Chevrolet
THE CASE OF SAAB AUTOMOBILE AB – From core capabilities into core rigidities – A trajectory towards demise (Second Part)
THE FIRST PART
GM‘s decision to develop products for a wider market (thus losing appeal in the eyes of historical customers) and inconsistent industrial choices (“sometimes it seemed that everything had to be produced in Rüsselsheim, other times in Trollhättan, even Opel cars”) lead to an inevitable decline in sales.
Only the collapse recorded in 1996 (90,000 cars) convinced the Americans...
Turin and the art of coachbuilders (1946-1980)
First of all Massimo Porta is an “old” friend: I met him during the army service – 45 year ago more or less – and we did many things together.
For this reason, I can talk about his book “Turin and the art of coachbuilders (1946-1980)” without any fear of being biased.
Massimo Porta is neither a writer nor a designer and he has never worked in an automotive company.
In...
Customer Satisfaction? Fix It Again Tony!
American clients have a clear fixed concept in their minds: “I-pay-so-I-demand”; to make even more clear this idea, in US customers are called consumers.
In the Old Continent we know that American consumers are very demanding in terms of quality of products and services: they have exported Customer Satisfaction worldwide.
Even in bars and fast-food – also with a bill of 5$ or...
Time stays, carmakers go.
In Italy, in five years, carmakers have lost more than 1,600 dealers, while the dealers of trucks (550 in 2009), today are only 110.
Also in the ultra-efficient US there was a die-off: NADA-data shows that more than 6,500 dealers have disappeared. Whilst of the remaining 17,665 dealerships, 5,000 of them sell less than 10 new cars per month, and 7,000 fewer than 30 per month.
These numbers in Europe...
Car colors: freedom of choice?
The Mass Customization should satisfy the desires of each individual client, preserving the typical efficiencies of the mass production, as low costs of production and sale.
To complicate matters, it often happens that customers and Companies do not speak the same language, also the excess of supply is confusing to the buyers.
In the age of mass customization, the color of a new car can accelerate...
The customers will enjoy every comfort, but the Dealers?
The Chevrolet has officially announced the abandonment of the European market at the end of 2015.
The decision, which was declared at the beginning by the American headquarter, has been confirmed as irrevocable by the same top management GME. The Chevrolet won’t officially take part anymore both in the Western and in the Eastern Europe because of the high competitive business model and the severe...
Household Appliances or… cars?
Even if we do not know – at home – we ALL have a piece of the vehicle that has won numerous awards during the Rotterdam Shell-Eco Marathon, travelling along 5,000 kilometers with 1kWh of energy (the equivalent of a liter of gasoline).
The engine of this 100% Italian vehicle – built by the school “ITIS Rossi” in Vicenza – is the motor of a… washing machine! Manufactured...
In Russia Ghosn beats Marchionne 31 to 1. Nasdrovie Tovarish!
While in Italy manufacturers, importers and dealers are losing dozens of employees and millions of euro every day – and Fiat develops his worst results in the last 30 years – in Russia the Carmakers seems to play war games.
The Russian market is a great opportunity for manufacturers and dealers: last year, 2,652,000 cars were sold with a growth of 39.1% over 2010. As reported by Focus...
Manufacturer Alliances: Good or bad?
The recent announcement by PSA and GM of their intended strategic alliance is one of many such alliances between various manufacturers.
But when do these alliances start diluting brand equity?
In the past the first tentative alliances were based on purchasing power formats. Then the inevitable creep sets in with manufacturers sharing platforms, major components, engines and indeed entire vehicles.
There...
XXI Congresso Fenabrave. Fiat: novo Uno or nuova Panda?
Everything has changed! In 2011, 370,000 Portuguese has ‘landed’ in Brazil and thousands of Spaniards have ‘invaded’ Argentina. With so many hopes and their workforce. The eighteenth century’s scenarios in black and white of Ellis Island and the migration to South America after the IIWW are unexpectedly reproduced.
Brazil, land of promise for the automotive (not only)....
Facts and figures unmask the 3 digit growth of the EVs theorem! Only Audi speaks clearly!
Jato Dynamics presented the data of the EV’s registrations in Europe. Hooray: compared to 2010, the sales grew by 938%! Nine-hundred-thirty-eight percent!! A successful market, despite the controversies. I feel the bad smell of lies. Over 7 million registrations, 5,222 were electric cars, less than 0.001% of the total market. Last year were 507. In Germany 1,020, France 953, Norway 850,...
Automotive communication: different roles between OEM and dealers.
Advertising and the art to manage the emotions of clients. Advertising is considered the most powerful tool of marketing, has no limits or borders and has become an integral part of the economy in the world. Dorothy Miller the 2011 Nada Convention has analyzed this argument, noting that in the United States today, nearly 40% of car buyers do not trust most of the traditional media such as press,...
