Automobile Industry: Strategies, Management, and Growth Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the automobile industry's evolution and strategic approaches to global expansion and market challenges. It examines key concepts such as the 'World car' concept and the impact of mergers and acquisitions on industry growth. The report highlights the innovative contributions of companies like Ford, particularly the assembly line, and explores the significance of cost centers and technological advancements. It investigates the industry's responses to economic depressions and technological shifts, emphasizing the importance of marketing, research, and development. The report offers insights into how the automobile industry has adapted to changing market demands and maintained its position in the global economy. The report concludes with an assessment of the industry's ability to adapt and survive in a competitive market.

Management and
Organizations in a Global
Environment

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In modern industrial world many industries that have failed to make similar profits as
they were doing in the past. This is due to many types of challenges that these industries are
facing. Automobile firms have developed several kinds of concepts such as World car for the
development of the industry. Automobile industry has expanded their business in every
corner of the world with the help of strategies like merger and acquisitions. Companies such
as Ford have given extraordinary ideas that revolutionised the industry. They have not only
transformed Automobile industry but have changed working style of many other industries.
From the last few decades IT industry has replaced the leadership of Automobile industry.
This report highlights the ways in which Automobile industry is carrying out their business as
well as the strategies they have adopted for the growth of the firms. It also showcases the
decisions made by the car companies for maintaining their growth in the market as well as
surviving in the competition that is present in the market.
Content

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s
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................2
Individual components..........................................................................................................................4
Bringing work to the worker..............................................................................................................4
Alfred P Sloan: Cost centres..............................................................................................................6
The world car concept.......................................................................................................................9
Mergers............................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................15
INTRODUCTION
Industries all around the world are facing several kinds of challenges irrespective of
their current positions in the market (Aghion, Dechezleprêtre, Hemous, Martin and Van

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Reenen, 2016). This is due to various types of reason and may have occurred because of
improper management of operations. In the age of globalisation, it has become important for
the organisations to manage its work properly so as to have competitive edge over the other
competitors (Neffke, Henning and Boschma, 2011). This can only be possible when there
will be clear understanding of the environment prevailing for the industry. There are several
internal and external factors that are affecting the future of many industries and it is essential
for the firm to understand all those. There are several issues faced by the industries and the
firms in it (Ahern, 2012). It is the role of the leadership and the management to make plan for
tackling all these issues that arise in this regard. Automobile industry was once the most
profitable industry of all. From the discovery of powered engines the growth of this industry
was unmatched and was considered as one of the golden business in the early 20th century.
But after the innovation that took place in the technology, IT superseded Automobile
Industry. The downfall of the Automobile industry and the rise of IT industry were seen in
last two decades.
There are several factors that were responsible for this situation. Policies, improper decisions
are some of the reasons that are responsible for the downfall of this industry. Automobile
industry has taken many kinds of decisions for surviving in the demands of the market
(Castillod, 2016). This industry has a long experience of working in different kinds of
environmental conditions especially in political and economic scenarios. This field has
experienced innovations at much faster rate as compared to many other industries.
Automobile industry has become backbone of many nations all around the world since they
are employing a huge number of people as well as providing larger amount of financial
support to the economy. Apart from this it is also to be understood that there are many
strategies that have been adopted by the Automobile manufacturers in the past years so as to
enhance the sale of their products (Chakravartty and Schiller, 2011). This industry is one of
the prime examples of how the firms survived in the great depressions of 20th century.
Companies like Ford have given new working methodologies to many other industries and
which is prevalent till date. This report revolves around the decisions made by the
Automobile industry as well as the concepts that they have developed over the years so as to
ensure sustainable growth of the firms.

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Individual components
There are several issues in the management of the Automobile firms can be seen in the last
century (Newman and Kenworthy, 2015). They have applied various types of strategies for
combating these situations. Some of the issues and challenges faced by the Automobile
companies are as follows:
 Larger cost of production: Limited amount of resources and the rising inflation all
over the world has increased the cost of production for the companies. There is high
price war in between the competitors and hence (Cunningham and Fröschl, 2013).
 Technological advancements speed: In the global market with the emergence of smart
cars it has become difficult for the firm to compete with each other in terms of
technological advancements in their products. This is due to the fact that technology
gets enhanced by two folds in every six months and IT firms are also coming in the
global automobile market. It reduces the chances of the firms to expand their reach in
the market.
 Heavy research burden: Cost of fuels is increasing everyday which is forcing
companies to invest heavily on the research of the engines that are fuel efficient. They
also have to fulfil the demands of the global market which cannot be possible without
doing heavy research (Davies, 2012).
 Marketing: In the past 100 years, the importance of marketing has increased
considerably (Pavlínek, 2012). The competition in marketing has risen to the levels
where they require larger amount of the investment.
Bringing work to the worker
There are many strategies developed by many Automobile companies. They were
innovative as well as brought new cultures of operations within the firms. Henry ford was
known for his excellent ideas of working. One of the primary examples of his idea was to
work in assembly line. This methodology promoted team culture which has become one of
the most essential parts of the modern day business (Alonso, Sherman, Wallington, Everson,
Field, Roth and Kirchain, 2012). Apart from this it has also increased the productivity of the
workers which was the need of Industrialisation. Assembly line concept has not only changed
the shape of working but also reduced the burden on each employee. Bringing work to the
worker was the concept that revolutionised the whole Automobile industry in terms of
production and consumption of goods. Since that was the phase when automation was not in
the existence hence companies were highly dependent on their workers for their production

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(Pinto, 2015). It was one of the reasons that companies wanted to find some new methods of
raising the production speed as well as reducing their overall cost of operations. Ford was
forerunners among industrialist who worked for social policy and hence he was considered to
be one of the important welfare capitalist in United States. This reduced the amount of energy
invested by the workers in their work while ensuring that the speed of production also
increases. His Model ‘T’ shaped working process reduces the efforts of workers and ensured
that they do not have to spend a lot on their mobility. This was due to the reason that
conveyer belts helped them by bringing the parts to them while they have been assigned a
significant task which they have to perform every time (Gross, 2018). This is one of the best
tactics that was used by Henry ford so as to ensure that there is less error in the work.
Bringing work to the worker helped company in reforming the whole working process which
has multiple benefits for both industry as well as the stakeholders attached with it. This is due
to the reason that most of the people working at the workplace have a specific role to perform
and hence reducing the chances that there will be errors in the working process. Distribution
of the work ensured that the entire task will be completed as per the requirements without
being missed (Feng and Papatla, 2012). The conveyer belts that brought work to the workers
also ensured that the work process is smoother. This is also due to implementation of this
concept that the cost of production lowered. He got this idea from the meat conveyer belt but
was highly effective in his dream of enhancing the production rate while maintain the
smoothness of the work (Rawlinson and Wells, 2016). Before the implementation of this
process workers also demanded for higher salaries but since the work of the individuals got
easier hence ford managed to the maintain their salaries to a significant level. It was the effect
of this Assembly line concept that the cost of production reduced by around $360 and the
production also touched new high which was necessary for maintaining the demand of the
market. It also boosted the speed and enhanced the efficiency of the firm in the longer run.
This was then also adopted by the European car manufacturers. This provided strength to the
Automobile industry and ensured that cars which were considered to be the commodity that
only rich can afford became the product of the middle class (Garel, 2013). Due to this larger
number of people were able to buy cars and hence demand of the products by these company
has also enhanced. With the assembly line concept more number of people was able to buy
cars while it was possible for the firms to sell their commodities. This became one of the
most effective methods using which companies in this business expanded its reach to the new
markets. This model was followed in many other industries in the later part of the century. By
doing this they have increased the number of workers that was working in the company and

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has actually boosted the production field company. This assembly line concept also made
employee and the employer interdependent on each other for maintaining the standards of
each other (Gordon, 2012). The cash benefits that the car industry got with the introduction of
assembly line within the industry was used in the process of innovation and technology
development. This made companies to market their products as per the demand of the lower
sections of the society which helped them in making higher revenues (Schaltegger, Burritt
and Petersen, 2017). With the introduction of conveyer belts in the car manufacturing also
reduced the problems related to carrying of the products within the car industry which was
necessary for bringing smoothness to the working process.
Before the introduction of this concept within the industry companies were unable to meet the
demands of the market as was unable to expand their business in the new sectors. At the time
when there was economic depression in most part of the European and American markets this
concept helped companies in reducing their financial burden and ultimately become one of
the reasons for their survival.
This also helped company in training of the employees as they do not have to work on many
roles rather they have the role of doing any one task. This was highly essential for bringing
smoothness to the work process which was the second part of the Industrialisation. This was
one of the major reasons why Henry Ford was considered to be as the father of the second
industrialisation (Gray, 2014). Similar such revolutionary steps which caused the same
impact were not seen in the industry for many years after that. It is one of those reasons that
this becomes the world’s biggest industry at that time.
Alfred P Sloan: Cost centres
In order to understand the concepts of Alfred P Sloan on the issues of cost centres it is
essential to understand the presence of cost centres within an organisation. Cost Centre is a
department inside the firms that does not sums directly in the profits (Harmon, 2015). Unlike
the profit centres, cost centres make indirect contributions to the profit margins of the firm.
When a company gets down sized one of the major shutdown is done in these centres due to
its operational nature but still the importance of such cost centres cannot be undermined.
This concept again revolutionised the automobile industry and helped companies in ensuring
their growth in the market for the longer duration. It can be understood as one of the modern
day concepts that helped automobile firms in reaching to top among various industries.
Alfred P Sloan surpassed the henry ford’s concepts once for all due to these kinds of concepts

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as these concepts gave unimaginable results to the Automobile industry (The rational walk,
2018). This concept revolutionised the overall Management system of General motors. In this
concept overall organisation were divided into multidivisional corporations where each
corporation is having numerous departments. Every department had their own set of
responsibilities for its general management as well as product responsibilities. Capital
measures such as ROI was used as an indicator for measuring the performance of the cost
centres. Implementation of this in the 1920 gave a boost to the sale of the products of General
motors. As each unit within the firm is responsible for its own productivity and the general
managers had the responsibility of ensuring profits from that unit. This made the operational
mechanism as a daily issue where department have to focus on the daily operations of the
firm. This concept was highly appreciated in the management process of European
automobile manufacturers and where one of the reasons for their success in the colonial
markets where they had higher reaches.
The relevance of this concept can be seen in every company even till today. Every company
adopted this concept after GM found a great success through it. Especially the multinational
and bigger firms adopted this kind of working culture. It helped companies in ensuring that
there will be a person at each level who will be responsible for increasing the production of
the firm. With the introduction of this concept the interest of the individuals became
secondary and the firm’s objectives became primary (Hashmi and Biesebroeck, 2016). Every
department has to work towards achieving better growth of the firm as well as ensuring
highest of profits. Every unit had their significant role in achieving better economies of scale.
This concept also helped in reducing the cost of inventory management as well as the overall
size of the inventory also got reduced. Since the idea of Henry ford gave significant amount
of success to the Automobile companies but after sometime it stagnated the growth of the
firm and hence Sloan model was highly appreciated as he isolated firms from the whims of
one man. Present day model of the cost centres are totally different from what’s proposed by
the Sloan himself (Schermerhorn, Davidson, Poole, Woods, Simon and McBarron, 2014). He
was one of the pioneers in using financial statistics for measuring the measuring the
performance of the firm and managing diverse operations appropriately. They termed these
units as the cost centres as they have been individually contributing to the profit margins of
the company. This concept helped to reduce the overall cost of management as smaller units
are easier to maintain and lesser amount of cost is required for their maintenance. This system
was changed as per the requirements of several industries and the demand of the environment

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that is present for their operations (Stahl, Björkman, Farndale, Morris, Paauwe, Stiles, Trevor
and Wright, 2012). There are several strengths and weakness of the Sloan cost centres. Some
of them are as follows:
Strengths
 It enhances measurement of performance.
 It helped in training of managers in decision making and running their divisions,
departments or centres (Thoms and Holden, 2016).
 It increases optimisation of investments included to the identified centres.
 The quality of decision made and their accountability also got increased.
 Enhanced monitoring of returns on investments which helped them in making their
future business plans.
 Better management of information based on profitability earned by the company from
their business (Humphrey, 2017).
 Enhanced monitoring of cost and expenditure which is one of the major concerns of
most of the firms.
Weakness
 Improper allocation of overheads leads to over and under estimation of
profitability.
 Enhances paperwork and administration difficulties.
 Sometimes if not properly managed then it could lead to high running cost of the
centres (King, 2018).
 There was no structural uniformity in this concept and hence everyone had their
own view point regarding the usage of this concept.
This type of cost centres were highly effective in reducing the issues that was attached with
the daily operations of the firm (Wells and Nieuwenhuis, 2012). This reduces the problems
such as the inventory management as well as the problems that were linked with financial
performance of the company. Financial measures helped in giving appropriate and
authenticated report about the performance of the firm. This also enhanced the quality of the
overall product that is produced by the firms which is necessary for the survival of the
organisation in the amount of competition that is present within the industry.

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Cost centres were highly productive for the firm as it added extra profits to their revenue and
still being practiced in most of the industries. These centres were closed when there were
significant amount of loss in their financial markets.
The world car concept
The world car concept is one of the major engineering strategies that are used in the
automobile industry which aimed to design a car that can satisfy the needs of the global
automotive market (Kotchen and Moon, 2012). As the name suggests it is globally adopted
concept that aims to meet the needs of the market where the company is going to launch their
products. This aims to have least changes in each of the market in which they have to sell it.
This car concept was designed so as to make uniformity in the car designed that is universally
acceptable. This also helped in increasing the quality of products as well as saving the cost by
standardising the design of the parts. It also helped in designing single vehicle in a certain
class so that cost that is saved can be utilised for delivering a quality product. It helps in
satisfying the needs of the worldwide consumers as well as performing as per the
expectations from the major automobile manufacturers. This concept made a revolution in the
design of the cars made by both American as well as European manufacturers (Wells, 2013).
There was long series of cars that was designed after the introduction of such concept in the
manufacturing of the vehicles. This also helped firms having production unit in one region of
the world to compete with the firms that are producing in some other parts of the world. This
has brought balance between the performances of the companies operational in different
regions of the world.
In the starting phase of the changes that was made in the automobile manufacturing by
various manufacturers. Like the T model of Ford helped companies to grow but there was an
issues that it was centred towards meeting the needs of buyers of United States. However
Model was considered as one of the first world car. Since the bigger companies such as GM
and Ford planned to extend their business in many other parts of the world and hence they
have adopted such designs that can be accepted in all the types of the market. World car
concept helped both the firms in reaching to the new markets where they can sell their
different products as per their requirement (Law, 2017). This was one of the major strategies
that helped companies in their expansion plans as well as also helped them in enhancing their
sale. This concept gained pace in the economic boom after the Second World War.

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Ford developed one of the first kinds of world car models named ‘model Y’ that was
according to the taste of Europe and had a great success in the market. Similarly they
designed cars for the specific markets as per the affordability of the people in it. This also
helped companies in having diversification in their products which was necessary for
satisfying the needs of the market and was highly essential for surviving in the competition.
These also helped automobile firms in making cars that is according to different sections of
the society which gave them larger potential market.
In the modern times models in the C-segment have usually shared a platform internationally
with just a minimum changes in the styles. Most successful C-segment car is the Corolla by
Toyota. Ford Mondeo was first modern attempt to design D-segment cars.
Despite of the name World car there are some kinds of changes that are made in the car as per
the nation for which they are making the cars (Xia and Li-Ping Tang, 2011). This is due to
the fact that the laws/regulations, market taste, cultural differences from nation to nation
which every company has to comply or follow. For example the prices of fuels differ from
nation to nation and hence they have to design fuel efficient cars accordingly.
This concept is followed by almost all the automobile manufacturers. With the development
of use of IT technologies in the car the development of World car got new dimension. In the
middle of 20th century to the modern day manufacturing of automobiles this concept has
varied to a larger extent but the basic idea of manufacturing remained the same.
This helps in reducing many kinds of issues that is faced by the companies:
 Without bringing uniformity in the market it cannot be possible that every firm within
the industry can achieve greater sales.
 It reduces problems related to the design of cars as vehicles under this concept were
made according to the requirement of market (Lee and Carter, 2011).
 It also helps in ensuring that the design accepted by different companies is according
to the world standards. It is necessary for maintain the quality of the cars that can be
acceptable at the world level.
In modern times automobile industry’s production is not only limited to the areas of America
and Europe rather it has shifted to the Japanese and other Asian markets where the cost of
production is low. Hence this concept gets more relevant in the modern sense. There is no
specific design that comes under the World car concept rather a range of car design models

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are made so as to have uniformity in the design of the car. This whole concept did not made
for revolutionising the industry rather they have adopted it for bringing uniformity in the
overall automobile manufacturing industry.
This concept also helped companies in designing of cars that were globally accepted by the
worldwide consumers and are according to the standards that will match the future need of
the industry (Lee, 2011). This was a concept that enabled companies in focusing towards
more research work so that their products can do better business irrespective of the market
status and environment they are working in.
Mergers
Mergers is considered as one of the strategy that is used by the company in order to
enter into the new market or have greater reach/ share in the market in which it is operational.
There are many kinds of strategies that has been utilised by various companies, one of them
is merger. It is a part of strategic management. It helps organisation in growing, shrinking and
changing the nature of the business as per the requirement of the industry as well as the
market. In legal terms it is the legal consolidation of two entities into a single entity (Lee,
Olson and Trimi, 2012). This is done in between two organisations that may have same asset
value or the smaller entity merging into the larger one.
In the modern days there are larger numbers of firms in the Automobile industry which
adopted such strategic management approach. The merger between Chrysler Mercedes- Benz
and Nissan Renault
Chrysler Mercedes-Benz
Both the Chrysler Mercedes and Benz are the two bigger firms in the Automobile Industry.
When both the companies merged it was stated as the “marriage made in heaven” or “Merger
of Equals”. This was one of the biggest mergers that took place in the year 1998 in exchange
of shares. The merger was contentious with the investor launching lawsuit over whether the
transaction was the merger of equals that senior management claimed or it take-over of the
Chrysler by Diamler-Benz. This merger was also termed as the way in which Daimer-Benz
drove off with Chrysler. Another issue of contention was that whether the merger was able to
deliver promised synergies and gave positively integrated the two businesses. In the later part
of the merger Diamler agreed to sell the Chrysler unit to Cerberus Capital Management in the

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mid of the year 2007 which raised further questions on whether the objective of the merger
was fulfilled (Time, 2018).
The basic idea behind the merger is to have a competitive edge over the market by taking use
of the resources they both have. They also joined hands to safeguard the long term
competitiveness of the firms involved. One of the primary things that were done in this
merger was to launch new model vehicles. They also had new series of truck range which got
great success in the American market. It was a result of the merger that both the firms came
into the market of commercial cars rather than just producing racing cars. In the year 2007 in
the general meeting the name of the merged group was changed to Diamler AG. Approx. 99
% of the shareholders of 5000 assembled voted for the change. This was done to have a
distinction between various products of group and the firm rand name. This merger which
was termed as the largest merger in the industry turned out to be a colossal disappointment.
This was due to the reason that both the firm have different kind of cultural difference and
hence rift erupted in between the two firms. Diamler was famous for his luxury brands and
did not understand the price worries or concerns of the automakers of United States. The day
both the firm broke their tie up it was the start if the modern day crisis in the US auto market.
This merger affected the whole industry as it was considered to be one of the primary
examples of how cultural difference between the two firms can result in failure in terms of
merger (Mayyas, Qattawi, Omar and Shan, 2012).
Nissan Renault merger
This merger was considered as the biggest merger in the industry as this merger made
both the companies as the leader in the market. The result can be easily seen in the Russian as
well as many European markets. Due to this merger the alliance surpassed Toyota and
Volkswagen in terms of car sales worldwide. The alliance was able to sell around 5,268,079
cars worldwide in just six months. Later in this merger they joined hands with Mitsubishi
another big car maker firm who is known for their technology use in their cars. Both the firms
hold significant stake in each other (Nissan Motor Corporation, 2018). This made an alliance
that has all the types of resources that is required for beating every other competitor. They
make it to have larger control on the market as well as seeking each other’s competencies so
as to have better design of the cars that was capable of satisfying global car consumers.
Renault itself generated record operating profit of 1.8 billion euros which was approx. 17 %
higher than that of the last financial year.

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At the time of merger both came to conclusion that leads to unique business model that
created significant value for both organisations. From 17 years workers of both the firm are
working with mutual respect while keeping their personal corporate identities intact and
maintaining their brand name. In 2013 the alliance became the market leader in the two
largest markets i.e. China and United States.
Both the companies in their statements stated that this merger was for wide ranging strategic
cooperation that included small design of the car with the highly fuel-efficient gasoline and
diesel engines. This collaboration helped them in designing of the light commercial vehicles
(Maxcy and Silberston, 2017).
There were following principles of alliance:
 Clear decision-making for speed, accountability and high level of performance.
 Maximising the efficiency by using combined strengths of both the firms and
developing synergies through common firms. Making cross company teams and
sharing components and platforms with each other.
The alliance was also made to check the issues related to the retaining of best of talents in the
industry. They also combined there energy to provide good working condition and face the
challenges that was faced in finding opportunities for their shareholders. It also helped people
in growing their global and entrepreneurial mind-set. They also aimed to generate attractive
returns for the shareholders of each firm as well as implementing the best established
standards of corporate governance. They also had the collaboration for contributing to the
global sustainable development. The composition of the alliance was in such a manner that
Renault holds 43.4% stake in Nissan while Nissan owns 15% of Renaults shares. Each firm
has a direct interest in the outcomes of its partners.
The common strategic management structure of Renault-Nissan was incorporated under
Dutch law. Management of both the firms have equal representation. This helped company in
resolving the issues that comes to them in their operations globally. They have their corporate
meetings regularly for discussing the problems that is faced by the firms in global context.
The alliance was a closed limited liability firm under Dutch law. The directors of the Alliance
foster deeper, broader cooperation to increase quality of operations of all the partners. These
Directors were responsible for managing operations and functions of both the partners.

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This was one of the best example of the industry that how mergers can be utilised for
strategic benefit (Mayyas, Qattawi, Omar and Shan, 2012). They both joined hands for
accelerating best practices in the global market as well as expanding their reach in the
competencies that both these firms have. This also provided them with the talent diversity as
they had exchange programs for sharing each other’s talents.
CONCLUSION
From the above based report it can be concluded that there are larger numbers of
issues faced by the automobiles industries in the past several years. There were larger
numbers of strategies and concepts that has been developed by the companies in the industry
so as to ensure the long term growth of the industry. It was due to such decisions that they
become the leader among all the industries. The world car concept changed brings the
uniformity in the working process which was necessary for the several companies that are
present within the industry. This concept helped to design cars that are acceptable by the
global market irrespective of the local environmental conditions. Apart from this there were
many game changing concepts taken by the pioneers in this industry. One of the widely
accepted concepts was to bring work to the workers. It was a decision that helped both
employers as well as employees. It reduced three major problems of the owners of the firm
namely reducing the cost of operations, bringing efficiency as well as the smoothness of the
firm. This helped company in meeting the demands of the market. A few years after that
Sloan’s cost centres gained popularity and ensured a better performance management and
monitoring system of the firm. This helped companies in increasing their profit margins
which was necessary for the long term growth of the company. There were many other
strategic decisions that were taken by the firms from time to time .For example Merger which
helped in competing with the market and boosting the business of both the firms participating
in it. Despite of such larger numbers of strategic decision it can be seen that considerable
amount of challenges are faced by the firms. Management of these firms needs to make some
kinds of innovative decisions to overcome such issues in future. With so many years of
experience this must be a problem for this industry.

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