Marketing Automotive

JD Power, the consultancy company (*), assessed the views of 11,678 people who had bought a new vehicle from 52 carmakers since February 2008. More specifically, it asked respondents to use a 1,000-point scale to rate their experience during and after the purchase process.

Chevrolet, which is run by Shanghai General Motors – a joint venture formed by GM and a local partner – claimed top spot in the rankings on 875 points. Guangqi Honda took second on 874 points, ahead of Dongfeng Honda in third on 871 points, indicating the overall strength of the Japanese firm. Roewe was the leading domestic marque on 869 points, and had climbed from sixteenth position in the same survey last year. Dongfeng Peugeot completed the top five and confirmed the dominance of foreign enterprises in China. All of these manufacturers generated improvements on each the metrics tracked by JD Power, which included the quality of the advice customers received and the facilities provided.

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According to a report by Nielsen Chinese local car brands are overtaking their American and Japanese counterparts to become the top choice among potential car owners in China.

In recent months, Chinese car makers have expanded their lines and have launched intensive marketing campaigns to promote their new products.

Some 65 per cent of respondents regard design as the most important factor in a new car and while demand for comfort based on safe design is increasing, a stylish and sporty look is favoured even more highly.

Over 70% of potential buyers said they judge how fashionable a car is by looking at the styling on the front.

“Demand for private ownership of automobiles has become a symbol of quality, of a person’s values and of their personality,” said Georgia Zhuang, head of auto research at Nielsen.

Quality of life and ease of transport remain the two key reasons for buying a car.

July 2010

BMW is pulling the satin wraps off of three new vehicles at the Los Angeles Auto Show in December (4-13 December 2009).

The company will reveal a hybrid BMW ActiveHybrid X6 crossover, which it is calling the world’s most powerful hybrid passenger vehicle; an all-new BMW ActiveHybrid 7 and a concept car called BMW Vision EfficientDynamics.

The company says the ActiveHybrid X6 will go on sale in the US in January 2010 and that ActiveHybrid 7 next spring.

The company says its take on the hybrid reduces fuel consumption by about 20% versus a comparable vehicle powered by a combustion engine alone. BMW says the ActiveHybrid X6, which carries a 400 hp twin-turbo-charged motor and makes 60 mph in 5.4 seconds The 455 hp ActiveHybrid 7 sedan will hit 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, per BMW.

December 2010

Is there something we can call «the chinese car industry model» ?

Less than 10 years ago, China’s annual car production did not match the output of a single large auto company in a developed country.
China’s monthly vehicle sales surpassed those in the United States for the first time in January 2009, moving this country closer to becoming the world’s biggest auto market.

Before taking charges of Toyota Motors, Akio Toyoda visited a car dealership in Ann Harbour (Michigan). The grandson of Toyota’s founder was there to inspect the undercarriage of a Tundra pickup truck. Why, you ask? Because the model had been quite a bit troublesome, and subject to recalls.

What Mr Toyoda was practicing was a time-honored tradition in the Toyota Production System, called ‘genchi genbutsu’ translated as ‘go to the spot ‘, or  find out where the trouble is through first-hand observation.”

The lesson to take from this way of working are simple to practice if you agree to stay humble and go to the reality of business.

1. What is the real problem? “Diagnosing [a] problem requires the discipline of looking for the root cause ». You do not know until you take the time to investigate.”
2. How do we fix it? This might be as simple as a process overhaul, or as complicated as a product recall.
3. Who can best execute the fix? Not everyone is a born problem-solver. You need to have people who like asking questions but [also] have the facility to … implement solutions.”

The lesson : Use your downtime these days to root out the causes of any ongoing problems; that way, they’ll be fixed by the time things start to look up.

Source: Inspired and adapted from Harvard Business Publishing