BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke): BMW, the Bavarian maker of sport sedans and now roadsters is famous for its exceptional engineering. The great success of the company is observed to young people “while luxury makers like Mercedes focus their marketing on older more affluent car buyers. BMW positions itself at the fore of the yuppie market with the goal of building brand loyalty and gradually moving customers”. The company’s factories had been undergone vast damages during the Second World War. Its evolution has been remarkable since then and today is one of largest car-sellers all over the world.
Daimler-Benz: Much of the history of Daimler-Benz is identified with the invention of automobile. Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz were the owners of two rival firms. The crisis that arose after the First World War led them to merge in 1926. Daimler-Benz’s met the transportation needs of the improving German society during 1950’s, acquiring other firms as well (e.g. Audi). In 1970 Daimler-Benz was selling cars world widely and its main features were the precise engineering and luxury. At the moment the firm is under significant reorganization, focusing on Mercedes, the most “successful” model of the Group in the market.
FIAT (Fabrica Italiana di Automobili Torino): It’s quite ironical that the founder of the one of the greatest car companies in the world is known from the back of a horse. Giovani Agnelli, a former cavalry officer was member of Fabrica Italiana di Automobili Torino. Very soon he became the leader of the company which was maintaining product lines in trucks, rail cars, airplanes and firm equipment. Fiat suffered a lot from the two World Wars and from the domestic competition as well in 1960’s. This is was due to the reduction of Italian tariffs. During 1990’s, FIAT expanded in international level, when its sales in 1995 were equal to 3% percent of Italy’s GNP. The car business includes the Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Innocenti, Ferrari and Maserati (all coming from the acquiring policy that FIAT had adopted).
PSA ( Peugeot, Citroen): “In 1976, the French government fostered Peugeot’s takeover of Citroen” to establish a powerful car company, capable to compete other global car companies. The firm faced severe problems at the early 1990’s, after it was pulled out of the US market after 34 years. Since then, the cost reduction programme enabled PSA to challenge FIAT for the cost-leader manufacturer in Europe. Peugeot nowadays foresees a bright future in the developing world. The company currently plans to establish plants in India, Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil and China.
Renault: The company was founded in 1829 in the Paris suburb of Billancourt by the brothers Marcel, Fernand and Louis Renault. After facing huge destructions in it’s infrastructures as well as the other European car companies during the World Wars and several changes of its ownership, became one of the Europe’s success stories in the 1990’s. This is noteworthy in the sense that nearly collapsed in the 1980’s.
Reference: Europe (periodical), (1997), Issue 363
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