The first BMW automobile was produced in 1928. While most car assembly has been taken over by robots or low-wage workers, BMW maintains a skilled German labor force. Today, BMW is a leader in the premium luxury vehicle industry and is one of Germany’s largest and most successful companies. Topic 1: Achieving Competitive Advantage * How does your firm create value to lead to competitive advantage? BMW is the world leader in selling premium vehicles.
Buyers of the Porsche 911 car series are known to be wealthy and are serious car enthusiasts who possess an in-depth knowledge and passion about sports cars. For the success of the 911 series, Porsche used a focused differentiated business strategy by targeting a niche market (as mentioned in the case), emphasizing on design, and consistently developing class-leading technologies.However, with the introduction of Cayenne and Panamera, Porsche has repositioned itself from focused differentiation to broad differentiation. This repositioning weakened its brand in the eyes of consumers, eroding the points of differentiation created by their brand and taking the customer’s attention away from the famous 911. Large companies usually shift to broad differentiation strategy when the competition gets tough. This strategic shift has the following risks and benefits.
This kind of environment ensures the validity of each decision and avoids insufficient creation caused by strict hierarchic and low efficiency to the maximum, thus BMW grows quickly into a leading luxury vehicle brand. Compared with rigid traditional manufacturing companies with bloated bureaucracy as well as poor industry competition and slow responding trend of market, the management structure BMW is smooth, flexible and responsive. Owning famous flexible production mode, BMW formed its corresponding corporate culture. The renowned Harvard Business School once took the flexible product customization and smart brand management of BMW as a case study. BWM can produce 1.3 million vehicles a year with continuous adjustment of production line and guarantee the quality with little error level.
The superb management of the corporation, as well as the customer loyalty the BMW Group possesses is due to the competitive advantages the large company exercises. One of the main competitive advantages of BMW is that of innovation. BMW has been known for its innovative technology and drivability throughout its history. From airplanes to motorcycles and most recently to luxury crossovers, BMW has always maintained its ability to stand out against the competition as an innovative force to be reckoned with. BMW’s product designs are truly and consistently innovative.
ntroduction: When it comes to top-notch deluxe sports car from the world, for that matter, the two most reminiscent and spectacular names that come to the mind are Ferrari and Lamborghini. While the two companies are often referred to in one breath, their rivalry is just perfect. They are quite different and allure their owners for disparate accounts. Sam Smith, a writer, once wrote in an article: Where Ferrari and Lamborghini are concerned, the rivalry is so perfect that, if it didn’t exist, some Hollywood screenwriter would have to invent it (Smith 2009). Background and History: Ferrari is evidence to Enzo Ferrari’s glorious and humongous madness: sports cars legend.
Therefore, status symbols are very important. Companies worldwide manufacture status symbols because American consumers want them. In the summary of “Masters of Desire”, a Cadillac example was used as a status symbol. It was explained how the Cadillac fell behind in the European market for prestige cars but when they came out with advertisements for a new car called the Allante, they priced it as a top of the line Mercedes Benz automobile from Europe. Mercedes Benz was known for its luxury cars really well since the 1960’s.
CORVETTE The American Legend Andrea Bardelli 3A Few cars have a richer, more exiting history than the Corvette. For almost half a century Chevrolet ’s sports car has turned heads and won races and melted hearts. Its long tradition of dramatic styling, excellent road manners, and brawny power, has made it an automotive icon. From its start as a 1950’s dream machine to its sensational 1997 rebirth as a world-class sports car the Corvette story is a fascinating saga. Born in one of the most adventuresome periods in automotive history, the original Corvette featured daring new styling and pioneered the use of fiberglass-body construction.
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is one of the first American automotive companies that successfully manufactures and sells automobiles, trucks, buses and automotive part. It was founded by Henry Ford on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and light commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and luxury brands under the Lincoln brand. (Ford Motor Company, n.d.). A SWOT analysis of Ford motor company is as below: Strength: High Employee Productivity and Employee relation: Besides being one of the strongest brands all over the world and having a well-built brand portfolio, Ford also has a very unique strength which is high employee productivity.
To many, owning a Bentley is not about getting from A to B but about getting there with flair infused with advanced technology and breathtaking power as well as timehallowed tradition and classic hand craftsmanship at the pinnacle of British luxury motoring. Based around the concept of “Britishness” in image and design, Bentley has succeeded in differentiating its position in the global luxury car market through a market-driven strategy based on responsive cross-market segmentation. Cross-Market Segmentation The traditional markets of Bentley Motors are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, which were identified by the company using two of the traditional international market segmentation variables: the level of a nation’s economic development and per capita gross domestic product (GDP). Bentley had enjoyed high sales in these economically developed markets, especially in the boom of the 1980s. In the 1990s, it struggled to reach similar level of sales, which led to a major investment in the facility,
Hence restructuring became necessary. The new organisation structure was simplified and decentralised so that the organisational units could respond faster to environmental change. The structure was goal driven, performance based reward system designed to promote cooperation Mercedes Benz: Daimler Benz’s first by far the biggest and the most successful group was Mercedes Benz with about 2 lakh employees. Mercedes Benz is most popularly known for its passenger cars and commercial vehicles. This business unit is the most competitive and it is very successful.