Helping a European Automaker Stay Agile and Create Differential Go-Forward Strategies Through In-Depth Competitor Research and Analysis

September 5, 2019

European Automotive Industry Analysis

The European automotive industry is witnessing a phase of tremendous disruption due to the falling demand for cars, increasing need to embrace new technologies, and Brexit challenges. Also, companies in the European automotive industry are facing strong headwinds as revenue pools are shifting strongly towards Asia and new players are entering the market. To succeed in the long-run, European auto manufacturers will need to address these rising challenges and keep up with the market demand. In addition, keeping a constant watch on competitors’ plans and actions is also becoming vital to sustain a leading edge in today’s competitive marketplace.

European Automotive Industry

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Business Challenge

The client is a European automobile company. They majorly focus on luxury cars and related automotive parts.

The client, a renowned automaker, wanted to conduct a competitive intelligence study to gauge the strategies of their competitors in Europe. They also wanted to understand the competitive landscape in the European automotive industry and identify areas where they lacked compared to their competitors. To do so, they approached the experts at Infiniti Research. With Infiniti’s competitive intelligence solution, they wanted to understand the strategies adopted by top industry players to tackle the rising industry challenges.

Other challenges faced by the client involved:

European automotive industry challenge #1: Falling demand for cars in Europe

Over the past few years, the demand for cars dropped in all major parts of Europe due to a fall in demand in the world’s biggest auto market, China. This gradually increased the competition in the European automotive industry. As a result, the company faced a huge decline in their sales rate for two consequent years. With Infiniti’s competitive intelligence solution, the client wanted to understand the strategies undertaken by their competitors to withstand unexpected market changes and demand.

European automotive industry challenge #2: Emission woes

Air quality concerns and taxation changes resulted in a huge drop-off in diesel sales in the Europe. This contributed to around 9% fall in new car bookings in the European auto market. Moreover, the introduction of CO2 emission standards, created to tackle global warming made it much more expensive for companies in the European automotive industry to build cars. The client, therefore, wanted to understand how their competitors tackled with this challenge and maintained a leading edge in the market.

European automotive industry challenge #3: The electric challenge

With the rising need to reduce emission levels, European auto companies are compelled to produce more electric vehicles. However, it requires huge investments into new processes and technologies. With Infiniti’s competitive intelligence solution, the client wanted to analyze their competitors’ investment into new technologies and processes.

Our competitive intelligence solution can help you gather all the insights needed to meet your strategic requirements. Solutions Offered

To help the client tackle the European automotive industry challenges and analyze their direct and indirect competitors, the experts at Infiniti Research conducted a competitive intelligence study.

The initial stage involved a competitive benchmarking analysis. This phase of the engagement helped the company in the European automotive industry to gain an independent perspective of how well their company performed compared to their competitors. Also, the client was able to drill down into their performance gaps to identify areas of improvement. They were also able to monitor their competitors’ initiatives in employing new technologies and processes.

The experts also conducted a demand management study in the European automotive industry. This phase of the engagement helped the client to identify factors affecting the demand for cars in the Europe and undertake measures to manage their production process.

Furthermore, a trend analysis study helped the client to understand latest trends in the European automotive industry, including the electric vehicles. Also, by closely monitoring their competitors, they were able to identify other market trends and innovations where their competitors’ focused on to enhance overall business growth.

Results Obtained

The insights obtained from Infiniti’s competitive intelligence solution helped the company in the European automotive industry to identify gaps in their product and service offerings compared to competitors. Furthermore, the client was able to understand the strategies and plans undertaken by their competitors and make changes in their approaches accordingly. Also, the client was able to withstand all the unexpected fluctuation in market demand and enhance sales rate by 32%.

Wondering what the future holds for companies in the European automotive industry?

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