This paper would be dedicated to the assessment of the business environment of BMW Company in the European region. Three following perspectives would be considered: demographics, technology and innovation.
Demographics
In accordance with the information, represented by the ICCT (2013), there is a significant decrease of the total number of the registrations of the new passenger cars since 2007 (there was a 23% decrease in this index). It is possible to state a fact that there is a direct interrelation between the economic climate in the region and the vehicle sales trend. This trend is evidently represented in the southern Europe (the mass decrease, which has taken its place after 2007: 60% - in Spain and 45% in Italy). At the same time, the sales rates in Germany were almost equal in 2007 and 2012.
It is possible to make a statement that the European market of vehicles is still centered the set of countries as the lion share of the registrations of the new passenger vehicles (75 %) takes its place in the five largest markets (France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain) (ICCT 2013).
Technology
In the scope of this section, it is essential to note that this company has already invested tremendous resources for development of its electric car platform and as a result, the -electric vehicle platform. The core emphasis of its management is currently put on the integration of the legacy technology for further delivering of the immediate value to the end-consumers. At the same time, it is essential to note that partnership route has been chosen by Mercedes and thus, this competing company purchases from Tesla the battery technology and drivetrain for packaging arrangement of it upcoming electric car. It is essential to note that both Mercedes and BMW are well ahead of Tesla in terms of their advances technologies in vehicle’s manufacturing - such as cruise control and self-parking (Marketline 2015).
Currently, instead of waiting for the evolvement of the battery technology, which is critically important for manufacturing of the all-electric car with the mid-range price point and 200-mile range, the optional “range extender” is offered by BMW to its customers – it consists of the motorcycle engine with two cylinders, which is able to maintain the 5% power-level battery and in such manner the range of the cared is extended to 80 miles extra. While taking into account the fact that the batteries are powered by the range extender rather than the gas engine, such car cannot be referred as a hybrid, but at the same time, there is an option of continual refilling of the range extender and in such manner, the vehicle ever stuck without power (Yarewd 2014)
Innovation
In order to maintain the competitive advantage in the European market of vehicles, it is critically important to maintain speed with improvements from the stage of the drawing-board to the showroom or catalogue. That is why, there is a rapid prototyping in the regional car industry - as it is referred as the indispensable weapon in the armory of the manufacturer. While BMW produces the design or functional models, while referring to the systems of computer-aided design (CAD), the company gains an option of dramatic shortening of the cycle of development, while applying into the practice the rapid prototyping techniques (RPT).
Currently, there is a following trend on the European markets - there is still the low use of the RPT – as it may be traced from the local manufacturers. That is why, it is essential to consider both cultural and technical complications to the RPT wide popularization.
In the scope of their common three-year project, BMW and Fiat conduct an assessment of the currently existing options for the rapid prototyping processes; the major weaknesses in this case are the following: slow and unstable techniques, which usually fail because of the need on active engagement and supervision as well as the accurate models have not been generated by such system approach. As an evident example, it is possible to refer to the fact that such European manufacturers as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Fiat have a need in laser tools for the stereo-lithography – the completely automated and robust ones. That is why, there is still a need for further development of the prototyping process to such level that there is an option of leaving the office in the evening and getting the properly-developed and accurate model in the morning. Thus, the competent experts from BMW should elaborate such model as soon as possible in order to gain competitive advantage in the European Vehicle market (ec.europa 2014).
Conclusion
It is considered by the experts in the vehicle industry that the BMW group is one of the leading automakers in the global scales. At the same time, the intense competition is faced by the company and it should be properly and effectively addressed- for remaining competitive and profitable. For this purpose, there is a need of market share expansion as well as considering the possible costs reduces. Additional attention should be paid to the maintenance of the brand management – for attracting the potential buyers and targeting the right market.
References
ec.europa 2013, Fast-track from design to model. <https://ec.europa.eu/research/success/en/ind/0023e.html>
ICCT 2013, European Vehicle Market Statistics Pocketbook 2013. <http://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/EU_vehiclemarket_pocketbook_2013_Web.pdf>
Marketline 2015, Automotive Manufacturing in Europe. Marketline
Yarewd P 2014, BMW Vs. Tesla: A Real Live Innovator’s Dilemma <http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/26/bmw-vs-tesla-is-a-real-live-innovators-dilemma-battle/>
