Marketing the Class A (Mercedes)

ASSIGNMENT

MMG

CONTENTS

1/ Executive Summary................................................................p.3

2/ Introduction..........................................................................p.4

3/ Market audit.........................................................................p.5

3.1/ External analysis.............................................................p.5

3.2/ Internal analysis.............................................................p.6

4/ SWOT analysis.....................................................................p.10

5/ Segmentation.......................................................................p.12

6/ Portfolio analysis..................................................................p.15

6.1/ Product analysis............................................................p.15

6.2/ Service analysis............................................................p.15

7/ Strategy..............................................................................p.17

8/ Conclusion..........................................................................p.18

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

Daimler-Benz AG is one of the most notorious automobile firms in the world. In fact, the only name Mercedes personifies comfort, luxury, quality and safety. Nevertheless, the October 22, 1997, Robert Colin -a car tester and deputy editor in chief of a Swedish car magazine- capsized the A-class during the "Moose-test". From this instant, Mercedes lost a lot of credibility concerning safety of its cars. Indeed, 98% of all cars pass this test without problems and the most important problem concerns the brand image: this failure could have an effect on the other Mercedes models.

So, this case study will allow us to exhibit and analyse the strategic position of Daimler-Benz AG in Marketing terms during and after this sad event. In this way, I will develop a market audit (with an internal and an external point of view) to undertake a strength, weakness, opportunity and threats analysis of the organisation. Moreover, I will offer suggestions about the possibility of market segmentation -considering its customer base and market position- and make a portfolio analysis (product and service portfolio) of the Mercedes offer.

At last, I will formulate potential strategies for the organisation to move from its present position to a more successful one.

MARKET AUDIT

In order to make a market audit of the Mercedes A-class case study, we will divide the analysis in an external analysis (with the structure of market, the trends in market, the SLEPT analysis, etc...) and an internal one (thanks to the 4P and 3C's).

3.1/ External analysis:

·Structure of market: the current market is a more...