Case 5-2: North Country Auto- Teaching Notes

As early as the 1980’s, stirrings of economic reform in China encouraged Volkswagen’s senior managers to identify the country as a future growth market for passenger cars. They decided to establish sales and production in the country as soon as possible in order to reap the benefits of being first (Financial Times, 2014).Towards

From the last two decades auto industry is growing more competitive. Competition from the foreign automakers like Toyota and Honda is also high. In

Midas shops provide total car care includes tires, brakes, batteries, oil changes, air conditioning, and an array of vehicle maintenance services by ASE-certified technicians (Midas International Corporation, 2014). Midas is a well-known company that customers use to take care of his or her automotive needs. The objective of this paper is to answer four question pertaining to the Midas case study in Chapter 2 of the textbook. These questions will discuss anticipated impacts on operating efficiencies, recommend solutions to minimize the negative impacts, operating practices to accommodate tune-ups, reasons why input should be

Key stakeholders in this company include CEO Dr. Michael Riordan who is the founder that has the main focus of how the company is performing and running. The Director of Human Resources, Yvonne McMillan who coordinates

Expanding operations into another country is not a decision any company should take lightly. Comprehensive investigation and market research should determine if the decision to penetrate a foreign market is a viable one. Research indicates that South Korea is a top contender of manufacturing and exporting automobiles and currently ranks 5th in the world. According to figures from Korea’s Polyurethane World magazine, “between 1985 and 2010 automotive production rose from 265,000 cars/year to 2.9m cars/year with a compound annual growth rate of 11% during the same period the amount of flexible foam consumed in the sector rose from 6kT/year to 81.2kT/year

The General Motors answered that the Australian Dollar, high cost of production, limited and small domestic market and possibly the extremely challenging and fragmented market in the world are the

While car manufacturing is a global industry, automotive companies such as JLR operate in broader regions such as Europe and Asia. Three major trends were identified affecting car production in mature markets, the first was the fragmentation of mature markets, customers were demanding more choice, and this has made it difficult for manufacturers to obtain economies of scale, so cost had to be reduced and with the general

They has been pioneer in car industry and in the following years will be the same and focused on coming out on top in option fuel propulsion.They need to be driving merchant inside of the

Global competition in the industry: There are many vehicle manufacturers throughout the world. A few common vehicles seen in my state are GM, Chrysler, Lexus, VW, Honda, Toyota, Ford, and Jeep. Each company tries to stay ahead of the rest. Toyota, based in Japan, for example was one of the first businesses to introduce hybrid vehicles. This was a direct result of the oil embargo. After having three oil shortages automobile manufacturers are creating more fuel efficient, environmentally friendly products.

Ford will have many different risks in their business expansion opportunity. They may face risks such as different laws and regulations by the government all over the World. They also will have to deal with the different cultural differences ("Ford Vehicles", 2011).

Canada on its own does not have a big enough market to sustain factories or manufacturing plants of every make of car in

Midas is an automotive business is a business that prides itself on customer relationship and reliability. Unlike a full service auto repair company, Midas services are a narrow range of service, such as, muffler repair, brakes and shock replacement. Just recently Midis decided to add tune-ups to their product line. In this essay, we will discuss the anticipation impacts (both positive and negative) upon operating efficiencies and recommend solution to minimize the negative impact. We will discuss whether or not operating practices should change to accommodate the tune-ups. We will also examine the reason, why input should be gathered from the shop owners and why type of input gathered. Last we will describe the process and steps needed to launch this new program.

It is mentioned earlier that there are no locations in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and much of their target market in the United States. Fix Auto needs to focus on their primary objective of becoming the North American auto body repair chain. Fix Auto is experiencing overexpansion. “Overexpansion often occurs when business owners confuse success with how fast they can expand their business” (Schaefer, 2006, Overexpansion.). In a 2005 study done by the Law School at the University of Chicago, It was found that of the chapter 11 small business Bankruptcies issued in the United States, overexpansion contributed to a “non-trivial” (Baird & Morrison, 2005, Pg. 7, Para. 1) number of cases. The best method for expansion is steadily and to move to new countries one at a time. (Schaefer, 2006, Overexpansion). Fix Auto should capitalize on their existing regions such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom before moving into new markets such as Australia, South Africa and Turkey.

Today the key challenges are advancements in technology, pace of competition, globalization, cost control and increasing efficiency regarding customers’ expectations. This

In 1913, Henry Ford revolutionized product manufacturing by introducing the first assembly line to the automotive industry. Ford’s hallmark of achievement proved to be a key competence for the motor company as the low cost of the Model T attracted a broader, new range of prospective car-owners. However, after many decades of success, customers have become harder to find. Due to relatively new threats to the industry, increasing numbers of cars and trucks are parked in dealer lots and showrooms creating an alarming trend of stagnation and profit erosion. Foreign-based automakers, such as Toyota and Honda, have expanded operations onto domestic shores and, in turn, have wrestled