BMW cross culture case study

BMW

About the company -1 BMW was founded in 1913, when Karl Friedrich Rapp. Flugzeug-Werke to manufacture aircraft engines in the Munich district of Germany. In 1916, during World War I, the company entered into a contract to manufacture aircraft engines for the Austrian-Hungarian army. In year 1919 BMW got an altitude record with their BMW IV six cylinder engine.

About the company -2 The company being a part of defeated Germany was prohibited aircraft production. BMW ( Bavarian Motor Works) was established in 1922 as a public company BMW AG began producing different types of engines and wide variety of products. The first motorcycle was produced in 1923 and car production began in 1929.

About the company -3 By the end of the WWII BMW factories were damaged and its machineries were confiscated by the Allies Again, the production was switched and the company made kitchen and garden equipment. The company was forced to rebuild from the scratch. In year 1947 the BMW produced its first post-war motorcycle R24. It was a huge success not only in Germany, but until 1950 BMW began exporting 18% of it's production.

BMW Culture The BMW Group is one of the worlds leading car and motorcycle manufacturers company More than 1,06,000 employees in over 100 countries With brands BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce are operate very successfully the automobile and motorcycle industry.

Culture & Principles Customer orientation. High efficiency. Responsibility. Adaptability. Respect, trust, & fairness.

Cont.. Employees. sustainability

Independence Equality of opportunity Diversity

BMW interest in changing customer attitude BMW regularly undertakes research into their customers occupations and hobbies. The information is used across all areas of the business, from the design and development of the cars, through their premium pricing and all elements of the marketing mix

Research intention In the late 1990s, BMW sensed the attitudes and values of luxury-car buyers were changing with more emphasis on family and leisure time. These new upscale consumers included aging baby boomers, yuppies who had started families, and liberal-minded wealthy professionals.

SIGMA - 1 SIGMA was the company charged with researching the market. Sigma: a German research firm has pioneered a method of predicting shifts in consumer tastes. SIGMA looks beyond demographics such as age and income.

SIGMA - 2 It often interviews consumers for hours and even photographs their homes and offices to build a picture of the mindset of different consumers. Sigma predictions were that there would be significant expansion of the luxury car market.

Results from the study - 1 What Sigmas research found was the Ive made it attitude of the 1990s BMW driver, what they called the social climbers was now changing to a more family friendly group. They foresaw that as the yuppies declined, other groups with different upscale mindsets would increase in number. They suggested four segments going forward and BMW reacted to the new segments by introducing a car to match 3 of them

Results from the study -2 Research indicated they would want more vehicle choices and more eye-catching designs to suit their changing lifestyles. With its future at stake, BMW made an ambitious gamble: It invested heavily on broadening its single, narrow product line into a whole spectrum of upscale cars. It also acquired Rolls Royce and re-launched the Mini, the British cult car of the 60s. It put the BMW brand on sport-utility vehicles, convertibles, roadsters and, most recently, a compact car.

Four segments of BMW after research1. Upper liberals, includes socially conscious, open-minded professionals often with families who were successful in the 90s. They were predominantly Volvos, Saabs and SUVs drivers

Four segments of BMW after research2. Post-moderns are high-earning innovators like architects, entrepreneurs and artists. They are highly individualistic and gravitate toward head-turners like convertibles and roadsters.

Four segments of BMW after research3. Upper conservative are wealthy, traditional thinkers. Theyve never been that interested in driving sporty cars like BMWs, and consider luxury and comfort over driving performance. They would normally purchase the Mercedes Sclass and Jaguars as they strive for elegance and sophistication. BMW-developed the Rolls Royce, Phantom, which sells for about $325,000, and is intended for the very wealthiest upper conservatives.

Four segments of BMW after research4. Modern mainstream. These are familyoriented and active and normally purchase the near-premium brands like Honda or Volkswagen: BMWs were considered too expensive for them. But increasing numbers of them are looking to move up above the middle class and are open to luxury-brand cars.

Reaction of BMW after research In 2001, BMW launched the new Mini, aimed at upper-middle-class buyers who were not quite affluent enough to buy a real BMW. This group is also the target market for the new BMW compact, the 1 Series. The Mini brand provided the company with the opportunity to enter a very different segment of the automobile market whilst reducing the risk of affecting perceptions of their existing brand.

BMWs cultural strategy towards future

Customer preference Based on changing customer preference, BMW plans to make changes in its existing models Introducing new models towards customer perception

Car sharing - 1 In march 2011, BMW announced starting of a carsharing venture with Sixt, the industry is getting serious about finding alternatives to traditional car-ownership models. Ian Robertson, head of BMWs sales and marketing, said in a statement there is a growing demand for flexible mobility products in urban areas. The services that will be provided by DriveNow, BMWs cooperation with Sixt, are aimed precisely at this gap in the market, he said.

Car sharing - 2 BMW has another motive, though. It hopes that car-sharing will introduce new customers to its cars, especially its upcoming electric vehicles, which it will sell under the new i brand. DriveNow will also be marketed under this brand. BMW hopes that car-sharing will introduce new customers to its cars, especially its upcoming electric vehicles, which it will sell under the new i brand. DriveNow will also be marketed under this brand.

BMW and sixt One result of this trend is that car sharing has grown rapidly in increasingly congested urban areas. Already, the country has 30 car sharing programs that deploy more than 3,000 vehicles, according to Frost & Sullivan. More than 1 million members will share 23,000 cars by 2016, the researchers project. They also expect that, by 2016, there will be 10 million car-sharing members in North America, Europe and Japan. BMW and Sixt are aiming for 1 million DriveNow members by 2020.

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