Premium Power The Secret of Success of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi

At the beginning of the 1990s the German car industry had its back to the wall. Japanese competitors were demonstrating significant advantages in terms of quality and productivity. Consultants warned that only a few global car groups would survive. Instead of following the Japanese concepts of lean production, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi developed a new innovative premium brand strategy and initiated a revolution in the industry by setting innovative benchmarks. This book analyzes the story.

What is a Premium Car Brand? BMW: From Motorbike to Automobile Mercedes-Benz: The Inventor of the Automobile Porsche: The Sports Car Shop AUDI: Vorsprung durch Technik (Advantage by Technology) Co-operation, Competition and Perception of Premium Brands The Design-Innovation-Sector Matrix (DIS Matrix) Success Factors of Premium Brands Challenges for Premium Brands Insights for Other Companies and Industries Appendix: Premium Brands Theory

PHILIPP G. ROSENGARTEN is a Senior Automotive Analyst at the Global Insight Automotive Group, the market leader in the area of automotive analysis and forecast. He is, amongst others, responsible for the global luxury car segment. He holds a Diploma of Business Administration from the Free University Berlin and completed a MPhil about car component suppliers at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

CHRISTOPH B. STUERMER is a Senior Automotive Analyst at the Global Insight Automotive Group, the market leader in the area of automotive analysis and forecast, responsible for the German car market and the German car manufacturer. He holds a Diploma of Economics at Heidelberg University and has worked for DaimlerChrysler in various positions, such as the Marketing Strategy Department at Mercedes-Benz cars, where he was responsible for portfolio-management and strategic planning.

The authors tell the impressive success story of the German premium car brands.With the help of the Design-Innovation-Sector matrix they define their charateristics and analyse the decisive success factors.