Preview

The New Beetle: Volkswagen's Management Problem

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1195 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The New Beetle: Volkswagen's Management Problem
This paper is case study of The New Beetle form harvard business school. It is for marketing research class. This paper define Volkswagen's Management problem and the question that design for solve the problem.
=======================================================================

The idea of Volkswagen (VW) Beetle was designed so everyone can have a car of their own. Volkswagen kept that idea in mind to build New Beetle. When Volkswagen tries to bring New Beetle to public, management’s problem was to know the consumer’s expectations for New Beetle. They need to use marketing research to find out who will in their target market and what target market preferences are. After first step, then another problem is how management going to use those data to help them to understand what improvement does New Beetle needs in order to meet consumer’s expectations and management needs to know the demand on New Beetle. At last, management needs to position New Beetle in positive image in order to get high sell in market.

Marketing research objective: In order to solve management problems, there are few objectives that Volkswagen’s managements need to focus on when they doing their marketing research. To Begin with they need to (1) Identify the target market, (2) Find out what the target market’s preference of small car, (3) Find out customer expectations from new Beetle, (4) Know what the reasons are that people want to buy New Beetle. The Volkswagen New Beetle was introduced to U.S market in 1998 (Wikipedia.org). Before launching the New Beetle, the team needed to design New Beetle to look like the original Beetle in order to bring back people’s memory about one of the most successful cars in the world. The New Beetle takes style and shape of the original Beetle to become a stylish and fashionable compact car.

Key factors:
There are different ideas between original Beetle and New Beetle. To compare their key factors in order to find out what management style is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The car industry is one that changes often because consumers’ wants and needs in a vehicle…

    • 1892 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Week 2 Case Study

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The new Beetle is an entirely different product from the earlier version. Although it looks like its predecessor it has been upgraded to compete in today’s market. They have kept up with trends and took a recognized brand and brought it into a crowded field and has gained market share. With a segment of the market willing to be innovators and early adapters, those willing to take a chance and get out front of a trend. I have a friend with a Beetle and they were able to choose a color that was completely different than anything on the road. We nicknamed it Skittle since it was close to one of the candy colors in a Skittle bag.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Volkswagen of America

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Ferdinand Porsche designed the Volkswagen automobiles during the 1930 in Germany. The original vehicles, targeted at the mass market. Were intended to transport a family of five at highway speeds, use modest amount of fuel, and remain within financial reach for most people. The company’s signature platform by the late 1940s was the Beetle, which with its rounded styling and reliable air-cooled engine, became internationally popular. For about 20 years, sales of the Beetle hurtled skyward, propelling the company’s total worldwide vehicle sales past a million in 1955 and to high point in 1969. Although popularity of the Beetle declined throughout in the 1970s and its importation was discontinued in the U.S late in that decade, production of Beetles in Latin America continued in the U.S late in that decade, production of Beetle in Latin America continued into the 1990s. It remains the best selling car of all time.…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Over the past several decades, Volkswagen of America (VWoA) has struggled with finding and maintaining a steady growth rate. Instead, over the past 40 years the company has had large peaks and valleys in the number of vehicles sold.[1] One plan to smooth out the growth curve was to position the company into two main categories, classic and sport. This positioning led the company to plan for future growth throughout the brands, as well as define five clear goals for the company to manage its growth.[2] These five goals highlighted several areas of opportunity for the IT department in the company as well as within VWoA.…

    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    From Hitler to Hippies: The Volkswagen Bus in America by David Dyer Burnett, B.A. Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2002 i From Hitler to Hippies: The Volkswagen Bus in America APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: ____________________ Janet Davis ____________________ Jeffrey Meikle ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction…………………………………………………………...…2 Chapter One: Volkswagens in Germany…………………………….… .13…

    • 44670 Words
    • 179 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen of America? Are the criticisms justified? Is it an improvement over the old process?…

    • 1669 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    b) Effects and Consequences. A research conducted showed mixed reviews and opinions about the car. The target market encompassed Volkswagen's core audience of 18 - 34 years olds and baby boomers. Buyer's characteristics were identified as confident, individualistic, and a desire to be the center of attention. In addition, Volkswagen felt it could leverage the nostalgia surrounding the car. However, appealing to young adventurous individuals and nostalgic baby boomers seems to be contradictory. If the company is not able to target the market appropriately, the brand will be inconsistent, misleading customers. Volkswagen is aiming to make its brand relevant. To achieve this, they have to align with market conditions and trends. An improper segmentation would result in an inadequate association of characteristics of the car, with the target market destroying brand equity. In addition, the company has to decide the media required to publicize the car. Utilizing TV campaigns they will certainly reach a broader customer base. Utilizing print advertising they will reach more specific and demographic segmented customers. The issue is to adequately balance the media channels to be used to target the right market. On the other hand, price will be one of the most important variables that will determine segmentation used. If the company overprices the New Beetle, the young segment of customers associated with the car would be discarded because they would not afford it, but if they underprice it, uniqueness characteristics would be deteriorated, and…

    • 1423 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Volkswagen (abbreviated VW) is a German automobile manufacturer that was founded on the 28th of May 1937. The company was originally founded by the Nazi Trade Union known as the German Labour Front. At the time the majority of cars being manufactured in Germany were luxurious models that were very expensive. Adolf Hitler, the Chancellor of Germany, decided to sponsor the construction of a new state-owned factory that could produce a car that had a price similar to that of a small motorcycle. The factory was built in Wolfsburg in 1938 and the prototype of the first Volkswagen car was designed by Erwin Komenda. It was the original car to have the shape of what would be become the iconic Beetle. The intention was to get Germans to take part in a savings scheme to pay for these cars, 336,000 people saved enough to be eligible but unfortunately none of them ever received their car as their savings were stolen during World War 2 and only a handful of the cars were ever produced. Following World War 2 the factory came under British control and was used to produce 20,000 cars to be used as light transport for the British Army and the German post office. By 1946 the factory was producing 1000 cars a month and avoided being dismantled and moved to Britain as part of war reparations because British car manufacturers deemed the cars “quite unattractive to the average buyer”. In 1948 Volkswagen came under the control of West Germany and began to sell in other countries, by 1951 sales of the Volkswagen Beetle had reached 1 million units. Volkswagen sales continued to increase globally and in 1972 their Beetle make became the most-produced single car make in history. During the early 1970s Volkswagen saw a decline in sales so to combat this they began to produce new models. The first was the Passat in 1973 followed by the Sirocco in 1974 and the Golf in the same year. In the 1980s sales decreased in the…

    • 5681 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Holden Australia

    • 1328 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The new product of Holden has problems that are different from the real demand of the customer. Successful industrial innovation has three critical factors which are technology push, demand pull, and integrated model (Rothwell, 1992, p. 221).Holden 's innovation developments not only dominate product line but also influence on product sale result. When Holden develops new products, it is not based on the customer feedback instead according to the company 's product categories and competitors ' developed product. It leads to setting a vague plan to develop products. As a consequence, some customers may not purchase the innovation vehicle because the products are not needed.…

    • 1328 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mercedes Benz Case Study

    • 3979 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Mercedes-Benz company has to take care of consumers choice to maintain its position in the market and also for further growth in the car industry. The company is adapting new technologies and techniques to make its cars more famous among the customers. It is also introducing low priced luxury in the market. The company should take steps to know the exact consumer demand and needs so that it can provide them a suitable car.…

    • 3979 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    German Management Theory

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages

    German management, as it has evolved over the centuries and has established itself since World War II, has a distinct style and culture. Like so many things German, it goes back to the medieval guild and merchant tradition, but it also has a sense of the future and of the long term.…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Case Study Audi

    • 6513 Words
    • 27 Pages

    •The brand confusion: There is a risk that the different brands of the Volkswagen Group start to compete against each other since they are increasingly launching the same market segments. Our recommendation to avoid this issue is to stop the expansion of Volkswagen with…

    • 6513 Words
    • 27 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Evolution of Management

    • 1880 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In this paper I will be explaining the evolution of management from the beginning of the industrial revolution to present which includes Classical School of Management, the Human Relations/ Behavioral School of Management, Theory X and Y, the Scientific Approach, Contingency Approach, and Theory Z. I will also be comparing the classical style and the present style to each other and to my and current work environment.…

    • 1880 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Management Thought

    • 6757 Words
    • 28 Pages

    Here is a report on “Evolution of Management Thought" which you have assigned me in order to give a clear concept.…

    • 6757 Words
    • 28 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Modern Manager

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The classic management approach mostly involves the meeting of needs and wants between the people working and the consumers. This is the management that is common for the people to do physical labor. In this way, the classic manager is responsible mostly in making these needs and wants of the people. He also has the authority over someone to meet his purpose as a manager. During this time, there is no clear distinction between a manager and a leader; wherein sometimes these two concepts are interchangeable.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays