Etude du marketing mix de GM China

Résumé du document

The company has to invest massively in the luxury car segment because it is lagging in this particular segment. Therefore it has to launch new products in it. The most important luxury brand is Cadillac, which is targeted for the urban individuals in Tier 1 cities where there are lots of millionaires. Secondly, Saab is positioned in the upper premium. GM has to introduce new models in this two existing product lines to keep up with the prediction of 15 percent growth in the luxury segment, and to increase its market share in this segment.

It has to launch also luxury large sedans in the Buick product line. In fact, Buick does not have yet any upper premium model to offer.
GM has to launch also its first gas-electric hybrid cars in China to cope with the high emission vehicles problem.

Concerning Wuling Sunshine which is on the growth stage, we can notice a rapid increase of sales because the Wuling Sunshine is a best-seller in China and there is a high growth of the small rural businesses segment. The company has also to focus on the best selling models such as Wuling sunshine and the Buick Excelle to increase sales.

All products existing in the mainstream segment are in the high growth stage, such as Buick small and mid-size sedans and Chevrolets low cost and compact cars. There is a very high growth of urban middle class families in China who are searching these vehicles. That's why, GM has to focus on these products positioned in the mainstream segment: Buick small and mid-size sedans and Chevrolet models except spark, in order to increase its sales and market share to maximize its profit. Moreover, the company wants Chevrolet to be its high volume in China.

Concerning Cadillac products, there are in the growth stage too. There is a growth of urban high class individuals. The company has to develop and promote this product line which proposes products for these people.

Finally, Saab products and new Cadillac's and Buicks premium models are in the introduction stage. The company has to promote efficiently these new products in order to target the upper class and VIP's.

Extraits

[...] They want unique cars to be who drive an exceptional car. Segment Concerning taxis, they need cost efficiency cars in mainstream model. In China the dealership network is highly fragmented and dominated by “tier dealers. They account for 77% of sales and have little interaction with auto makers. GM has to develop partnership with these local dealers to improve the brand visibility. GM will gain control over the service network and will working with parts suppliers. So GM's sales will increase therefore GM's market share will increasing. [...]

[...] GM must also implant factories in tier 3 and rural areas cities to solve problems of delivery. In major cities (tier 1 and tier GM must develop as possible warehousing to solve problem of unavailability of their cars. With the Olympic Games in 2008 China try more and more to expand, develop and improve the number and the quality of roads. The Chinese government finance highway infrastructure but road quality is improving at a disproportionately slower rate. Only major cities are concerned. [...]

[...] That will enable it to reduce costs and increase market share without losing its profits. A restriction it has equally to cope with is the overcapacity regulation: it should make sure it sells at least 80% of its production in order to be able to indigenize production further. From an ethical point of view, the gas emission restrictions the Chinese government is implementing have an impact on GM's strategy. A good thing GM does and that will hopefully have a return on investment and enable it to set higher prices, is innovation and R&D in an effort to introduce “greener” cars. [...]

[...] GM has to maintain its existing products in their segment. GM has numbers of different cars models but the range is segmented that is good for GM. By this way GM could better manage the product portfolio. For product that are sold in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities GM has to be more present in auto-show to do direct marketing and direct sales. Chinese consumers are less attracted by traditional modes of advertising. It's why GM must do direct sales. [...]

[...] GM want now produce the Cadillac model in china, this is a good way to pay less taxes to the Chinese Government. GM has also to be more present in auto-shows. In China this is the best way to show the brand and sell cars especially for premium and luxury segment. One other problem in China is insurance for car loans. In fact there are no insurance for car loans in China so it's difficult to finance car buying. Bank have serious losses so most of them decided to stop deliver car loans because they were not sure to be paid. [...]