...of Florida Abstract: Based on a comprehensive review of Audi’s press releases published from 1999 to 2007 and in-depth interviews with Audi’s public relations professionals, this case study identified media relations, event sponsorship, and corporate social responsibility as Audi’s main public relations strategies for its brand repositioning in the Chinese market. Each strategy and related tactics were first illustrated by specific examples and then surveyed in light of contemporary public relations and mass communication theories. [China Media Research. 2013; 9(3): 64-73] Key words: Audi, brand, reposition Introduction Audi, a subsidiary of German car manufacturer Volkswagen, entered the Chinese automobile market in 1988. In the late 1990s, or one decade after its China debut, Audi, with the help of Ruder Finn, a New-York based independent PR firm, began to implement a brand repositioning strategy in China. By the mid-2000s, thanks to its unremitting PR efforts, Audi has successfully repositioned itself from a government car brand to a premium car brand targeting successful business professionals (Ruder Finn, 2007). Since the launching of its China production in 1988, Audi was designated as the “premium government car brand” dedicated to serve high-rank government officials. In contrast, middle and low ranking government officials were only allowed to use Red Flags and Santana. Consequently, during the 1990s, Audi was largely perceived as “the government car brand” among Chinese...
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...Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Volkswagen emission scandal ............................................................................................................. 2 Internal & External Impact of Volkswagen scandal ........................................................................... 3 1. Internal ................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Car Industry ........................................................................................................................... 3 3. Shareholder ........................................................................................................................... 4 Corporate Social Responsibility Report of Volkswagen .................................................................... 6 General Problem with Corporate Social Responsibility Report ........................................................ 8 Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility ................................................................................ 10 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 11 Appendix .......................................................................................
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...ANNUAL REPORT 2003 T R U ST I S A Q U E ST I O N O F Q U A L I TY, M O R E S O TO DAY T H A N EV E R B E F O R E . T H E S U C C E S S O F O U R B R A N D S S P E A K S F O R T H E T R U ST P LAC E D I N O U R P RO D U CT S , P RO D U CT S W H I C H A R E B A S E D O N A S I M P L E P R I N C I P L E T H AT I S T H E F O U N DAT I O N O F O U R E N T I R E C R E AT IV E P RO C E S S – A PA S S I O N F O R CA R S . A PA S S I O N W E WO U L D L I K E TO S H A R E W I T H YO U . > > > E AC H B R A N D I S A WO R L D O F I T S OW N . 4 06 10 12 14 Board of Management/Supervisory Board Report of the Supervisory Board The Board of Management Letter to our Shareholders Group values Financial Communication 18 Volkswagen share 24 Value-based management 26 Corporate Governance 30 40 46 50 53 58 60 66 Management Report Business development Net assets, financial position and earnings performance Volkswagen AG (condensed, according to German Commercial Code) Research and development Business processes Legal matters Risk report Outlook contents 40 ▼ net assets, financial position and earnings performance Sales revenue at prior year level Despite the negative effect of exchange rate movements, the Volkswagen Group generated sales revenue at the level of the previous year. However, earnings reflected unfavourable underlying conditions and special items. 12 ▼ letter to our shareholders Change and progress Our efforts are targeted at the goal of continuously...
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...Porsche Agrees Sale to Qatar; Merger with VW May Complete Before 2011 17 Aug 09 http://www.ihsglobalinsight.com/SDA/SDADetail17491.htm The merger between Porsche and VW may be completed ahead of schedule, according to VW Group CFO Hans Dieter Poetsch, but questions are emerging about corporate governance over the process. IHS Global Insight Perspective Significance Qatar Holding will acquire a 10% voting stake in Porsche and 17% in eventual parent group VW Group as a result of its 7-billion-euro investment in the German giant. Implications VW and Porsche are still to enact their own capital increases, VW's will happen in the first half of 2010, whilst Porsche's plans are less concrete, but necessary to pay down the debt pile with which it is struggling. Outlook Questions over corporate governance have already been raised as the power to appoint record and reputation tarnished from the scandals of a few years ago, VW will confidence in its integrity with external investors. Porsche take a 17% voting stake in the Volkswagen (VW) Group as it acquires share options held by Porsche of the last remaining key parts of the merger, tentatively agreed last week (see Germany: 13 August 2009: VW, Porsche Tentatively Agree Merger Details; May Resurrect Auto Union Name). VW will purchase 42% of Porsche for around 3.3 billion euro by 2011, initiating a capital increase of 4 billion euro in preference shares in the first half of next year to fund the ...
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...Spencer XECO/212 December 9, 2012 Jonathan Keisler Supply and Demand Cars are a good that almost everyone has. I just purchased my new car, an Audi A4. When it comes to any car manufacturing company they try to gauge what the market will do within the year and make enough vehicles to supply to their customers. Many of the manufacturing companies have started making their new models and sending them out to dealerships to be displayed and many models there for purchase. Then there are some companies that will only make enough models to have a few for purchase and the rest can be custom ordered by each customer to their liking which is something consumers see as a benefit and can raise the demand of certain vehicles. This also allows for the manufacturing company to better meet the demand without having an overabundance of supply. When a car manufacturing plant has a lot of cars left but no demand for them they just lost a ton of money. Cars are not cheap to put together hence the price we pay for them. The demand for cars is relative to price as well. The cars that are more affordable are more in demand and the supply of them will be greater as well to keep up with demand. Examples of these vehicles are Honda, Toyota, Chevy, Ford, and Subaru. Once you get into the higher priced vehicles or luxury class, such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Volvo, the demand decreases, because of the price, and in turn so does the supply. In today’s economy another item that drives the demand of a...
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...INTI INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF BUSINESS, COMMUNICATION AND LAW MKT 2103 / MKT2105 – CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AUGUST 2014 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT (20%) Analyse the case study given and answer the following questions. While most automobile companies talk about bankruptcy, merger, collapse, and liquidation, Volkswagen AG is posting solid earnings. Based in Wolfsburg, Germany, and Europe's biggest automaker by sales, Volkswagen (VW) managed the global eco-nomic recession well by focusing on emerging markets such as China and Brazil and continually reducing costs. VW is the leading auto firm in China, not Toyota or Nissan. VW's market share in Western Europe rose to 20 percent in 2009 from 17.9 percent a year ago. While shrinking demand for new cars in major markets and high raw-material costs, and unfavorable exchange rates have reduced earnings of most European automakers, VW anticipated these conditions through excellent strategic planning and continues to take market share from rival firms worldwide. The German truck maker and engineering company MAN AG is VW's largest single shareholder at 30 percent, and its business too has been good. MAN'S third quarter of 2008 saw profit jump 34 percent, lifted by strong sales of trucks, diesel engines, and turbo machinery. VW is currently spending $1 billion to build a new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the production of a midsize sedan in 2011 with initial capacity of 150,000 cars annually. VW's plans for 2018 include...
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...Volkswagen Passat was designed in a way that it will stand out and do well in its competition with the Toyota Camry which were also be launched at the same time. Knowing that Camry is the best-selling car in the past 13 years, VW was challenged and thought that they should get out ahead of this launch and win consumers’ interest ahead of the Camry. Therefore, VW came up with their key objectives in achieving their sales goals – To get the consumers talking about the new and redesigned Volkswagen Passat, to exceed the key measures in Nielsen’s post-game study, and to get the consumers’ interest 7-months earlier before it will be on sale. VW came up with the big idea that “The Volkswagen Passat can help you lead a richer life.” One of the reasons for this idea was the fact that car users want something more and beyond normal transportation yet meets their budget, but it is more about the truth that these buyers want to have a car that can help them have a richer life by having the gratification of affording a car for themselves and their families from their hard work – giving them some sort of a status. They chose the 2011 Super Bowl to announce the new Volkswagen Passat and I think that was a very smart thing to do considering that it is the biggest stage in US which will correspond to an enormous number of audiences. They also made an advertisement entitled “The Force” which clearly used one of the product’s features – the keyless remote start. They involved in the story...
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...German car maker has been installing “defeat devices “– software that allows cars to cheat in emission tests, making them appear than they actually are. What is Volkswagen accused of? Volkswagen’s software allowed it to beat the tests in a lab, but when on the road with emissions controls switched off, cars would pump out nitrogen oxide (NOx) at up to 40 times the legal limit. Crucially, the software “knew” when it was being tested, allowing it to switch emissions controls on and off. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that many VW cars being sold in America had devices in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested. The EPA’s findings cover 482,000 cars in the US only, including the VW- manufactured Audi A3, and the VW brands Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat. Who is to blame? It’s not yet clear who is responsible for fitting the cheating software. Martin Winterkorn, the German company’s chief executive, accepted responsibility when he resigned, but denied any wrongdoing on his part. Prosecutors in Germany have opened a criminal probe into Mr. Winterkorn. Mr. Winterkorn is replaced by Matthias Mueller, the boss Porsche. Where did the incident happen and why did Mr. Winterkorn resign? This scandal has happened in the United States of America. Mr. Winterkorn denied having any knowledge of the emissions cheating when he resigned. He has announced that he has not aware of any wrongdoing on his part. He also said that the process of clarification...
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...Alaa Ghabris September 30, 2015 VW Case Topic: How VW failed. Volkswagen is a renowned German car manufacturer located in Wolfsburg. It is the second largest automaker in the world aimed at providing world class customer service. The issue at hand is how such a large company failed to meet worldwide expectations from its loyal customers. 1) What is the issue? The issue is that Volkswagen was cheating on emission tests by placing devices in the vehicles that could tell when they were being tested and change the performance of the car consequently to produce better results. 2) Why is it an ethical issue? It is an ethical issue because VW is a respectable company and all such companies are expected to stick to an ethical code of conduct (in this case externally enforced rules) and always pertain to the standards of the image it has created. By attempting to cheat the system of emission testing, unethical actions were taken. 3) What are the effects? The effects of this emission testing scandal were spread out to various stakeholder parties. The greatest groups affected within this scandal were government, nature and unions that support the greater good of it, shareholders, as well as customers themselves. The effects are the possibility of penalties and fines given by government per vehicle, the protests of environmental unions against the use of such ‘defeat devices’, disposal of management and other employees for the failure to uphold the interest of shareholder...
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...Passenger Cars 2.1.2 Audi 2.1.3 SEAT 2.1.4 SKODA 2.1.5 Porsche 2.1.6 Bentley 2.1.7 Bugatti, Lamborghini 2.1.8 Ducati 2.1.9 Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles 2.1.10 SCANIA 2.1.11 MAN 2.2 Financial Analysis of Volkswagen 第三章 Case Study of Volkswagen Emission Scandal 3.1 Case Situation 3.2 Cause of Incident 3.3 Consequences for Volkswagen 第四章 Business Analysis of Volkswagen 4.1 SWOT Analysis 4.2 结论（黑体小二） 注释（黑体小二） 参考文献（黑体小二） 附录（黑体小二） 谢辞（黑体小二） Abstract Environmental protection is becoming more and more important throughout the world. So the automobile industry tries to develop vehicles with good and positive emission output. In my thesis paper I will write about the Volkswagen emission scandal which happened this year in September. The Volkswagen Group is one of the biggest automobile manufacturer in the world. However Volkswagen manipulated the emission output through so called defeat devices. Through this fraud Volkswagen lost trust and faith of customers, employees, suppliers, investors, buyers and many other groups. I will try to analyze and explain the reasons why Volkswagen came to this situation. Introduction Volkswagen Group is a German corporation. It manufactures passenger cars, commercial vehicles, motorcycles and engines. It was the largest automobile maker in the world in 2011. The company owns 12 brands, which are Audi, Volkswagen, Bentley,...
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...How should a worldwide auto maker regain trust after brands disaster? A case study on Volkswagen Group Daniel HARMAN 620019565 dh325; Jeffery YIM 620022358 jy28; Ka Ying MAN 640042125 km499; Wing Tim MAN 650052933 wm259; YuPeng Huang 650003422 yh379; Zhihan GUO 650058943 zg234 Outline Emissions scandal of Volkswagen Group and its importance Reasons for comprehending the scandal Analysis of the case Implications for international enterprises Recommendation References Emissions scandal of Volkswagen Group and its significance Emissions scandal of Volkswagen Group ● ● ● Pass emissions tests by cheating Have to recall 11 million of carsestimated cost would be €6.5 billion Share price dropped from €162.40 on Sep 18 to €106 on Sep 22 Volkswagen AG VOW.DE (XETRA) in Euro Source: Reuters (2015) Reasons for comprehending the case Source: Volkswagen (2014) Volkswagen Sustainability 2014 At A Glance, p34 Reasons for comprehending the scandal ● United States is the second largest auto market ● Volkswagen Group is the largest auto maker ● Many international firms face brand crisis and should know how to renounce Analysis of the case Institution based view The leading perspective in international business suggests that ● Firms’ performance is determined by the institutional frameworks to a great extent. Institutional transitions ● Fundamental and comprehensive change introduced to the rules of game ...
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...Ethics & Credibility in Business Communications COM/295 October 5, 2015 Dr. Lodessa S. Washington Ethics & Credibility in Business Communications Volkswagen is the latest car manufacturer to be caught in the act of purposely manipulating emissions tests results in some of their vehicles. Over the years, several other manufacturers including General Motors, Ford and Honda have also been exposed for the same unethical behavior (Biesecker, 2015). In Volkswagen’s case, the long-term impact to their brand, reputation and credibility is further compounded because their cheating was actually uncovered in 2014, but the organization continued to manufacture cars with the faulty software, and intentionally withheld their trickery from consumers who thought they were buying environmentally friendly vehicles. It wasn’t until the scandal became public last month that Volkswagen finally came clean (Plungis and Hall, 2015). In the United States alone, Volkswagen will have to endure both state and federal investigations, as well as the additional scrutiny of congressional hearings, but the greatest cost Volkswagen will have to pay is the long-term impact to their brand, reputation and credibility. Volkswagen is one of the top automobile manufacturers in the world, with worldwide sales reaching 5.04 million vehicles, from January to June of this year, surpassing Toyota who regularly has held the top sales position (Harrison, 2015). The company now finds itself in the...
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...UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY FACULTY OF BUSINESS GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT Written Case Analysis Case 8 Netflix versus Blockbuster versus Video-on-Demand Report to: Martin Completed as part of the requirements for Strategic Management (21715) Contents Executive Summary p. 3 Introduction p. 4 Volkswagen AG Pre-1993 p. 4 Issues facing the auto industry and Volkswagen AG in the 1990’s p. 5 Financial performance between 1993 and 2001 p. 6 Labour policies p. 7 Leadership p. 8 Recommendations p. 9 Conclusion p. 9 References p. 10 Appendices Executive Summary With the autocratic management style of Ferdinand Piëch, VW was able to expand and grow during a time when there were increasing cost pressures on automakers world wide. Innovations in the manufacturing process through integration and redesign of the value chain helped VW group reduce set up costs, manufacturing costs and labour costs while significantly reducing development times and costs of new models. Although Piëch was basically a one man band having control of the R & D, Quality, Production and Purchasing departments, his direction has left the incoming CEO with a solid base to further develop and grow the VW group. His vision and drive have placed VW in the position of number one automaker in Europe with market share well ahead of the nearest competitor. He has also globalised...
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...Thank you for Chrystal. Now I am talking the future plan of Volkswagen. Volkswagen expects to enhance their weakness so they keep going to improve its company. Although VW account for larger proportion market share in China market, the further development is necessary for the company. It can maintain the competitive with others. I found that VW is planning to expand the business in China market. They plan to explore area in South area and West area in China. VW will build the factory in Ningbo. The aim is to increase the influence in China market. VW targets rising the production volume to 300 thousands cars per year. It makes more profits through the mass production. Another future plan is to improve the quality of car. VW spend much money on product development. VW starts developing the new car model in order to enhance the competitive with other car makers and attract new customers. The product should improve as the wants for customers are always changing. Also, they hope to sell the environmental-friendly. They explore the skills for environment. Therefore, VW invest 17.1 billion euro in multi products. That can tackle with customer diversity. Besides, I found that VW is going to explore the renewable fuel, for example wind power and solar power. This plan may solve the problems which increases the fuel price. Last point of the future plan is to rise the sales volume. The goal is to earn 20% of its capital as profit per year. To achieve the goal, VW plans to finance...
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...Volkswagen Group Business Strategy & International Management Content 1 2 Introduction Volkswagen Group 2.1 2.2 Figures, Data, Facts History 2 2 2 4 5 5 6 8 8 10 12 12 15 16 17 18 3 Strategy Planning 3.1 3.2 Overall Strategy Strategy 2018 4 Business Risk Analysis 4.1 4.2 Porter’s Five Forces Resources and Capabilities 5 Financial Risk Analysis 5.1 5.2 Key Financial Figures Risks 6 7 8 SWOT-Analysis Conclusion References 1 Business Strategy & International Management 1. Introduction Whenever you visit another country and you say that you come from Germany on of the first things you ever hear is “Germany, oh I like German cars” and then they say e.g. BMW, Mercedes or Audi. That shows that German cars are not really German cars, instead they are world cars, produced and sold in countries all over the world. In my case I choose the Volkswagen Group because it is the biggest German car manufacturer and the second largest in the world. Moreover the strategy of Volkswagen is to be the largest car manufacturer until 2018. To reach this goal it is very important to understand the globalized world to compete with their competitors in a more and more competitive environment. Furthermore it is very important to show attention to emerging markets to increase the company’s sales especially when some markets like America and Europe are satisfied. In this report I want to analyze the Volkswagen Group...
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