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Moving places in cars impacts human activity daily. Therefore, living in a world without cars is inconceivable. While demand for cars exists, supply experiences shortcomings. Customers receive their vehicles with only one key or must deal with long delivery times. There is a correlation between the car industry, supply shortfalls and the current state of the world regarding COVID-19. The objectives of this research are examining how the semiconductor chip shortage affected sales and production of German car manufacturers and what strategic conclusions can be drawn for the future. To reach the objectives a quantitative theory analysis of existing literature was applied. The chosen car manufacturers are Audi AG, BMW AG, and Mercedes-Benz Group AG.
The results show that all objects to the research topic experienced a decline in production and sales. Further, that the semiconductor shortage, mainly anticipated by the pandemic, revealed the fragility of supply networks of the automotive industry. Different strategic attempts may cure supply chain management issues as such; however, it depends on the evaluation of the automotive industry whether this crisis carries a sustainable effect with its presence or not.
The automotive industry is undergoing substantial structural changes. New forms of powertrains and players are emerging. Manufacturers, due to internal as well as external drivers, are building their cars on platforms. By making use of modular design approaches, they hope to satisfy customer needs best and stay competitive. When designing global platforms, local variations are to be avoided. The presented paper offers an approach to rank components of an electric vehicle according to their likeliness of a local design adaption. To verify the results of the value chain- based analysis, the variant indicator analysis, interviews were carried out. The analysis shows that the battery is most likely subject to design changes. Also, variant drivers in the value chain bear the highest potential for local redesigns.
Digitalization is one of the major challenges for companies today. Well-established “traditional” companies have to adapt and develop new business models to stay competitive. Digitalization, connected services and alternative drive technologies are identified as key trends in the automotive industry. New competitors from different industry segments, e.g. IT industry, enter the automotive industry. Therefore, the automotive industry faces new challenges due to digitalization. These challenges are identified in the scope of this thesis. One major is a transformation of the classic sales process of a vehicle. Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks developed a new certified partner program. Bodybuilders, who are working with the model series Econic, can apply for the partner status.
Furthermore, Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks will launch a product information platform. Bodybuilders have the opportunity to market themselves and their products on the platform. Therefore, this thesis aims to identify the theoretical factors of the success of a digital platform and to transfer these factors to the automotive industry. Qualitative research methods were conducted to examine the practical relevance of these factors. By analyzing already existing platforms in the automotive industry, it turned out that many industry-specific success factors are already implemented. Thereby a series of recommendations for actions, regarding the design and optimization of the EconicPartner Portal, were derived.
Sustainability first caught greater attention when the Brundtland commission first published their report “Our Common Future”. Since then, a lot has been done to fight against climate change. Sustainability has become one major issue in the daily business of companies. One industry that is surely going to change as a cause of the increased awareness of sustainability issues is the automotive industry. The disruptive electrification push plays an important role in the fast changing industry. E- mobility solutions as a means for more sustainable mobility are demanded more and more by customers. Also, governments shape the change in the industry with new regulations, bonus payments for buying electric cars and their emission targets. All this might sooner or later push traditional combustion engine cars out of the market. New players like Tesla focusing only on electric vehicles are entering the market and traditional car companies are changing their business towards e-mobility as well. That this change works well, companies also will need a well-developed marketing as well as brand positioning strategy and this is where the concept of green marketing kicks in. Broadly spoken, green marketing is the marketing of products that minimize the negative effects on our environment. Therefore, the thesis is generally researching the details of literature on green marketing and brand positioning. Later on, a detailed transition to the automotive industry is made with the analyzing of the three companies Volkswagen, BMW and Tesla. The thesis works out how those three companies managed to transfer their marketing mix into a green one and how this then affected their brand positioning. The thesis discusses the findings critically and gives implications for theory and practice as well as a guide to what needs to be done to be recognized as a green player in the automotive industry.
Today, digitalization, and the possibility of being cost-effectively networked worldwide, have a significant impact on many businesses. It is no longer unusual for companies to offer their customer service through a variety of communication channels. Due to increasing customer demand and competition, it is even more important to act strategically to meet all customer needs, including the employees' needs. This thesis aims to determine how Lean Management can contribute to increased workforce efficiency and employee satisfaction in the service sector. Therefore, the current situation in customer service on behalf of the Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Center is analysed. This thesis first examines the current internal market situation regarding processes and the well-being of the employees. Based on the surveys conducted, it can be said that Lean Management utilised in bundles can potentially contribute to Customer Service Representatives motivation and increase efficiency. The results show that 50% of the employees do not prefer working on the phone and reveals the current customer service challenges during home office and how they can be counteracted. Additionally, it becomes clear that the employees themselves are the most important, and their satisfaction contributes to the company's overall success. Nevertheless, this thesis is based more on assumptions through theory and the interpretation of the empirical data. It serves more as a recommendation for future action in a leaner way.
With the increasing environmental awareness and governmental regulations aimed at reduction of CO2 emissions car manufacturers who produce vehicles powered by diesel, or petrol engines, start to develop and produce electric vehicles in order to stay competitive in the market. However, not only conventional car manufacturers who have been successfully operating in the market for many years and do not want to lose their leading position because of this trend but also other companies and start-ups are trying to enter this industry or are already operating in the electric vehicle market. This raise the question whether the business models of the conventional car manufacturers are suitable for achieving success in the electric vehicles market.
This bachelor thesis compares the business models of the BMW Group and Tesla, Inc. in order to identify the differences between the business models of a conventional vehicle manufacturer and an electric vehicle manufacturer. Moreover, it examines the cost structure of both companies and reveals the differences.