Car import logistics: Responding to changes

Résumé du document

The whole car industry in Europe is experiencing great changes, mostly due to a new regulation imposed by the European Union of the Block Exemption. Aimed at increasing competition in car distribution, those new rules will have an impact on every actor involved, from manufacturers to car dealers and it will re-shape the whole industry. A new power balance will come up as manufacturers will loose some of their influence to car dealers on the distribution process. Let's focus on three of the main actors in the case: Europacar, Car Import Logistics (CIL) and Car Import Dealers. Europacar is a car manufacturer and one of the most important brands in Norway. CIL is the logistics department of Car Import, the importer for Europacar in Norway. Finally, Car Import dealers are responsible for selling Europacar cars to end-customers.

Extraits

[...] CIL being the logistics department of Car Import, it is responsible for the flow of goods once the finished cars purchased by Car Import to Europacar arrive in Norway. It only steps in the process half-way through since Europacar Transport (division of Europacar in charge of logistics flows in Europe) takes care of all the activities necessary from the manufacturer's place to the arrival in Norway. Therefore, there is a share of responsibilities and importance in the distribution process between Europacar Transport and CIL: Europacar Transport is the major actor in the distribution process outside Norway and CIL in Norway. [...]

[...] Philip Wade (Managing partner). HWB Management Briefing March 2006 : Impact of Block Exemption on car dealers Speech by Mario Monti (European commissioner for competition policy) at the 9th Annual European automobile conference: Car retailing at a crossroads: The new legal framework for car distribution (February 2003) Distribution Network in transition (Slides) : Gøran Persson, Leif Magnus Jensen Bohrman, E., Stenbrink, P. & Rosenberg, J. ”Overhauling European Auto Distribution,” McKinsey Quarterly, Issue Speech by Mario Monti (European commissioner for competition policy) at the 9th Annual European automobile conference: Car retailing at a crossroads: The new legal framework for car distribution (February 2003) Bohrman, E., Stenbrink, P. [...]

[...] Car import Logistics: responding to changes Storage Transportation Export and import Questions Pick three of the most central actors in this case. How would you describe their respective roles in the distribution system? With particular focus on the impact of the block exemption, discuss likely changes to the production and distribution of cars in Europe. How will the changes you discussed in question two affect CIL? What elements are particularly important for B.Eklöf to focus on in her presentation? Introduction The whole car industry in Europe is experiencing great changes, mostly due to a new regulation imposed by the European Union of the Block Exemption. [...]

[...] From Journal of Marketing Management 157-184 Activity coordination and resource combining in distribution networks implications for relationship involvement and the relationship atmosphere Gadde, L-E. From Marketing Channels to Differentiated Networks Distribution Dynamics in a Historical Perspective, The Current State of Business Disciplines Vol.6, pp.2641-2662 Philip Wade (Managing partner). HWB Management Briefing March 2006 : Impact of Block Exemption on car dealers Gripsrud, G., (2004). The Marketing discipline and distribution research: Time to regain lost territory? In Håkansson H., Waluszewski A., and Harrison D., Rethinking Marketing. Developing a new understanding of markets. [...]

[...] They represent a “fundamental move away from a distribution environment whose lines were rigidly laid down by regulation and by car manufacturers, towards a more balanced flexible system in which all operators have more scope to act pro-competitively”[1]. On the one hand, car manufacturers can choose only one of the two restrictions: either selecting exactly which dealers are allowed to sell their cars, or assigning exclusive territories to dealers. Moreover, they can no longer control the size of their service network by quantitative selection since they are only able to apply quality-based criteria to those they select to distribute their spare parts. [...]