Mercedes-Benz
One of the giants in the luxury automobile industry is Mercedes-Benz, which is firmly established as an independent brand within one of the world¡¦s leading car companies, DaimlerChrysler. According to Mercedes-Benz¡¦s company website, the company sold 224,421 vehicles in the U.S. during 2005. For decades, Mercedes Benz has been known for its prestige brand name and its classy and timeless look. Mercedes-Benz¡¦s current strategy is built on four central pillars: global presence, leadership in technology, strong brands, and a broad product range. To compete with other strong rivals in the luxury car segment, the company is committed to a combination of profit growth and quality improvement objectives. Mercedes-Benz is devoted to be an integrated mobility company that offering complex mobility services instead of just being a car manufacturer that sells vehicle. Consider, Mercedes-Benz identify consumer¡¦s demand for utility and characteristic as the trend of automobile industry, therefore applying the SUV technology from Chrysler onto their recent new models. In terms of resources and capabilities, Mercedes-Benz is a strong competitor. The company possesses strong financial resources and brand equity, has valuable merger with DaimlerChrysler which helps increasing technology base, and the management team is dedicated to further improve on car quality and cutting down cost with lean manufacturing process. Currently, Mercedes-Benz is suffering from a plaque in profit and quality and its brand name is eroding since merging with DaimlerChrysler. If Mercedes-Benz is unable to make any improvement, it might damage its image in the premium market.
* http://www.mbusa.com/cda/aboutus/jsp/index.jsp?page=our_company
*http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_03/b3967020.htm?campaign_id=search
Audi
One of the luxury arms of the Volkswagen group. Representing the conservative values, the high quality and