Problem Statement: CarMax faces challenges from several fronts that could threaten to disrupt their growth plans and their position as a disruptor in the used car market. The biggest challenge they face is being able to continuously secure a study supply of high quality used cars, due to the extremely competitive nature of the used car market. CarMax offers cutting edge technology to help the company identify buying trends, pricing trends, and consumer preferences down to the zip code that gave them a large competitive advantage, as “data mining” has matured and competitors have developed their own software tools, eroding the competitive advantage to CarMax.
External Analysis:
• Used car market is highly competitive with a price-sensitive
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This allows sellers to sell their used vehicles hassle free and CarMax to get “first dibs” on used cars that might otherwise be lost to them in the private party market.
• CarMax executives were keenly aware of the fate of their one-time parent company, Circuit City, demise to Best Buy after ignoring or underestimating the threat Best Buy had become to their business and vowed that CarMax would not meet the same fate.
• One of the first to offer “no haggle” pricing policy along with their inspection guarantee adding value for the consumer.
• Offers their “premium” product of newer, more gently used cars CarMax and “discount” Valumax which appeals to buyers with a small budget offering older cars with higher miles compared to CarMax, appealing to a wider market.
• CarMax allowed their customers access to their full inventory throughout the country and offered to have cars shipped from one location to another for a customer for a fee.
• Differentiated themselves from the typical used car lot by introducing service departments and their own financing arm. CarMax Auto Finance income increased 14% to $300M totaling $5.93B in
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Offering consumers access to an extensive inventory online along with warranties, service, financing, appraisals, and add the consumer’s ability to sell the car to the dealership is CarMax’s brand. CarMax needs to continue to leverage their competitive strengths while making sure they offer the best-priced cars to the very competitive used car buying consumer. While it may be attractive to CarMax to enter new car market, they risk losing the ability to conduct their business model as manufacturers have various rules and contract requirements to carry the Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Honda, or Toyota product lines. With this, they risk losing their brand recognition and identity with their consumers. Additionally, costs associated with buying an existing dealership with inventory and various licensing and franchising fees have the potential to drive up costs and therefore threaten their ability to price
According to our case study, Allstate Insurance Company is an industry leader in providing various insurance products to customers, but recently realized it had room for improvement in its “non-traditional” sectors. First, what are non-traditional sectors? The study emphasizes motorcycle insurance, but it could also be assumed that boat, RV, ATV and snowmobile insurance would fall into the same category. Second, we have to consider who would need these types of insurances. We need to think of what kind of person owns these various types of vehicles and what is most important to them. Third, we need to come up with a plan on how to gather information about the people we want to target. Finally, once we have our information gathered we’ll need to come up with a plan on how to use it to our advantage.
LRNA needs to determine a positioning strategy for the Discovery and itself in North America to entice its two distinct target markets. LRNA is aware that it has two distinct target markets whose purchasing decisions are impacted by various drivers but also knows that factors such as quality, safety, reliability, comfort, off-road capability and aesthetics overlap. When compared with other SUVs or SUV alternatives, we believe the following differences should be highlighted to develop a distinctive niche for the Discovery and Land Rover brand in the target audience’s mind. The Discovery and Land Rover brand should be positioned as luxury car alternatives with rich histories and superb off-road capabilities designed for the crème-de-la-crème of consumers: affluent, intelligent, practical, unique, full of character, and seeking to empower themselves through adventure and exploration during their driving experiences. The Discovery and Land Rover brand should, in effect, convey the following message: you are what you drive.
which has the opposite effect. The used cars that they buy are also likely to be less reliable than the
Hertz operates its car rental business through various brands in 145 different countries. Hertz was named, for the thirteenth time, by Travel + Leisure readers as the Best Car Rental Agency (Hertz Annual Report, 2013). Hertz is one of the top companies in the car rental industry by obtaining 18.6% of the market share (IBISWorld, 2014). In addition to the leading position that Hertz has built within its industry, the focus was to add more value offerings while recreating the experience in car rentals across the globe. Hertz employs both growth and competitive strategies to sustain competitiveness.
Suitability: Hertz has several potential opportunities and threats that it can face as a car rental company. Some of the opportunities include growth through strategic acquisitions. For instance, Hertz acquired Advantage Rent a Car in 2009 and Dollar Thrifty in 2012. With their Hertz brand, Hertz can target business travelers and upscale leisure travelers while also targeting cost-conscious leisure travelers with their Dollar Thrifty brand (IBISWorld, 2014). Hertz also acquired the remaining 35% stake in Navigation Solutions, which is the operational arm of Hertz 's NeverLost customized, in car GPS system, allowing them to add a GPS system into every car they own (Company Profile, 2013). A competitive response to these
There are many different automobile companies providing buyers with many styles of cars, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles. Toronto Star January 14, 2005 present ways to approach the automotive buying process. There are many different surveys, crash reports, and rating systems comparing different companies and their vehicles. Things you should look for when reading these published articles are who conducted the study? Who paid for it? Who gains from it? Who loses? These are all things to keep eye on as some automotive companies will run their own surveys making their products seem overpowering against the competition. Some prove their products are safer then the competition where the competition has been proven time and time again to make that survey seem inaccurate.
... in your area, it will check into its national network of dealers until it finds the one you want, then swap the car with another vehicle at a local dealer located near your place. The vehicle will be shipped directly to you, if necessary.
As most car dealers know there has been a huge boost in customers wishing to personalize their vehicles. Many customers consider their vehicle an extension of their own unique personality. But the key to successfully selling aftermarket products as a dealer is showcasing unique vehicles that will catch the eye of the customer. When the customer sees a one of a kind vehicle with clean smooth car window tinting vs. a car with no window tinting at all they are more likely to go for the one with the car window tinting because it is more appealing. If a customer sees a truck that he likes at a dealership but it doesn't have all the features that he saw initially in an add or commercial he may decide not to buy that truck. The customer is more likely to buy a vehicle if it has at least one or two special aftermarket features.
On the other hand, the determination of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to have success in making Sully look bad, contributed to the stress that Sully already had. Proving Sully guilty would save the NTSB insurance company money that would have to have paid otherwise. During the first NTSB investigation, they inform Sully and Jeff that the human performance investigation was to begin. They questioned him on why he didn’t fly back to LaGuardia, and Sully responds that there was not enough altitude and that the Hudson was the only place smooth enough and wide enough to land a commercial plane safely. Soon after, they told Sully that aviation engineers calculated that Sully had enough energy to make it back to the airport runway
Business has been doing good with an emphasis of selling new cars as the principal business of the dealership
The task of this assignment is to complete a competitive analysis of two of the largest competitors in the industry of chosen study. This researcher’s chosen field is the Car Wash industry. Unlike many industries, the Car Wash industry does not have dominant players or franchise names that rule across the country. Unlike other automobile related industries such as oil change (Rapid Oil Change), tires and batteries (Goodyear), and auto parts retailers (NAPA), where these types of name players may have thousands of locations throughout the country, there are no big name players in the Car Wash industry. Although there are companies that own and operate multiple car wash facilities, most of these multi-location owners operate multiple locations throughout a metropolitan or regional area and their overall location totals are nominal. Since there is a lack of dominant competitors to analyze, this researcher will focus on an analysis between the two main categories of car wash ownership: full service vs. unattended operations.
their best price for a certain car, most people would not believe the price quoted to be the actual
Thirdly, the company is committed to delivering superior quality of products and services. It earned a reputation of a convenient and reliable brand that offers the lowest prices, one of the fastest and lowest shipping, widest selection of goods, and many additional features with its services.
Market Segmentation, Positioning and targeting for BMW 1.1 Introduction This report aims to examine the market segmentation, positioning and targeting of BMW (automobile company). BMW will be examined giving information about the company and where it is now and any recommendations that we feel are appropriate. 1.2 BMW Company Profile BMW was formed in 1917, from the merger of two small aero engine makers. Their famous blue and white symbol stems from the colours of the Bavarian Luftwaffe and is said to resemble the view of the one of their plane through a propeller. BMW is renowned for its sporty, sophisticated & luxury image which has been built up since the 1970's with many motor sport victories ranging from Touring Car to Formula 1.
Schmidt, J. (2010, September 29). Strategy and targets of mercedes-benz cars sales and marketing. Retrieved from http://www.daimler.com/Projects/c2c/channel/documents/1931898_Daimler_UBS_Paris_DJSchmidt_Handout.pdf