The German manufacturer has taken the helm last year of 8 million vehicles sold and displayed a return to the top. New target: the world leader in six years. Those nostalgic for the ready and waiting: the Beetle, the third name will be visible from this month in the French streets. With it, Volkswagen hopes to do better than the New Beetle in the late 1990s, which has sold over ten years to 1.2 million copies. While this model was designed back in California, the third generation has made a return to basics: what is in Wolfsburg - home of Volkswagen, one hour from Hanover - she was born. Klaus Bischoff, chief designer of the brand, who oversaw its design, has not forgotten the original model and has recreated proportions closer to those of the first Beetle. There's also added a little detail of time: the strap which passengers hold back when shaken. If the brand hopes a success, it will be difficult to achieve sales of the first version, designed by founder Ferdinand Porsche, the grandfather of Ferdinand Piech, the current chairman of the supervisory board of the group. Since its launch in 1938 until production ceases in 2003, the Beetle has sold over 21 million copies. A record in automotive history.
Records, Volkswagen knows. In 2011, the German group for the first time crossed the threshold of 8 million cars sold. If it is not number one - Martin Winterkorn, CEO, has set this goal for the year 2018 - it just announced a net profit (provisional) over 15 billion euros. Again, the never-seen in the history of the automobile, nor the leader in General Motors or Toyota, world number three. Profitability makes it a favorite of analysts values, careless record sales but more ROI. This profitability can be explained by a nugget in the portfolio of brands: Audi. In 2011, the standard premium of the Group sold 1.3 million cars. Emerging countries, where the four rings are realizing the largest volumes, are also those who buy the most expensive versions.
Audi's profitability has jumped up a notch from 9.4% in 2010 to 12.1% in 2011. But that's not all. Audi off, operating margin of the company, reduced to its three generalist brands (Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda), is still 7.1% of sales ... At Renault, it tops out at 2.6%.
The key to success for Volkswagen, it's his famous policy of "modules", copied around the world. It was Ferdinand Piech who put it up when he took control in 1993. Three vehicles generalist brands share a great many parts, like the Volkswagen Up!, New small car meeting in Bratislava on the same line as the Skoda and Seat CityGo Mii. Originally, this sharing was limited to vehicles of similar size. Today it is between cars of different sizes.
In designing models with elements "shelf" (existing), the teams were reduced by 30% the number of engineering hours. This does not prevent the group to focus each year six billion euros for its research and development. "Of all the manufacturers, Volkswagen is one that policy modules the most successful," said Max Blanchet, a partner at Roland Berger. This reduces design costs but also the position purchases. For OEMs that deliver a greater volume more easily give better prices. Result: the unit cost per car in the group is reduced by 20%. But this policy of interest only if applied on a large scale. It was made possible by the large volumes of the manufacturer, which has expanded internationally long before its competitors. In the U.S., it is poised to regain lost ground. In 2011, he has returned to its level of sales in 2001 (445,000 cars). A return embodied by the opening last year of a plant in Tennessee. In Latin America, the group totaled 950,000 cars. Especially, since the late 1980s, Volkswagen went to conquer China. These investments have been costly and have leaden performance in the early 1990s. Today they are paying: with its two local partners, SAIC and FAW, Volkswagen sold 2.25 million cars in the Middle Kingdom.
The company makes money in all regions where it operates. "About 50% of pretax income is generated abroad," said Gaetan Toulemonde, an auto analyst at Deutsche Bank. Even in Europe, Volkswagen is better than its competitors general, thanks to its two sister brands, Seat and Skoda, who, with their lower price, can capture customers on a budget. The group literally squared field: from small to large cars, from entry level to premium. And was thus awarded two points of additional market share in 2011 to 23.2%. All brands are growing. Including Seat, which remains a weak point due to the sluggishness of its biggest market, Spain.
Records, Volkswagen knows. In 2011, the German group for the first time crossed the threshold of 8 million cars sold. If it is not number one - Martin Winterkorn, CEO, has set this goal for the year 2018 - it just announced a net profit (provisional) over 15 billion euros. Again, the never-seen in the history of the automobile, nor the leader in General Motors or Toyota, world number three. Profitability makes it a favorite of analysts values, careless record sales but more ROI. This profitability can be explained by a nugget in the portfolio of brands: Audi. In 2011, the standard premium of the Group sold 1.3 million cars. Emerging countries, where the four rings are realizing the largest volumes, are also those who buy the most expensive versions.
Audi's profitability has jumped up a notch from 9.4% in 2010 to 12.1% in 2011. But that's not all. Audi off, operating margin of the company, reduced to its three generalist brands (Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda), is still 7.1% of sales ... At Renault, it tops out at 2.6%.
The key to success for Volkswagen, it's his famous policy of "modules", copied around the world. It was Ferdinand Piech who put it up when he took control in 1993. Three vehicles generalist brands share a great many parts, like the Volkswagen Up!, New small car meeting in Bratislava on the same line as the Skoda and Seat CityGo Mii. Originally, this sharing was limited to vehicles of similar size. Today it is between cars of different sizes.
In designing models with elements "shelf" (existing), the teams were reduced by 30% the number of engineering hours. This does not prevent the group to focus each year six billion euros for its research and development. "Of all the manufacturers, Volkswagen is one that policy modules the most successful," said Max Blanchet, a partner at Roland Berger. This reduces design costs but also the position purchases. For OEMs that deliver a greater volume more easily give better prices. Result: the unit cost per car in the group is reduced by 20%. But this policy of interest only if applied on a large scale. It was made possible by the large volumes of the manufacturer, which has expanded internationally long before its competitors. In the U.S., it is poised to regain lost ground. In 2011, he has returned to its level of sales in 2001 (445,000 cars). A return embodied by the opening last year of a plant in Tennessee. In Latin America, the group totaled 950,000 cars. Especially, since the late 1980s, Volkswagen went to conquer China. These investments have been costly and have leaden performance in the early 1990s. Today they are paying: with its two local partners, SAIC and FAW, Volkswagen sold 2.25 million cars in the Middle Kingdom.
The company makes money in all regions where it operates. "About 50% of pretax income is generated abroad," said Gaetan Toulemonde, an auto analyst at Deutsche Bank. Even in Europe, Volkswagen is better than its competitors general, thanks to its two sister brands, Seat and Skoda, who, with their lower price, can capture customers on a budget. The group literally squared field: from small to large cars, from entry level to premium. And was thus awarded two points of additional market share in 2011 to 23.2%. All brands are growing. Including Seat, which remains a weak point due to the sluggishness of its biggest market, Spain.
0 comments:
Post a Comment