Can I have some background on goals of automative industry?

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New answer on Jan 15, 2020
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Anonymous asked on Jan 14, 2020

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Anonymous replied on Jan 14, 2020

Hi Sethu,

The main player in the automotive industry are a limited number of Groups which own all the brands you may have heard of (e.g. VW, Audi, Jaguar, etc). Most of the groups use different brands to penetrate different markets in different geographies (e.g. family cars in the US, sport cars in europe...).

Behind these groups there is a multitude of OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) which produces the main cars components (e.g. ABS, brakes, etc...)

At the moment automation players are increasing their effort to reduce the production cost through:

- Rationalization of their product portfolio (i.e. standardization of cars components to generate sinergies among different models)

- Reduction of stored part volumes through the development of a "justy in time" supply chain

- Improvement of OEM purchasing strategies through demand aggregation and imrpovement of negotiation techinque

In addition to that there is a long lasting run for innovation on few main topics (e.g. electric cars, autonomous cars, etc). Yet no dominant design has been defined on any of these topics.

Hope this may help,

In case you have any doubt please don't hesitate to contact me,

Thanks,

Ale

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Luca
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replied on Jan 15, 2020
BCG |NASA | SDA Bocconi & Cattolica partner | GMAT expert 780/800 score | 200+ students coached

Hello Sethu,

I agree with Antonello and Alessandro. However, don't focus too much on the goals of a specific industry. Once that interviewer will present the case, you are allowed to ask for full details on targets and goals.
Unless you are not an experienced hire that is applying for this specific practice, I would focus more on general issues.

Best,
Luca

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Clara
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replied on Jan 14, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Agree on the goals Antonello outlined about gaining market size.

However, don´t get crazy trying to have some background goals about all industries, since (1) it´s a big invesment of time with little ROI and (2) it´s not going to be game-changing what-so-ever when it comes to the interviews.

Each case is self-contained and has all the info needed to crack it, without the need of having any pre-knowledge about the industry.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

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Antonello
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replied on Jan 14, 2020
McKinsey | NASA | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

Hi Sethu,
the biggest goal of automotive players is gaining market share in the market of electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and smart mobility. This required large investments, therefore the common strategy is merging/making partnerships with competitors (e.g. FCA + PSA) or with tech players (e.g. Ford - Lyft).

Best,
Antonello

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