Critical Comparison of Marketing Mix Bmw 520 and Audi A3 in Germany

Critical Comparison of Marketing Mix BMW 520 and Audi A3 in Germany

Name: YAXIN QIAN

Professor: Nicola Newman

Course: Marketing

Words:

CONTENTS:

1. Abstract………………………………………………………………………………3

1. Comparison between BMW 520 and Audi A3 in Germany………………………3

1. Positioning analysis for BMW 520 and Audi A3……………………………………4

1. Marketing Mix analysis for BMW 520 and Audi A3………………………………4

1. Summary………………………………………………………………………………9

1. Reference List………………………………………………………………………. 10

Marketing for BMW 520 and Audi A3 Motors in Germany

According to Gallagher (2006), marketing could be denoted as the process and the act of making known products and services to potential consumers. Scholars associated to marketing articulate that marketing is one of the most indispensible processes that companies go through to sell their goods and services while ensuring that all processes are observed to make profit and create space for expansion. In Germany, different businesses have taken the initiative of ensuring that the market strategies are in order, so as to further exploit the market for their products within their given regions and segmentations.

Comparison between BMW 520 and Audi A3 in Germany

BMW 520

Bayerische Motoren Werk (BMW) is one the most famous car-manufacturing companies on a global scale. The company had been in existence since 1913 where they began the manufacture of military aircraft and engines before it ventured into the cars market.  The headquarter of BMW is located in Germany although it has subsidies in other countries depending on its marketing strategies and priorities and the buying behavior emanating from the customer. According to the Company, BMW 520 has a turbo diesel engine that is considered as stable, smooth and efficient, fitted with a smart cabin meant to provide a comfortable driving environment. BMW 520 is one of the latest models in the market and has experienced different reaction from potential buyers pertaining to its design, comfort, efficiency among other issues that make it worth and attractive in the market.

Audi A3

The Audi A3 is the most preferred car among the customers in Germany and even across the world.  The Audi A3 is argued to be a small compact car that was built in 1996 immediately after the previous two generations which were purely based on Volkswagen Group A platform. This platform was seen to have had numerous commonalities with other cars such as Audi TT, Volkswagen Touran, under this circumstance, the company was compelled to come up with a unique series to keep the market shares. The Audi A3 is in the third generation and has numerous series associated to it such as A3 Sedan, S3, A3 Sportback, A3 Sportback g-tron, Sportback e-tron among others. According to their distribution point in the Germany, the Audi A3 third generation is currently using the Volkswagen Group MQB platform which is seen as more attractive and stylish for the growing market demand.

Notably, the current Audi A3 in the market is featured with a three-door hatchback and five-door body that is argued to give it a sporty appearance as compared to the previous models such as the Golf. Moreover, it has front and four-wheel drive and inline four-cylinder engines that are transversely mounted.  Nevertheless, the company has continuously maintained flexibility in revising different features in reference to the market challenges and responses that they receive from existing and potential customers (AUDI, 2015). 

Position Analysis

BMW 520

According to Ulrich (2015), the BMW 520 is perceived as the latest model among the three big cars in Germany. Both existing and potential customers consider it as the unique brand that has two main qualities: sporty and elegance depending on the purpose of the buyers.  Moreover, it has been seen as a brand that is specifically made for a given class of people who are willing to pay extra for its quality despite the fact that it is quite expensive to maintain as the spares are expensive too.

Audi A3

Based on the introduction of Audi company (2015), the Audi A3 is orientated on the degree of few affordable models that are fashionable with different models to choose  from  but  brutal since its main target audience are men and has more middle class customers  as it is known to capture the emotions of the customers due to its positive brand image and public enthusiasm.                                   

Marketing Mix for Audi A3 and BMW 520

Product

 Depending on the theory of Lianos & Motchenkova (2013), companies dealing with products must ensure that the product can meet the market expectations in terms of features. Consequently, any product is expected to go through the product life cycle in the market. Basically, the product life cycle revolves around the life of a product in the market using 4 main stages.  The first stage is known as the introduction stage that begins immediately after the product has been introduced in the market. The production life cycle then moves to the growth stage, which demonstrates the increase in profit margin in response to the economies of scales in terms of production. As a result, the companies are in a better position to make more investments based on the market response and promotional activities that are prepared for the specific products. This is exactly the stage that both BMW and Audi company are staying at present, who are competitive brands in the market. The product then moves to the third stage known as the maturity stage where the company aims at maintaining the market share gained from previous stages (Nilsson & Rapp, 2004). At this stage, companies ought to be aware of the increased competition between similar products and as such put more focus on making improvements and modifications to retain the competitive advantage.  Finally, the product goes through the decline stage where it shrinks as a result of saturation in the market. Once the buyers have purchased the said product then there is a declined sale on the product because the customers’ no longer need the products and/or they have switched to another product.  It is worth noting that although the stage might seem challenging to companies, it cannot be avoided hence the best thing for companies is switching to less expensive production in order to fill any existing profit margin and/or maximize on profit (Joseph, 2013).