Volkswagen Company And How They Will Improve And Rebuilt Their Image Essay

Comment [MLW1]: Great job, Bianca. With your permission I would like to use this as an example for future students. GRADE: 100%

Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automotive manufacturing company with the headquarter based in Germany. In 2013, Volkswagen was ranked 8 on Fortune’s list of top 100 world’s largest corporations, jumping one spot up from number 9 in 2012. The company specialises in designing, manufacturing and distributing passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines as well as offering associated services including financing and leasing. Volkswagen currently operates in approximately 150 countries with 100 production facilities around 27 countries. They have two major joint ventures in China; FAW- Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen (Volkswagen Group, 2014). Volkswagen is committed to Germany as a manufacturing and development location. At the same time, they want to step up their investments in the markets outside Europe to further increase their global presence and capability. The company’s operations in China have grown rapidly in the past decade, becoming its largest market. Volkswagen aimed to be the first successful Western automobile manufacturer to enter China, to build a leading position within the Chinese car market (Volkswagen, n.d).

In 1937, the German government founded Volkswagen to mass produce a low priced "peoples car." A Nazi organization called the German Labor Front operated the company originally. They brought in Ferdinand Porsche to design the car. He used elements from his type 32 prototype NSU that he designed in 1934. Such elements were an air cooled horizontally opposed four cylinder rear mounted engine and torsion bar suspension. Production was supposed to start at the Kdf-Stadt factory in September 1939, but this turned out to be the same month that world war two was declared and the car was put off. As the war raged on, the factory was used to produce military vehicles. By 1943 the factory had 12,000 prisoners of

The company’s strategic vision is “To be world’s leading company in IT industry ...and a reputable global auto brand by offering ECO friendly, high quality & low cost products & services.” (BYD Co. Ltd, 2007)

The action has an effect on the loyal customers, suppliers and other stakeholders such as industrial transportation in the US/European economy that have been a pivot point in the value addition to the Volkswagen business.

The situational analysis is done to analyze the different environmental forces that can affect the sales and acceptability of the new product. In the later sections, the marketing objectives, the target segment for the new car, action programs, and marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place) have been discussed in a view to set a roadmap for the company on how it can better market and sell its product to the most potential segment of the consumers. The marketing budget has been presented to give an estimate of the expenditures and expected revenues for the year. Finally, the ethical considerations for the marketing plan have been discussed which are also

The automotive industry globally involves the processes of manufacturing as well as sales of cars and other automobiles. The business of this industry is also inclusive of retailing activities like services; sale of spare parts, gas-station retails etc. by the year 2015, and the growth rate of the industry is expected to have a rise of 5.5% (Market Line, 2012). Moreover, as per International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, this industry is the leading driver in terms of global economic progress and the largest employer. The changing trends and rising demand for technically advanced cars are giving out more opportunities. This essay is going to be a presentation on the analysis of the Volkswagen positioning strategy with respect to the Porters models of competitive strategies. This essay would be vital, as this analysis would help in revealing the company’s competitive and strategic position in the industry.

Arnold Communications undertook extensive market research in order to understand the modern VW buyer and their position in the industry. They set about collecting primary data through extensive interviews, visiting 95 of the top VW dealers and drving VX over 50,000 miles

Volkswagen wants to become a global and environmental leader in the automotive world and has developed the “Strategy 2018”. The “Strategy 2018” is stated in their latest annual report in the goals and strategies section as follows:

Being interactive with customers and knowing preferences and dislikes provides companies an advantage when it comes to advertising and targeting the market. Through extensive studies, Subaru determined that their customers were purchasing experiences rather than products (Ohnsman & Green, 2010). Therefore, the company turned their focus to a campaign called “share the love.” Being a member of Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru of America is focused on connecting the fun and adventure of the Subaru to the customer.

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.

BMW Group is one of the largest and most successful multi-brand automobile manufacturers in the world, headquartered in Munich, Germany. Just like many other

Volkswagen AG is German company operating internationally. The Group’s two main operating segments are automotive (86% of total revenue) and financial services (14% of total revenue).

The development of marketing concept from a Product orientation to a Sales orientation and finally a Marketing orientation has signified an important change in how we understand and conceptualizes marketing in the 21st century. It signified an increased focus in the behavior of consumers and how by applying different marketing strategies organizations have been able to influence the way in which consumers react to their potential needs and how marketers can change their strategy to target different consumers wants. An assessment has been made in this essay looking at the development of the Volkswagen (herein referred to as VW) polo hatchback model.

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.