Political and Economic Change in the Automobile Industry

Book excerpt: Inhaltsangabe:Definition of problem This paper deals with the future strategic orientation of manufacturers of luxury cars. The sociological, political, ecological, technological and economic environmental factors and their influence on corporate orientation will be highlighted and analysed. This fundamental problem for car niche brands is investigated through the example of Maserati, an upmarket brand which has become, like no other, both a trendsetter and a victim of the expectations of its patrons and customers and is now struggling for market shares together with its parent company. This paper will initially highlight influencing factors and also the need for efficiency in manufacture and production, as well as the new tasks and challenges arising from legislation. Macroeconomic factors, such as the shrinking purchasing power in developed countries like the U.S. due to inflation (and stagflation) worries (which result from the daily rise in raw material prices), exert just as great an influence on car sales figures as the growing number of super-rich in Third World countries. The question concerning the shift of target markets arises. Do the raw materials inhibit sales for these products? Or is the clientele immune? What innovations are demanded, and are they compatible with the attributes associated with super sports cars and luxury cars? Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, and even Aston Martin are manufacturers who boast that they make cars with horrendous power ratings, fuel consumption, and emission levels. Their customers love the sound of the engines, comparable as they are with aircraft engines. They produce engines with eight, ten or even twelve cylinders, epitomising power, but at the same time are more suitable for the race track than for the road if one compares their figures with those of classic mass-market cars. The customers rate performance and sound higher than fuel consumption per litre and environmental awareness. These are geared to basic male instincts. Beauty of form, brute force and eroticism are mostly described in terms of beautiful women or sins or mythological mental attributes. The marketing is concerned with lifestyle, passion, and the child in people, the Freudian id. A man simply wants to own these mighty projectiles; forget common sense. The owner of such a car is, according to this car s marketing image, the one who has created it. He is successful, healthy, rich and good-looking. A majority of the world s male [...]