US:
In 2008 Volkswagen has announced that it will build a new vehicle production facility in Tennessee .It will invest as much as $1 billion in the factory, and will begin production in early 2011, employ 2,000 workers and also a new mid-size sedan will
Volkswagen's success reached its peak in the US in 1970 when total sales reached 569,696, which blew away all the other imports. However, by 1975 the sales of the beetle dropped to 90,000, and by 1977 it had dropped another 70,000 to 20,000 which brought the end of the beetle in the US in 1979 with the convertible model. The slump of sales in the seventies was temporary because Volkswagen released the Dasher
In 1993 Volkswagen had record low sales but by the end of 1997 the VW brand had sold 137,885 cars. That was an increase of 178% from it’s 1993 slump. It is safe to say that the the ’94 relaunch of VW on the American Market was a success. The “Drivers Wanted” campaign, developed by Arnold Communications, I believe was successful as a result of excellent market research and positioning.
Today, GM’s attention is squarely focused on China, and for good reason. While GM’s US truck division currently generates the most revenue, it may not last long. Forbes states “China is undoubtedly the most important region for General Motors … we believe that China holds the maximum growth potential and will be key driving factor for
For instance SUV’s for who have high income rate, smaller cars like Polo or Golf for who have lower income rate. According to Age scale VW appeal to 18-49. For example, when young people get a driver’s licence, their family buy them Polo or Golf generally and another situation who like fast and sport car VW offers them a different type of car such as Polo GTI, Golf R, Golf GTI, Scirocco and Scirocco
The Volkswagen Group follows a cost leadership and differentiation strategy. The Volkswagen Group achieves low cost leadership by sharing automotive parts amongst its products and as well as sharing vehicle platforms amongst the other 12 brands under the Volkswagen Group, such as Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Volkswagen Passenger Cars. The Group improves product differentiation by focusing on the product quality improvement, innovation and sustainability. This differentiation strategy helps ensure that the customers are satisfied with the products, and that the customers will be willing to pay a premium for the product.
The industry for superior luxury cars is a highly exclusive one with a few automotive makers making their presence felt. The major market share is held by Porsche which is known to have formidable rivals like Benz and BMW. The SUV supercar segment is a highly evolving one where manufacturing style localities and units are the decisive forces that ultimately culminate towards the cost of the car.
Volkswagen goal is to become the ecological and economical leader in the automotive industry and to be the world’s leading automaker by 2018. Volkswagen has four main objectives through which they will achieve their goals.
b) Effects and Consequences. A research conducted showed mixed reviews and opinions about the car. The target market encompassed Volkswagen's core audience of 18 - 34 years olds and baby boomers. Buyer's characteristics were identified as confident, individualistic, and a desire to be the center of attention. In
To dominate the market an automaker needs multiple brands and Volkswagen has more than anyone else.
In fact, both companies see growing demand for such cars in Europe and the new-platform vehicles to be built in the Czech Republic is marketed under the Toyota, Peugeot and Citroen brands.
The Volkswagen Group is one of the world’s largest and leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe headquartered in Wolfsburg (The Group, 2013). In 2013, Volkswagen managed to increase the number of vehicles delivered to customers from 9.276 million to 9.731 million that corresponds to a 12.8 percent share of the world passenger car market (The Group, 2013). One in four cars in Western Europe is made by Volkswagen; the sales revenue was €197 billion and profit after tax was €9.1 billion (The Group, 2013). Volkswagen Group in total consist of 12 auto brands from Europe, and these brands are Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen
The VW Polo uses its marketing strategy to convey this point, as seen in the above advertisement, by arguing that their hatchback model cars relative advantage is that it is affordable, has efficient fuel consumption and still manages to give the superior German motor vehicle class.
Volkswagen a parent company of Skoda is Europe’s largest carmaker producing cars, trucks and vans. It
However, due to its unique targeting strategy, it has not win compatible brand recognition among the public. Although Audi enter much earlier than BMW and Benz in the luxury car market, its marketing strategy limited increase of public brand recognition even Audi has over 100 years’ history. Besides, although its styles are highly accepted by the targeting customers, there are a growing number of people who can afford luxury cars for family use in China. Lack of vitality is limit of its further market expansion. On the contrary, its major competitor in China, BMW, has launched a series of marketing strategies to promote its high-performance, manoeuvrability, as well as stylish design to attract young people (BMW, 2009) in order to expand its market share. Therefore, although Audi has achieved success in the targeting market, it may consider further development through diversification in product line and advertising campaign.
Volkswagen has set a bold goal of dethroning Toyota as the world’s largest auto maker. This goal includes significantly increasing the North American market share, as Volkswagen currently holds only 2.2 percent of the United States market. Volkswagen’s strategy includes cutting prices and tailoring its cars to better fit the American lifestyle and tastes. This includes increasing the size of its vehicles and modifying certain amenities, such as increasing the cup holder size to fit the larger sized beverages which Americans are known to drink. In order to become the world’s largest auto maker by 2018, Volkswagen’s management team has set a lofty goal of selling 800,000 vehicles per year