Caterham: Pandemic Impact, Survival & Success Factors Analysis

This report examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the automobile industry, focusing on Caterham, a British manufacturer. It details the pandemic's adverse effects, including supply chain disruptions, decreased demand, and increased operational costs. The report further proposes survival and success factors for the industry, such as enhanced collaboration with dealers, technological adoption, supply chain maximization, and cost-cutting measures. Emphasis is placed on producing affordable cars, investing in smart factories, prioritizing safety, and fostering strong customer relationships through online platforms. The report concludes that overcoming these challenges is crucial for sustaining the automobile industry during and after the pandemic, and highlights the importance of adapting to changing consumer preferences and collaborating with stakeholders to mitigate risks and ensure long-term success. Desklib provides this and other solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

BASED ON ASSESSMENT 1
ANALYSE THE IMPACT
OF THE PANDEMIC ON
THE INDUSTRY AND
DEVELOP SURVIVAL AND
SUCCESS FACTORS FOR
THE INDUSTRY WITH
CONSIDERATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................4
Impact of pandemic on the automobile industry.........................................................................4
Survival and successful factor for the industry............................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Global business environment us refers to the atmosphere which is present in various
international market of different country. As it consist of positive aspects it give assistance in
adopting technology, infrastructure development, managerial skills, create employment,
delivering better services etc from other nations by exporting commodity from one place to
another (Belhadi, 2021). The present report will examine the the impact of the Covid-19 on the
famous automobile company named as Caterham which is British manufacturing organisation.
furthermore, the report will delivered the survival and successful factor for the company in order
to increase productivity.
MAIN BODY
Impact of pandemic on the automobile industry
Automobile industry is considered as the essential part in boosting and enhancing the GDP
and also affects the economy of the country. It is considered as the fastest growing sectors.
With the increase in the population the demand of the people eventually increases. People
now demand more comfort and luxury. Increase in the demand for the cars and other
vehicles results in increase in the growth rate and act as a driver for the growth of the
automobile industry in the country (Guan, et.al, 2020). The automobile industry is
considered as the economic and industrial force globally. It is also considered as the good
employment generator as it employees number of workers .As the automobile industry is
considered as the important part in enhancing the economy , the government should take
various initiatives for effective functioning of the industry. The arrival of the covid-19
pandemic has resulted into loss of the economy and various industries (Robinson et.al,
2021). Every industry has been badly affected by the crisis as it has forced the company to
take major steps which resulted in decrease in the productivity of the company in order to
reduce the adverse effects on the people of the economy. The automobile industry has also
been affected as decrease in the supply chain, decrease in the demand of the cars; increase in
the operational costs of the company etc.Covid-19 pandemic has caused a grievous crisis
around the world and has also affected the automobile industry as well. With the increase in
the crisis, the company’s manufacturers of the country were shut down. As many companies
were dependent on the Chinese manufacturer for the supply of the raw material. The
company shut down its manufacturing plants was to stop the spread of infection among the

workers working in the factory. COVID-19 has affected the economy of the whole
automobile industry and it can take time to balance and improve such losses.
Automobiles play a very significant role in solving the travelling problems between the
places with the help of using various technologies (Liu, et.al, 2021). The pandemic has
affected not one company but has impacted the automobile industry worldwide. The Covid-
19 outbreak has exposed various challenges on the company operating in automobile sector.
It is also observed that 80% of the automobile industry will be directly impacted in terms of
revenues due to the pandemic. During the times of crisis many companies have to lay off
their staff and do not have enough employees to run their production line. The pandemic has
led to various different changes in the buying behaviour and attitude of the customers. It was
observed that the registrations of the cars rose by 11% in July (Crick, and Crick, 2020).
The industry has faced the supply and manufacturing disruptions such as due to lockdown
and various restrictions the supply of the manufacturing products was decreased and various
companies have to shut down their manufacturing plants. They industry was forced to short
list their workers during the coivd-19 crisis. Due to the strict regulations and curfews the
demand for the cars also decreased. Many companies operating in the automobile industry
has faced serious liquidity issues as the operating cash flows have declined due to the
pandemic. It is also observed that with the rise in the cases due to the pandemic and
increasing numbers of quarantine measures it is expected that the demand of the product will
decline in future. Due to the pandemic the aftersales service and the revenue was reduced in
2020.Many dealers closed their sales operation with the increasing impact of the crisis.
The COVID-19 has pushed the global economy in to a disaster and in order to control the
pandemic the government announced the lockdown worldwide but it affected the economy
and also shut down of various industrial units (Pichler, et.al, 2020). In the past months, the
automobile industry has undergone various structural modifications. Lower returns have
been reported for the returns of automobile sector index. Almost all the sectors are affected
such as household sector.
In the Automobile industry, car manufacturing outputs decreased by 29.3% in the year 2020.
The production of the cars also observed a decline in the overseas market. The
manufacturing operations of the company were severally disrupted in 2020. Various
restrictions and guidelines imposed by the government resulted in shut down of many

manufacturing plants in UK. In the month of lockdown new registrations was disappeared
and many cancelled and postponed their bookings and the registration was reduced by 33%.
It has resulted that people now started saving money (Xu, et.al, 2020). There was decline in
the working capital due to decrease in the demand for the products in the market due to the
pandemic. Various steps taken by the government such as curfews and closing of factories
and offices reduced the income numbers and hence resulted inn decline in the sales of the
new vehicles in the market.
Survival and successful factor for the industry
The Covid-19 pandemic has been the most challenging factor for the automobile industry like
Caterham and bringing crises in the marketplace. Due to covid 19 there is huge disruption in the
profitability of the company so it is entail to examine the factors in order to increase the
availability of the brands in the domestic as well as international market. in order to survive in
the marketplace, the company can increase the collaboration with dealer and built great network.
It give assistance in acquiring in the market again, adopting new technological tool and attract
the customer. Through the technology the organisation can deliver the transparency which is
essential to attract the buyers. also, company need to maximize the supply chain in international
market and deliver the potential services to the right buyers (KM and KG,2021.).
Along with that the maintain the manufacturing discipline with the assistance of proper
management services. Along with that the company need to produce only the essential or the
product which the buyer actually want to buy in order to satisfy individuals needs and wants.
Beside this the company need to produce or manufacture the affordable cars so the buyers can
fulfil their demand as choice not necessary. Post covid the people of nation start investing money
on necessary good rather then increasing their expenses by investing money on luxury good like
sports cars or luxury car. The organisation organize transformation in the technology or the tools
to determine and should prioritize the cost cutting process in order to acquire the opportunity of
leading the market rapidly. the money need to invest in the area of improvement or the
productivity to enhance the performance of the organisation. along with that the company have
chance to make investment in smart factory or powerplant electrification. It improve the
competitiveness in the marketplace along with give assistance in delivering the best quality to the
buyers ( Wang, 2020). Beside this the industry make concern on the safety issues which attract

the attention of the consumer as well as increase the scale of revenue growth. In order to protect
long term mega trend, the organization utilized the capital in innovation and focuses on the
social aspects that the consumer willing to have. Due to pandemic the production of the company
is slowdown as the people shift their preference and change their demand. The company can
make instance research on the area of improvement and the changes the consumer want in the
cars so the employees of the organisation can change the perspective of the people at the time of
decision making process. To accomplish organisational goals or achieve the success the
company need to collaborate with the supplier, retailers, financial institute and the government to
take effective action. Further it deliver support in minimizing the risk by sharing the services as
well as investing with equal ratio.
To survive in the market the company can build good relationship with the potential customer by
utilizing the online platform like Facebook, Instagram, google, Gmail etc. the organisation keep
in touch with the buyers and conduct sort survey on their buying preference before and after
Covid-19. Further the organisation have probability to improve the services and modifies the
automobile as as per the positive and negative feedback provided by the consumer(Kim, 2020).
Moreover, the company can deliver finical support or monitor the financial condition which
encourage the consumer to buy the product. In this factor the company can reduce the interest
rate on the finance cars and provide extra time period for the payment of loan which is allotted
by the company in exchange for the service. It will maintain the cash flow of the industry and
show the presence in the marketplace. The famous auto mobile industry can will run the fixed
cost cutting programme and increase the period of vehicle retention. The customers are need to
satisfy by obtaining more sympathetic charges and tenures in the market.
Workforce enablement is also a plan of action to acquire successful in the market. Basically, the
employees of the organisation are those who are responsible for the productivity of the
organisation so it is essential to support and encourage them. prioritization of health is another
factor because if the employees are not fit they are unable to work in effective and efficient
manner. the staff members of the company need to be fully vaccinated as well as sanitize on the
regular bases which deliver relief to the consumer as well as employees of the organisation.
along with that the company provide sanitary items for instance, mask, gloves and sanitizers.
After all, over these facilities the consumer do not hesitate in buying the service or the
commodity from the organisation in order to fulfil their needs as well as wants. Beside this all

these factors encourage the buyers to contribute equally in the economics for the welfare of
company as well as nation (Fernando, et.al 2018).
Therefore, the company can acquire all this opportunity or the possibility in order to lead the
market as wells survive with adequate success in the marketplace at the time of pandemic.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded form the above report that due to the covid-19 pandemic not only automobile
industry but the whole economy has been affected. Automobile industries play a very important
role in enhancing the growth the economy of the country. Several restrictions and guidelines
imposed by the government such as curfews and lockdowns have drastically affected the
automobile industry. The sales of the company was reduced in 2020 as compared to the past
years, the supply of the raw materials was reduced and resulted in shut down of various
manufacturing plants in the company. It is very important to overcome the adverse effects of the
crisis in order to sustain in the market. The success factor helps the company to balance their
losses which the company have faced as a result of the adverse effects of the covid-19.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Belhadi, 2021. Manufacturing and service supply chain resilience to the COVID-19 outbreak:
Lessons learned from the automobile and airline industries. Technological Forecasting
and Social Change, 163, p.120447.
Crick, J.M. and Crick, D., 2020. Coopetition and COVID-19: Collaborative business-to-business
marketing strategies in a pandemic crisis. Industrial Marketing Management. 88.
pp.206-213.
Fernando, et.al 2018. Managing project success using project risk and green supply chain
management: A survey of automotive industry. International Journal of Managing
Projects in Business.
Guan, et.al, 2020. Global supply-chain effects of COVID-19 control measures. Nature human
behaviour 4(6). pp.577-587.
Kim, R.Y., 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on consumers: Preparing for digital sales. IEEE
Engineering Management Review, 48(3), pp.212-218.
KM, K.R. and KG, N.K., 2021. Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic in the Automobile Industry: A
Case Study. International Journal of Case Studies in Business, IT and Education
(IJCSBE), 5(1), pp.36-49.
Liu, et.al, 2021. Accelerated innovation through repurposing: exaptation of design and
manufacturing in response to COVID‐19. R&D Management.
Pichler, et.al, 2020. Production networks and epidemic spreading: How to restart the UK
economy?. Production Networks and Epidemic Spreading: How to Restart the UK
Economy.
Robinson et.al, 2021. Covid-19 and lockdown policies: A structural simulation model of a
bottom-up recession in four countries (Vol. 2015). Intl Food Policy Res Inst.
Wang, 2020. Marketing innovations during a global crisis: A study of China firms’ response to
COVID-19. Journal of Business Research, 116, pp.214-220.
Xu, et.al, 2020. Impacts of COVID-19 on global supply chains: facts and perspectives. IEEE
Engineering Management Review. 48(3). pp.153-166.
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