Concept explainers
To answer the next three questions, refer to the following example. In 2003, Porsche unveiled its new sports utility vehicle (SUV), the Cayenne. With a price tag of over $40,000, the Cayenne goes from zero to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds. Porsche's decision to enter the SUV market was in response to the runaway success of other high-priced SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz M class. Vehicles in this class had generated years of very high profits. The Cayenne certainly spiced up the market, and, in 2006, Porsche introduced the Cayenne Turbo S, which goes from zero to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds and has a top speed of 168 mph. The base price for the Cayenne Turbo S in 2014? Almost $115,000
Some analysts questioned Porsche’s entry into the luxury SUV market. The analysts were concerned because not only was Porsche a late entry into the market but also the introduction of the Cayenne might damage Porsche’s reputation as a maker of high-performance automobiles.
10. Erosion In evaluating the Cayenne, would you consider the possible damage to Porsche’s reputation as erosion?
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- Keith Golding has decided to purchase a personal computer. He has narrowed his choices to two: Brand A and Brand B. Both brands have the same processing speed, hard disk capacity, RAM, graphics card memory, and basic software support package. Both come from companies with good reputations. The selling price for each is identical. After some review, Keith discovers that the cost of operating and maintaining Brand A over a three-year period is estimated to be 200. For Brand B, the operating and maintenance cost is 600. The sales agent for Brand A emphasized the lower operating and maintenance cost. She claimed that it was lower than any other PC brand. The sales agent for Brand B, however, emphasized the service reputation of the product. She provided Keith with a copy of an article appearing in a PC magazine that rated service performance of various PC brands. Brand B was rated number one. Based on all the information, Keith decided to buy Brand B. Required: 1. What is the total product purchased by Keith? 2. Is the Brand A company pursuing a cost leadership or differentiation strategy? The Brand B company? Explain. 3. When asked why he purchased Brand B, Keith replied, I think Brand B offered more value than Brand A. What are the possible sources of this greater value? If Keiths reaction represents the majority opinion, what suggestions could you offer to help improve the strategic position of Brand A?arrow_forwardMallette Manufacturing, Inc., produces washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers. Because of increasing competition, Mallette is considering investing in an automated manufacturing system. Since competition is most keen for dishwashers, the production process for this line has been selected for initial evaluation. The automated system for the dishwasher line would replace an existing system (purchased one year ago for 6 million). Although the existing system will be fully depreciated in nine years, it is expected to last another 10 years. The automated system would also have a useful life of 10 years. The existing system is capable of producing 100,000 dishwashers per year. Sales and production data using the existing system are provided by the Accounting Department: All cash expenses with the exception of depreciation, which is 6 per unit. The existing equipment is being depreciated using straight-line with no salvage value considered. The automated system will cost 34 million to purchase, plus an estimated 20 million in software and implementation. (Assume that all investment outlays occur at the beginning of the first year.) If the automated equipment is purchased, the old equipment can be sold for 3 million. The automated system will require fewer parts for production and will produce with less waste. Because of this, the direct material cost per unit will be reduced by 25 percent. Automation will also require fewer support activities, and as a consequence, volume-related overhead will be reduced by 4 per unit and direct fixed overhead (other than depreciation) by 17 per unit. Direct labor is reduced by 60 percent. Assume, for simplicity, that the new investment will be depreciated on a pure straight-line basis for tax purposes with no salvage value. Ignore the half-life convention. The firms cost of capital is 12 percent, but management chooses to use 20 percent as the required rate of return for evaluation of investments. The combined federal and state tax rate is 40 percent. Required: 1. Compute the net present value for the old system and the automated system. Which system would the company choose? 2. Repeat the net present value analysis of Requirement 1, using 12 percent as the discount rate. 3. Upon seeing the projected sales for the old system, the marketing manager commented: Sales of 100,000 units per year cannot be maintained in the current competitive environment for more than one year unless we buy the automated system. The automated system will allow us to compete on the basis of quality and lead time. If we keep the old system, our sales will drop by 10,000 units per year. Repeat the net present value analysis, using this new information and a 12 percent discount rate. 4. An industrial engineer for Mallette noticed that salvage value for the automated equipment had not been included in the analysis. He estimated that the equipment could be sold for 4 million at the end of 10 years. He also estimated that the equipment of the old system would have no salvage value at the end of 10 years. Repeat the net present value analysis using this information, the information in Requirement 3, and a 12 percent discount rate. 5. Given the outcomes of the previous four requirements, comment on the importance of providing accurate inputs for assessing investments in automated manufacturing systems.arrow_forwardIvanhoe Corporation is considering purchasing a new delivery truck. The truck has many advantages over the company's current truck(not the least of which is that it runs). The new truck would cost $57,186. Because of the increased capacity, reduced maintenancecosts, and increased fuel economy, the new truck is expected to generate cost savings of $8,100. At the end of eight years, thecompany will sell the truck for an estimated $27,500. Traditionally, the company has used a general rule that it should not accept aproposal unless it has a payback period that is less than 50% of the asset's estimated useful life. Gary Smith, a new manager, hassuggested that the company should not rely only on the payback approach but should also use the net present value method whenevaluating new projects. The company's cost of capital is 8%.Calculate net present value and cash payback periodarrow_forward
- Stanton Inc. is considering adding a new product line (the product code is XYZ). The company has spent total of $150,000 so far for research and development for this product, and just paid another $50,000 to a consulting firm to do the marketing research. The consulting firm has estimated that the product will have a very short life of only 3 years. It has also estimated that the annual sales volume will be 50,000 units and the selling price is $50 per unit. Further it has predicted that the sales volume of a current product will drop by 10,000 units because XYZ can substitute the current product. The selling price for the current product is $35 per unit. The Production Department of Stanton has calculated that it needs a new machine for XYZ production. The total costs, including installation and shipping, for the machine are $1,000,000. Stanton uses the MACRS method to depreciate all of its assets (see depreciation rates in the table below), and it expects that the machine will last 5…arrow_forwardGood-Deal Inc. developed a new sales gimmick to help sell its inventory of new automobiles. Because many new car buyers need financing, Good-Deal offered a low downpayment and low car payments for the first year after purchase. It believes that this promotion will bring in some new buyers. On January 1, 2020, a customer purchased a new $33,000 automobile, making a downpayment of $1,000. The customer signed a note indicating that the annual rate of interest would be 8% and that quarterly payments would be made over 3 years. For the first year, Good-Deal required a $400 quarterly payment to be made on April 1, July 1, October 1, and January 1, 2021. After this one-year period, the customer was required to make regular quarterly payments that would pay off the loan as of January 1, 2023. Instructions a. Prepare a note amortization schedule for the first year. b. Indicate the amount the customer owes on the contract at the end of the first year. c. Compute the amount of the new…arrow_forwardMars Incorporated is interested in going to market with a new fuel savings device that attaches to electrically powered industrial vehicles. The device, code named “Python,” promises to save up to 15 percent of the electrical power required to operate the average electric forklift. Mars expects that modest demand expected during the introductory year will be followed by a steady increase in demand in subsequent years. The extent of this increase in demand will be based on customer’s expectations regarding the future cost of electricity and which is shown in the Table. Mars expects to sell the device for $500 each, and does not expect to be able to raise its price over the foreseeable future. Demand for Python Power Saving Device Expected Demand of the Device in Units/Year Year Small Increases in theCost of Electrical Power Large Increases in theCost of Electrical Power 1 2 3 4 5 1000 5000 1000 15000 18000 10000 8000 15000 20000 30000 Mars is faced with two…arrow_forward
- Linkin Corporation is considering purchasing a new delivery truck. The truck has many advantages over the company’s current truck (not the least of which is that it runs). The new truck would cost $56,000. Because of the increased capacity, reduced maintenance costs, and increased fuel economy, the new truck is expected to generate cost savings of $8,000. At the end of 8 years, the company will sell the truck for an estimated $27,000. Traditionally the company has used a rule of thumb that a proposal should not be accepted unless it has a payback period that is less than 50% of the asset’s estimated useful life. Larry Newton, a new manager, has suggested that the company should not rely solely on the payback approach, but should also employ the net present value method when evaluating new projects. The company’s cost of capital is 8%.arrow_forwardLinkin Corporation is considering purchasing a new delivery truck. The truck has many advantages over the company’s current truck (not the least of which is that it runs). The new truck would cost $55,440. Because of the increased capacity, reduced maintenance costs, and increased fuel economy, the new truck is expected to generate cost savings of $8,400. At the end of 8 years, the company will sell the truck for an estimated $28,200. Traditionally the company has used a rule of thumb that a proposal should not be accepted unless it has a payback period that is less than 50% of the asset’s estimated useful life. Larry Newton, a new manager, has suggested that the company should not rely solely on the payback approach, but should also employ the net present value method when evaluating new projects. The company’s cost of capital is 8%.(a) Compute the cash payback period and the net present value of the proposed investment. Cash payback period 6.6 years Net present value $arrow_forwardApple Incorporated, the worlds leading manufacturer of mobile phones, currently sells their cellphones for 90,000 per unit. This phone costs 60,000 to manufacture. Pineapple Company, the second leading manufacturer of cellphones, revealed that they would be unveiling a new model of phone that will sell for 70,000. This new phone contains all the features and performs at par with Apple’s phones. To keep up with the competition, Apple management believes that they should lower the price to 70,000. The Marketing Department also believes that the new price will cause sales to increase by 10% even with a new cellphone in the market. Apple currently sells 150,000 units of their phones annually. What is the target cost of Apple’s products if the target operating income is 20% of sales?arrow_forward
- I have submitted the same question twice and it has been resolved two different times with different results. Could you please have a look again into this? Jaime Ltd manufactures and sells a small electric product to order for the computer industry. The estimated selling price and variable costs per unit for next year are as follows: (£ per unit) Selling price 654.00 Variable costs: Direct materials 216.00 Direct labour 108.00 Production overhead 54.00 Selling & distribution overhead 27.00 Jaime Ltd expects to sell 108,000 units next year. Jaime Ltd expects the stock level at the start of the year to be NIL and the stock at the end of the year to be 18,000 units. Information on fixed costs is as follows: Fixed costs: £ Production overhead 1,452,000 Selling & distribution 360,000 Administration overhead 342,000…arrow_forwardYou are working for Toyota and trying to determine how many of their newest model of electric vehicle they will need to sell to break even. These cars will sell for $55,000 a piece. To manufacture this model, you will need to purchase a new production facility that will cost $150,000,000. The cost of materials for a single EV is $21,000, and the cost of labor is $8,000. How many of these cars will Toyota need to sell to breakeven?arrow_forward3. Meg Jones, the CEO of Ajax Computer Company, and Brad Smith, its Director of Operations, had been discussing how to increase the firm’s production of the company’s flagship XR58. The XR58 was particularly important because it sold 12,500 of them in the most recent year for $950, at a gross margin of 55%. After a lot of discussion, they decided to pursue an incentive system designed to increase production by 12% in the next year. After Brad discussed this possible incentive with the production team, the team determined that it could increase production by this amount without adding any more people or equipment. They believed they could accomplish this improvement primarily through process redesign. To incent them to do the hard work of process improvement, Brad told the team that it would receive 25% of the increased profits if it met the new production goal. For this team of 20 people, this would mean an additional compensation of _________ for each team member, on average, for…arrow_forward
- Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...AccountingISBN:9781305970663Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. MowenPublisher:Cengage Learning