A Car Trend Analysis

OPEL Nederland
A Car trend analysis

By WillemCastelijns
Automotive rend report Page | 1
www.opel.nl
www.gm.com
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zonder voorafgaande toestemming van de auteur.
OPEL
NEDERLAND
A CAR TREND ANALYSIS
Agila ADAM Corsa Meriva
Astra Astra GTC Cascada Zafira Tourer
Insignia Mokka Ampera Combo
Assignee: Fontys University of Applied science, Marketing Management
Organization: General Motors Co.
Author: Willem Castelijns
Student number: 2181592
Breda 5/30/2013
I
I
Preface
First of all I would like to mention that I really enjoyed my internship/traineeship period at General
Motors Nederland B.V. and had a great time with my colleagues who treated me like a full time
employee who already worked at General Motors Nederland for years. Furthermore I developed my
professional skills in a proficient way by applying the learned theory intro practice on the work floor.
Currently I am in the fourth semester of the course International Business & Management Studies
at the Fontys in Eindhoven. For this course each student needs to work as intern in an international
company for at least 20 weeks. The choice for General Motors Nederland B.V. as internship company
was one I will not regret, this opportunity gave me a look in the kitchen of one of the most
innovating and interesting car builders of the world.
This report will show my research and findings regarding my school assignment which consists of
Car trend analysis. Beside this I worked on several other assignments for General Motors B.V. ,
however the only one who I would like to discuss will be the Cascada dealer toolkit assignment
which is an information document prepared by me with its goal to inform all the Opel dealers
regarding Opels newest model: The Cascada.
Furthermore this report is intended for informational use, the contents of this report may be used as
an example to show to other students at Fontys Hogescholen.
At last I would like the thank the following people for their efforts and helping me to create this
report during my internship at General Motors Nederland B.V. :
Frans van der Werf Carline Manager Opel Nederland /Company Internship Supervisor
John Dane Cross-Carline Manager Opel Nederland
Dorine de Boer Fontys Internship Supervisor
II
II
Table of contents
I ...............................................................................................................................Title page
II ................................................................................................................................. Preface
III ................................................................................................................ Table of contents
IV ............................................................................................................. Executive summary

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 11
Company description ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Opel key facts ................................................................................................................................................... 12
Opels history ................................................................................................................................................... 12
Opels philosophy ............................................................................................................................................. 13
Products & Services .......................................................................................................................................... 13
Dutch market & positioning .............................................................................................................................. 15
Organization ..................................................................................................................................................... 15
Global passenger car trends .............................................................................................................................. 16
Income statement, market share & employee numbers .................................................................................... 17
Analysis of the current situation/market ......................................................................................................... 18
problem definition & assignment objective ..................................................................................................... 18
Option analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 19
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 19
Desk research for changes in options ................................................................................................................ 19
Dealer interviews ........................................................................................................................................... 26
Infotainment .................................................................................................................................................... 27
Wheels/Rims .................................................................................................................................................... 27
Exterior colors .................................................................................................................................................. 27
Engine power ................................................................................................................................................... 27
Co2 emission .................................................................................................................................................... 28
III
Other remarks .................................................................................................................................................. 28
Cascada Dealer toolkit & other assignments for Opel ...................................................................................... 28
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 29
Recommendation ........................................................................................................................................... 30
Reflection ....................................................................................................................................................... 31
International Business Awareness & Intercultural Proficiency .................................................................. 31
International Marketing Management .................................................................................................... 31
Research, Professional behavior & Personal leadership ........................................................................... 32
Reference list ................................................................................................................................................. 33
Appendices .................................................................................................................................................... 35
16. Visited dealers +interview: ............................................................................................................... 51
Table of figures
Page
Table 1.1 Income statement Opel 2010-2011 18
Table 1.2: Market shares Opel 2010-2011 18
Table: 1.3: GM and Opel employees 18
Graph: 2.1: Infotainment options 21
Graph 2.2: Astra rim sizes 2007-2013 22
Graph 2.3: Opel exterior colors 24
Graph 2.4: Opel coating 24
Graph 2.5 : Opel Horsepower 25
Graph 2.6: Opel carlines by fuel 26
Graph 2.7: Opel Co2 emission compared 27
Figure 2.8 Map dealer interviews 27
III
Executive Summary
First of all this summary includes a concise, but complete, description of the future Automotive
trends in the current market, supplemented by a recommendation for Opel Netherlands.
In the current automotive market, manufacturers are required to offer innovative and trendy
products in order to stay in the competition. Beside a proper design cars consist of options such as
navigation, Bluetooth, bigger rims, a fancy coating and some technical options. These change over
the years. Now the categories are shortly described:
Infotainment options, such as Bluetooth, touchscreen navigation and mobile phone integration
never have been so important as nowadays, there is a great demand for touchscreen infotainment
systems which include mobile phone integration. Opel ADAM offers a system like this: Intellilink,
however the system is affected by start-up problems and needs to be improved properly in order to
become popular.
Furthermore Opel rim sizes are changing a lot, people are demanding bigger rims while this is
disadvantageous for a drivers comfort and it is expensive. This is against the worldwide trend of
smaller rims. However all dealers opted for bigger rims for Opels Zafira Business+.
Besides rims, people judge a car on its color. The days of silver and grey are gone according to the
coating repots. White is gaining popularity due to the fact that it looks minimalistic/eco-friendly and
it often looks innovative. Furthermore natural colors like Opels Noblesse, Dark Mahogany or
Emerald Green are probably increasing in popularity in the future.
When it comes to fuel, Opel is leader in electric propulsion in the Netherlands with their Opel
Ampera. However due to fiscal policy this car is threatened to lose its strong market position.
Therefore all dealers suggested to make the car cheaper or more completed by adding rain sensors
standard.
Also the amount of horsepower that an engine possesses is increasing for Opel engines, while the
worldwide trend is to downsize engines (decrease power for Fiscal & Environmental issues). This
could fall into Opels advantage if they are able to keep Co2 emission of these stronger engines on
the same level. However this is Opels pitfall, since the Dutch authorities use very strict fiscal laws
based on Co2 emission. Other brands like Renault are able to compete better due to the fact they
have eco-friendly engines.
At last I would like to mention that the automotive industry is on the verge of change, now it is up to
Opel Netherlands to change their threats into new opportunities.
IV
INTRODUCTION
A general direction in which something is developing or changing is the definition of trend
according to Oxford dictionaries (Oxford 2013). In this report the word trend is used a lot in
combination with the automotive industry.
Currently the automotive industry has two faces:
Innovation and change are depending the route of car manufacturers. Technology is
changing rapidly in the shape of infotainment systems and engines.
Affected by the credit crunch the automotive industry collapsed, people postpone the
transaction of a new car due to uncertainty.
Opel Netherlands is one of the daughter companies of General Motors, who are the third biggest car
producers in the world. With German roots Opel expresses their selves as a reliable, quality mid-
class car manufacturer.
In order for Opel to compete with its rivals they need to deal with these trends effectively. Therefore
this report creates insight and gives a recommendation for the Product & Pricing department of Opel
Netherlands.
Furthermore this report is part of my study at Fontys Hogescholen. At the moment I am studying
IBMS and as part of this four year during education it is required for each student to do a
traineeship/internship in a company.
In co-operation with my internship supervisor (Frans van der Werf, Opel carline manager) I
composed an assignment which correlates with the IBMS competencies. Beside the trend analysis I
added a so called Dealer toolkit, which was an assignment I had to do for Opel. At last I also added
a product/competitor comparison.
Regarding this report I started with a company description where Opels vision, mission, product
offer and other facts around Opel are presented. After this the most relevant global automotive
trends are described followed by the trends around Opel. Furthermore some dealers were visited for
an interview regarding the latest trends.
also I give a recommendation of my findings together with a conclusion and a reflection of what I
learned at Opel Netherlands.
At last I would like to mention that beside that trend analysis I spend a lot of time with the added
Dealer toolkit and the Competitor comparison which is also added as separate file.
Thank you for your kind attention
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
OPEL KEY FACTS
Founded in 1862 in Rsselsheim, Opel is one of the most technologically advanced automobile
manufacturers in Europe. It has a long and rich history. The company is shaped by a passion for cars.
Together with Vauxhall, Opels sister brand in the U.K., they sell vehicles in over 40 markets in
Europe. The company operates plants and development centers in seven European countries, and
employs around 40,000 people. Many additional jobs are provided by over 6,500 dealer / service
sites.
With the market introduction of the electric Opel Ampera, the company has founded a new segment
in the European automotive market and underlines its role as a trendsetter for progressive mobility
solutions.
In 2011, Opel sold over 1.2 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Europe, which is
resulting in a market share of 6.1 percent.
OPELS HISTORY
Opel is a car manufacturer founded in 1862 by Adam Opel in Rsselheim (Germany), at the start of
the companys existence Opel produced sewing machines followed by bicycles. After their sewing
machines and bicycles became massive successes Opel started producing their first automobile in
1899.
However Opels successes were noticed from the USA, in 1929 the American company General
Motors bought Opel, since then Opel can be seen as daughter company from General Motors who
also possess other car brands such as Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Holden, Chevrolet and the British variant
of Opel called Vauxhall.
After world war II Opel started making a name for themselves as a car for the big public, over 30
years the Opel Kadett was the most sold car in Europe. Also their Omega and Ascona were award
winning models. From their current product range the Insignia and Ampera both won the prestigious
price Car of the year in 2009 and 2012.
However the past years Opel is making losses in Europe and their mother company General Motors
almost sold them in 2009, but due to Opels technology centers they did not.
At the moment Opel is trying to become profitable again and regain their market share that they
possessed in the sixties and seventies by launching 26 new models between 2012 and 2016.
In the appendices under 1 a timeline of important milestones of Opel are summed up.
OPELS PHILOSOPHY
Opels roots go back more than a century. More than 110 years of looking confidently to the future,
of putting all our energy into making your drive more rewarding. More than 110 years of passionate
engineering summarized in the three words of our new guiding principle: Wir leben Autos
Wir leben Autos: The living expression of Opels values
Wir leben Autos does not only refer to our German roots and the love we share for German
engineering, it also expresses the strong emotion and passion that influences everything we do.
The Wir communicates our shared enthusiasm and a strong positive can do attitude that
enables us to develop clever, surprising and innovative products for our consumers.
But we do not only build cars, we live for cars and the word leben expresses our high level of
energy which can be felt by everyone whose life is touched by an Opel. They may feel this through
the wealth of purposeful Opel features, insightful innovations or simply by our appealing,
contemporary design.
Last, but not least we believe that also in the futureAutos will mean much more to people than
just transportation. Opel cars are not just about driving, but an essential part of our everyday lives.
We combine our personal experiences with those of our consumers in order to make their daily
mobility easier and more rewarding. We never stop thinking about new and sustainable ways in
which we can positively influence or energize peoples lives through every contact with the Opel
brand.
Wir leben Autos is our passion, our involvement, our attention to detail, our responsibility, our
intention and yes our confidence.
This is who we are.
Opel. Wir leben Autos.(Opel Experience, 2013)
Opel express their selves through a philosophy instead of a mission & vision statement, however
Opel does want to be European leader in alternative propulsions, using its expertise in innovation
technologies and making them affordable. Furthermore their strategy consists of providing cars for
the bigger public that offer true German premium quality and technology for a reasonable price. At
last Opel cars can be considered as German car quality for a not-German price
General motors, which is Opels mother company also expresses their selves by values, an overview
of these can be found in the appendices under heading 2
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
At the moment Opel is producing sixteen car models in factories all around the world. Car
manufacturing is their primary activity. The cars that Opel produces are known of their good quality
combined with innovative technology such as traffic sign detection, lane departure warning and
probably the most important innovation: Opel Ampera, which is Opels electric vehicle and was
awarded in 2012 as car of the year. In the appendices under 3 an overview of Opels current models
with their segment, starting price and sales volume. The car market can be divided by passenger cars
like an Opel Astra and commercial vehicles like a Opel Movano.
So first the customer decides which vehicle he wants to buy, after the customer has picked his
vehicle of choice he can decide for some models to order a modelvariant. For example: The Opel
Astra can be ordered as a 4-door, 5-door or Sports Tourer (Station).
So after the customer decided which engine he wants for his car he arrives at step three, he already
knows which model and which model variant, for example an Opel Astra 5-Door. The next step is to
choose an equipment level. Each vehicle that Opel offers to its customers can be customized in order
to meet the customers expectations and demand. Therefore Opel developed different
editions/styling levels for each car which are:
Berlin
The Berlin edition can be considered as the basic edition of each car, which is equipped
with all the standard options.
Design edition
For the design edition the focus is on style effects therefor if your choose for this package
you will have a lower chassis and LED lights for example.
Business+
For the real business people that have to travel a lot they developed a special package
containing navigation .
Cosmo
This is for all models the most exclusive package with a lot of options such as adaptive
forward lighting, rain sensor etc.
Sport/BiTurbo
For some Opel models such as Astra Opel developed a sport and BiTurbo package containing
sideskirts, powerful engines and sport chairs in order to give a race sensation to its
customers.
In the appendix under 4 you will find an overview of the differences between the equipment
levels for an Opel Astra (In Dutch).
Astra 4-Door Astra 5-Door Astra Sports Tourer
After choosing a car, car variant and equipment level such as an Opel Astra 5-door Cosmo customers
are able to adjust the colors, trims and lining together with extra options.
At last Opel offers unique, highly technological options for their cars, a few of them are:
Opel Eye camera, which is able to detect traffic signs and the lane you are driving.
Adaptive forward lighting(AFL), headlights that are able to suit themselves depending on the
road or turn you are driving.
Forward collision alert and following distance indicator which detect if you approach slowly
driving traffic to hard.
Park expert.
Hill start assist.
DUTCH MARKET & POSITIONING
Since my internship is at Opel Nederland I will only focus my research on the Dutch automotive
market. This market is very transparent and a lot of competitor information can be found in our
databases. Broadly the Dutch car market can be divided in Passenger cars and Light commercial
vehicle cars, after this distinction all cars are divided by segments such as A, B, SUV-B etc. an
overview of this can be found in the appendix under heading 5.
With 1.9 million sold cars in the Netherlands (measured since 1983) Opel sold the most cars after
Volkswagen with 1.5 million sold cars, However the past years Opel is struggling with their market
position and are decreasing in market share slowly. There are several factors for this decrease such
as, some people believe it is because Opel was not innovating for years and become dull, also
because a few recalls their image was heavily damaged or Asian car brands who are attacking the
market.
Furthermore Opel tries to position themselves as a brand that offers true German car quality and
dependability, combined with technological options and a reasonable price Opel wants to conquer
back what they lost. Therefore they are also launching 26 new models from 2012 till 2016. In the
appendices under heading 6 an overview of causes which relate to Opels bad market position can
be found.
The overall Dutch car market is struggling due to the credit crisis, this years January was the worst
since years, in the table which can be found in the appendices under 7 an overview of car brands in
the Netherlands with their market share from the past years can be found.
ORGANIZATION
In the appendices under heading 8 an organizational chart can be found for the Marketing
department, my placement is under the supervision of Frans van der Werf, who is a carline manager
responsible for Astra, Cascada, Zafira and Antara. Together with 3 other carline managers they are
responsible for pricing & product of all Opel passenger cars. They are under supervision of John
Dane who is a cross-carline manager and co-ordinates the four carline managers. His direct
supervisor is Michell Vercruyssen and can be called Marketing manager who is responsible for
Product & Pricing, Events, Communication and PR.
GLOBAL PASSENGER CAR TRENDS
As explained previously the passenger car market is a turbulent market which is changing and
developing very fast. The big car brands should keep up with the latest trends in order to ensure
themselves of a bright future. In this part of the report the latest trends are summed up and
explained. Note that most of the data concerning market shares and sales figures comes from an in-
house database which is only accessible at the HQ of Opel Nederland.
Compact cars
Nowadays all cars cannot be too compact or small enough, a lot of the newly launched cars
can be called compact cars. There is a change between the car segments, in figure 9
(Appendices) an overview of the car segments can be found. The A and B segment (compact
cars) are growing year after year, graph 9 which can be found in the appendices illustrates
this change across segments. The expectation is set to grow even further.
Asian expansion & Asian Conquest
Countries like China and South Korea are not only the places where most cars are
manufactured but also the worlds biggest and fastest growing passenger car market. Since
2010 more passenger cars are sold in China than whole Europe together. However besides
the fact that the Asian market is booming and extremely interesting for brands like General
Motors and Volkswagen their domestic brands are conquering Europe and North America on
their turn. The best examples are KIA and Hyundai who both grew enormously within
Europe the past few years. Graph 10 (appendices) shows the market shares in the
Netherlands.
Infotainment
Mobile phone integration, around two/third of the people in the Netherlands are in the
possession of a smartphone. Therefore it is very important for car manufacturers to
implement mobile device integration as smoothly as possible. It starts with navigation, but
at the moment people can send text messages while speaking in their car. An evolution is
coming to car infotainment systems since it is expected that cars built in 2014 all have an
internet connection.
Autonomous cars
It is expected that by 2012 autonomous cars will be introduces, cars that will drive you
instead of you driving the car. At the moment there already are a lot of features on cars that
have a certain autonomy such as Lane departure warning, Adaptive cruise control or
Adaptive forward lighting. These features will make car driving easier and safer.
Alternative propulsion
Off course alternative propulsion will stay as a trend. However a bigger growth was expected
due to the price of these vehicles for private buyers, limited but fast growing fast-charge
spots and the range of hybrid/plug-ins is limited. However this car segment is growing and
evolving over time as can be seen in graph 11 (Appendices).
INCOME STATEMENT, MARKET SHARE & EMPLOYEE NUMBERS
(Euro 000s) 2011 2010
Net sales 702,066 656,983
Cost of Sales 645,146 - 613,861 -
Gross Margin 56,920 43,122
Total Expenses 53,472 - 39,916 -
Net margin 3,448 3,206
Other costs & Expenses 317+ 38-
Year Result 3,765 3,168
Table -.1.1 Income statement Opel 2010-2011
Market Segments 2011 2010
Total
market
Opel % Total
market
Opel %
Passenger Cars 555.920 41.236 7.4% 483.164 35.683 7.4
LV vehicles 71.945 5.685 7.9% 49.608 4.275 8.6%
Total 627.865 46.921 7.5% 532.772 39.959 7.5%
Table 1.2: Market shares Opel 2010-2011
Company Employees (approximately)
General Motors 212.000
Opel 40.000
Opel Nederland 150
Table: 1.3: GM and Opel employees.
ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION/ MARKET
Declining sales, closing of factories, layoffs, increasing oil prices and even the AutoRAI which is
cancelled for the first time in history. European passenger car sales declined 8,9%in January where
Dutch passenger car sales even declined 31,2%. In short: the car/automotive sector is facing huge
problems and massive changes. In Figure 10 the passenger car registrations in the Netherlands from
1998 till 2012 can be found. At Opel these changes hit hard, with a market share in the Netherlands
declining year after year which can be seen in figure 10 in the appendices.
Furthermore the automotive sector can be seen as highly competitive, and this new situation tests
the ability of car manufacturers to compete with their rivals. This can be done with alternative
propulsions like hybrid cars, new innovations such as park assist and lowering their CO2 labels in
order to decrease the fiscal taxes.
However, in my opinion Opels future is way better than their current situation, since the launch of
the Insignia they established a solid basis for future development of their products. Furthermore
Opel is exploring new markets and offers new innovative products like the Opel ADAM, Cascada,
Mokka and especially the Opel Ampera.
The automotive sector is on the step of change, now its Opels turn to make the most out of it.
PROBLEM DEFINITION & ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVE
Navigation, Led lights, Leather, steer heating, bigger rims or a fancy color are most of time an option
for a car. Which means that they can be ordered upon the engine and standard equipment. Cars do
not longer exist of only an engine. Nowadays options are of a very high importance for customers.
For example imagine that there is car A for 25.000 and car B for 24.000, however car A offers
standard navigation while car B has navigation as extra option for 1.750. Now if the customer really
wants navigation he probably gos for car A. Like explained, cars do not longer only consist of only
an engine.
There are plenty of options for interior, safety, rims, exterior etc. However the composition and
importance of these options is continuously changing, infotainment systems are more important
than ever while motor force (PK/HP) is declining in importance.
All these changes between options can cause confusion and demand great flexibility from the
product & pricing department since they need to keep up with the latest trends for the automotive
sector and use this knowledge in order to make the perfect product and price composition.
Based on all the previous information my assignment objective will be:
Analyze the latest option trends in the automotive sector in order to make a
recommendation for the Product & Pricing department and to create understanding
inside the Opel organization regarding the development of car options.
OPTION ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
Now it is clear what Opel Nederland stands for, problem defined and assignment objective is clear
the research and analysis can begin. The analysis will contain of desk and field research, during the
desk research Opels databases will be informed to analyze the latest trends among each option
category for the Opel Astra since it is Opels most important model at the moment. Now the desk
research is discussed the report continues with the field study which contained a Opel dealer
interview and online questionnaire. At the end the results of the desk research are compared with
the results of the field study in order to give a clear recommendation for Opel.
DESK RESEARCH FOR CHANGES IN OPTIONS
Options can roughly be defined as upgrades for your car and can be divided in the following
categories:
Infotainment
Rims/wheels
Colors
Fuel type
Horse power/engine
Co2 emission
In order to acquire an answer on the research question these option categories are analyzed through
different Opel databases. This option distinction will be used through the entire report.
Infotainment
Car infotainment, also called In-Vehicle-Infotainment (IVI) consists of various features such as: Rear
seat entertainment, Navigation, Radio/Cd, Internet connectivity and other mobile phone integration
possibilities.
Probably infotainment is the option category with the brightest prospects. At the moment car
infotainment is facing a great change. This category started with a simple radio and is now growing
towards a connected car, an overview of this change can be found in the appendices under heading
13.
At the moment car manufacturers are setting up alliances with soft/hardware developers to create
and implement infotainment systems. Such as Ford with Spotify and Microsoft (MyFord Touch),
besides that car manufactures are implementing Google Maps and Android in the future
Navigation systems, Bluetooth, voice control and an USB port are a few of Opels so called
infotainment options. Besides those Opel developed an infotainment system for the ADAM so called
Intellilink which is a multi-media system that sets new standards in its car segment. Furthermore
one of General Motors other brands : Cadillac, makes use of CUE which is an innovative new
multimedia system for luxury cars. The probability is there that Opel will implement the Intellilink
system or the Cadillac Cue system into their upcoming models.
Graph: 2.1: Infotainment options
However at the moment the focus for Opel is on Navigation systems and mobile device integration,
therefore the following options are analyzed:
NAVI 600 (Benelux)
NAVI 900 (Europa)
Telefoonvoorbereiding met Voicecontrol en Bluetooth(Mobile phone integration)
After seeing the graph the most notable conclusion is that Mobile phone integration is increasing in
importance. Since the introduction of the product on new Opel Astras now more than 80%of all
sold Astras possesses mobile phone integration. Regarding navigation a steady increase can be seen
for Navi 900. This means that more customers are choosing for European navigation instead of
Benelux navigation.
In the nearby future people will be using their
smartphone applications and services for 80%of the
time, and the other 20% they are driving their car
1
.
Therefore our car can be seen as the next smartphone
accessory. For the future internet in our cars become
of great importance, and it is expected that by 2017 a
fifth of all the cars in North-America and Western
Europe will be App-Enabled
2
. On the worlds biggest
technology and phone fairs & conferences car
manufacturers like GM, Ford and several other brands
are showing their latest mobile device integrations for
cars.
1
http://phys.org/news/2013-02-big-smartphone-accessory-car.html
2
http://www.mirrorlink.com/
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2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
(Jan-
Mar)
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Infotainment options
Navi 600
Navi 900
Mobile Phone
Integration
Graph 2.2: Astra rim sizes 2007-2013
Currently there is a device called MirrorLink which offers seamless integration between a
Smartphone and a cars infotainment system. This is already adopted by 80% of the car
manufacturers which makes the succession chance of this system high.
In the future it is expected that your car becomes part of the Cloud. For example the car will know
when you are awake, the car communicates with your work schedule, alarm clock, thermostat and
radio for example in order to decide at what time to wake up, what music to play in the car, to lower
the thermostat when leaving the house, shutting the garage door while scanning for social media
updates of your friends and navigating you to work with the most efficient route and reserves you a
parking spot. This might sound strange but this is going to happen within a few years.
Wheels/Rims
This essential car part can be bought in many different sizes, colors and brands. However the
question is: is there a trend regarding car rims?
First of all when customers order Wheels/Rims they take rim size in account which is usually
expressed in inches (). Regarding Opel Astra the standard Rims have changed from 15 to 16 from
2008 till now. Furthermore in the next graph the development of this change is showed.
From this graph it can be concluded that 17rims under an Opel Astra became the standard for most
people, this means that 70%of all the Astra buyers does not buys the standard rims(16) and wishes
to have wheels without hubcaps and with rims.
Regarding the future this option category will remain pretty stable due to technology factors. It is
simply not possible now to put 21 rims under an Opel Agila for example.
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Astra rim sizes 2007-2013
15''
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Exterior Colors
One of the first aspects people take into account when they are buying a car: Color. Besides beauty
and taste color is important since it affects the re-sell value a lot. For example, you buy a new car
with a very intensive unusual color such as pink the chance for re-selling it again will be lower since
you need to find a person that likes that specific color. Therefore most people pick a safe color
(Black, grey or white) when they buy a new car in order to prevent problems or value decrease since
these colors are tend to stay timeless. In the appendices under heading 15 an overview of the
European car color popularity index can be seen.
A survey of one of the worlds biggest coating manufacturer PPG published a survey which revealed
three important bullet points:
3
77 percent of respondents said exterior color was a factor in their automotive purchase
decision.
Owners of large luxury cars, sporty cars and large premium SUVs place the most value on
getting the color of their choice.
45 percent of respondents said they would prefer a wider range of color choices.
This shows that color cannot be underestimated as an option for customers and requires some
serious attention. Besides the survey PPG also published the Automotive color trend report which
gives insight in to the future of car colors. The report shows that white is the most popular (23
percent), followed by black (21 percent), gray (17 percent), silver (13 percent), blue, natural and red
(7 percent each), other colors (3 percent) and green (2 percent) as can be seen in the next figure.
First of all the choice of customers to choose white as exterior color increases, this is because white
is seen as inspiration for the ecological megatrend in Europe, it represents minimalism and future
technology, besides that Apple integrated white into all their products which resulted into
consumers no longer associating white with refrigerators but with high tech products like the Apple
Ipad.
Secondly black is a very popular color as it always has been. Especially in the luxury segment it is
winning ground. However black is also seen as an unsafe color and causes accidents more
frequently
4
.
Natural colors like green, brown and bronze are gaining popularity and can be considered as colors
for the future. However Safe colors like black, grey and silver still possess 75%of the market and
are expected to keep this share.
5
In figure 1.3 four pie charts can be found which show the current color division in Europe, and the
color division of Opels most popular cars Astra, Corsa and Insignia. From this figure we can see that
the so called safe colors have the overhand for all Opel models.
Corsa, the smallest and most sold cars from these three has a wide color pallet. Perhaps too
wide since colors like yellow, red and green are not in line with the color division of Europe.
3
http://www.ppg.com/en/newsroom/news/Pages/20121010A.aspx
4
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1288457/Black-cars-likely-involved-accidents.html
5
http://www2.dupont.com/automotive/en-us/au/article/color-popularity.html
Astra, this car also has a wide color pallet and customers make use of this. Red has a big
share while black and white have small shares.
Insignia, a car which is mostly driven business wise and is more towards the premium
segment. People tend to choose safe colors for cars like this. Therefore the share of black
and grey is very large.
Graph 2.3: Opel exterior colors
Besides the color of your coating the type of coating is important since it gives multiple effects but
more importantly the endurance and durability are based on the type of coating. In graph an
overview of all sold Opel Astras since 2007 are showed based on their coating type. Where
basiskleur stands for standard color (,0) the other colors require extra money, typically between
250,- and 500,-. The graph shows that 90% of the Astra buyers do not like the standard color and
prefer to pay more for a color they like. Furthermore briljant colors are almost never ordered while
Metaal kleuren are increasing in popularity.
Graph 2.4: Opel coating
Engine power (hp)
Horse-power, it has been a criterion for cars since decades. A lot of people are attracted by a cars
number of horse powers since it expresses the power or speed of a car, however this is dependent
on a lot more features such as weight, tires and engine efficiency.
Nowadays more emphasis is put on the efficiency of engines in order to be eco-friendly. Therefore
when car manufacturers are designing new engines they are trying to design it in order to increase
the amount of horsepower but at the same time decrease the level of Co2 emission and fuel
consumption.
In the next graph we can see an overview of sold Opels based on HP from the last five years.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
% sold Opel's by coating
Metaal Kleur MICA
Metaal Kleur
Briljant kleur
Basiskleur
Graph 2.5 : Opel Horsepower
First of all it can be seen that weaker engines with less hp are replaced by stronger engines with
more hp. As a result of this Opel does not offer any engines weaker than 80hp while at the same
moment high performance engines with more than 160 hp are being introduced to Opel models.
The reason why engines possess more hp nowadays is probably because engines are being
developed fast and eco-friendly which means that manufacturers are able to add more hp to an
engine while the Co2 levels remain the same.
Fuel type
A few years ago customers only had the possibility of choosing between gasoline and sometimes
diesel when buying a car. However nowadays technologies are evolved that it is possible to drive
electric or on bio-gas for example. As an international car manufacturer you should cope with these
changes in order to keep a strong market position.
Opel is a leading brand regarding alternative fuel propulsions, in the Netherlands Opel is market
leader with their Opel Ampera which was awarded as car of the year 2012
6
. Furthermore Opel offers
Ecoflex engines which are significantly decreasing the Co2 emission.
In the next figure an overview is seen which shows the different fuel types as a percentage of all
Opel sales.
6
http://www.caroftheyear.org/winner/2012_1/coty
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Opel Horsepower (hp)
160+
140-159
120-139
100-119
80-99
60-79
Graph 2.6: Opel carlines by fuel
From 1.6 . we can see that Gasoline and Diesel are still the most popular fuel type, simply because it
is available everywhere. However in 2011 Opel starts producing cars with a different propulsion:
Electricity. This eco-friendly fuel is growing steadily, mostly due to the fact that cars with electric
propulsion offer fiscal advantages and therefore are a lot cheaper than normal Gasoline cars. But
sales are not booming, the reason for this is that people are not able to load their car everywhere
and therefore the Opel Amperas action radius is not big enough for long trips.
At the end we can conclude that traditional fuel types like diesel and gasoline are decreasing in
popularity slightly over the years while a new fuel is upcoming: Electricity.
Co2 Emission
Cars are a major polluter of our environment, therefore the Co2 emission of a car Is becoming more
important nowadays. The Dutch government decided that taxes paid on cars have to be decided
based on a cars Co2 emission. Furthermore the business market for cars is dependent on Co2
emission. In order to create an understanding on Opels average Co2 values they are compared to
the Co2 values of their biggest competitors (Volkswagen +Ford), and compared with the passenger
market average Co2 emission.
Based on the graph showed on the next page it can be concluded that Opel , as well as their main
competitors are not able to distinguish their selves from the industry average.
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Opel Carlines by fuel
Liquid Petrol
Gas
Electric
Diesel
Gasoline
Graph 2.7: Opel Co2 emission compared
DEALER INTERVIEWS
The Opel organization Netherlands organization consists of more than 150 selling points/dealers
throughout the Netherlands. In order to create an insight in the automotive market it is not good to
retrieve all the information from internal sources and internet to make a clear conclusion. Therefore
I planned interviews with five sales managers who all have more than five year experience within the
car industry.
On the map which is showed in figure 1.8 the location of the dealers is showed, the addresses of
these dealers can be found in the appendices under heading 16 together with the list of questions
(in Dutch).
Figure 2.8 Map dealer interviews
During these interviews I discussed each option category, the results are described in the following
chapters.
100
125
150
175
Average Co2 emissions
Opel Models Passenger car market Netherlands Volkswagen Ford
INFOTAINMENT
Regarding car infotainment the majority of the time IntelliLink was discussed, the new infotainment
system for ADAM and for future models. The most important remarks were that it has some Child
diseases which means that the system does not work to belongings due to some errors which were
overlooked. Some of them are navigation problems and compatibility of your smartphone. However
all dealers admitted that this system will be the future and that it has great potential. The biggest
advantage is that it can be updated automatically.
Furthermore when the question raised if they would like to see the Intellilink system in more Opel
models they all immediately said yes, but if it would work smoothly and with in-car navigation so
people are not dependent of their smart phone. Also they added that for the business market it is
essential that phone integration will be wire-less.
At last Opels navigation systems were discussed, at the moment customers are able to buy
navigation for the Benelux (Navi 600) or for Western Europe (Navi 900). Most of the dealers opted
for one navigation system for all customers.
WHEELS/ RIMS
Big rims are part of Opels house style, therefore this subject is sensitive. However three out of five
dealers proposed to delete 20 rims of the assortment due to the demand, high repair costs and
uncomfortable driving behavior.
Furthermore it became clear that the offer of rims on Business+editions is to limited, therefore all of
the dealers asked for different 17 and 18 rims on Business+cars.
EXTERIOR COLORS
When we were discussing exterior colors they all agreed with the statement : White for Silver.
Beside that all the dealers were very enthusiastic about the color Dark Mahagony which fits in the
trend of natural colors. Since it is expected that natural colors like green and brown are returning on
the field. Also people are paying more attention to the quality of the painting and their interest is
growing more and more towards metallic colors.
ENGINE POWER
During the meetings with the sales managers they all admitted that they were suffering from the
downsizing syndrome , a lot of their customers are choosing for smaller and cleaner cars in order to
benefit from fiscal regulations and for the business market engine power is not even so relevant any
more since they are dependent on Co2 emission.
Furthermore the dealers hoped to see a stronger engine in the Cascada in the form of a Gasoline
turbo and a new engine in the ADAM.
CO2 EMISSION
All the spoken dealers were worrying about Opels Co2 emissions, and they were even more when
they heard that the Opel Ampera will probably be placed in the new 7%bijtelling class, through this
Opel will lo se its market position regarding emission free driving. Therefore they asked to lower to
price of the Opel Ampera otherwise it will not be able to compete with the Outlander and Prius.
OTHER REMARKS
Make Rain sensor standard on the Opel Ampera
Make leather standard for Cascada
Make it possible to order a few more colors and rims on the ADAM ADAM
Make one package from forward parking sensors and backward parking sensors
Come up with an instruction video regarding the Intellilink system
CASCADA DEALER TOOLKIT & OTHER ASSIGNMENTS FOR OPEL
Together with my internship supervisor Frans van der Werf i composed my internship assignment
about trends in the car industry. However during my internship I was asked to make a so called
Cascada Dealer Toolkit. This extra assignment gave me approximately the same amount of
workload as my internship case and therefore I would like to include this in my final report.
Each year Opel release new models onto the market, for 2013(January-July) it were the fashionable
citycar ADAM and the new Opel Cascada which is an up-market cabriolet. With each launch Opel
sends out a Dealer Toolkit to its dealers (189 throughout the Netherlands).
With this dealer toolkit Opel tries to prepare their dealers with all the necessary marketing
information regarding this new model, I was asked to make this toolkit for their newest cabriolet
Cascada. For this model the marketing goals, target group, market facts, market instruments such
as television commercials, social media activities etc. were described extensively. Furthermore I
learned a lot with this assignment and I was able to see a product launch step by step.
The Cascada dealer toolkit is enclosed as a separate document and is written in Dutch since the
target audience were the Dutch Opel dealers.
Besides the Cascada dealer toolkit I had to make several competitor comparisons, since the
automotive industry is highly competitive brands like Opel base their price on prices of competitors
like Volkswagen. My task for Opel was to make those competitor comparisons. Just like the
Dealertoolkit I included an example of a competitor comparison as a separate excel file.
CONCLUSION
Based on all the done research it can be concluded that the automotive sector is changing rapidly.
Unsteady demand, new technologies and in the Netherlands a tight fiscal policy which results in
customers to buy cleaner cars.
At the end we can say that infotainment is growing towards one of the most important categories.
By 2012 it is expected that 80%of the cars will have the possibility to open Apps, connect through
WiFi and in the future cars will be active in the so called cloud.
On the surface of Rims and Wheels an increase of bigger rims can be seen, the reason behind it is
probably because it became Opels house style. Regarding exterior colors it is striking to see the
replacement of white colors for silver colors combined with the trend of natural colors like green
and brown.
Also Opel engines are increasing in power (HP) while the majority of the competition is decreasing in
power due to the downsizing trend. This is in line with Co2 emission which is currently from great
importance in the Dutch car market since a lot of fiscal regulations such as Bijtelling and several
taxes like Motorrijtuigen belasting are affected by it.
If the world trends as discussed in the chapter: World passenger car trends on page 17 are
compared with the trends that Opel uses there are some similarities but also some differences.
First of all Opel is developing a multimedia/infotainment system that can compete with the systems
of its rivals. The so called system Intellilink should improve a lot based on the dealer interviews in
order to work proficient. Also it should be possible to work with the cloud and have a WiFi
connection before 2015.
Secondly Opel has innovative technological options such as park expert, Adaptive Forward Lighting
and FlexFix for example. In the future Opel needs to make sure these options will develop towards a
certain phase of technology that they become autonomously.
Another huge trend is alternative propulsions as explained, Opel is a world leader in this aspect with
their Opel Ampera. Market leader in the segment of alternative propulsion, however in 2014 it is
expected that this model will lose its market position.
Furthermore Opel is following the trend of compact cars partially, with their newest model : ADAM,
Opel is entering a segment with Mini and Fiat 500 as competitors. Cars are changing from
transportation good towards a lifestyle product, this results in cars like ADAM with hundreds of color
combinations, touchscreen infotainment and a lot of eye for details.
At last it can be concluded that Opel is coping in the right way with the current trends, however the
questions is if they will do so in the future.
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the done research, small assignments, interviews and my conclusion it can be assumed
that the current car industry is facing heavy changes, now its Opels task to cope with these change
as good as possible. This could be done to adapt the product/option offer to the future trends by
making innovative options standard on certain models and delete certain options.
First of all Opel should definitely continue with the Intellilink system since it has the potential to
become a standard within this industry. It had some startup problems with the usability and if those
problems are tackled and navigation becomes available without smartphone wirelessly nothing will
be in its way to become successful. Intellilink should be offered on all new models as option
according to dealers and its market potential. Also an instruction video should be made in order to
make the system easier to use.
Secondly opinions are divided when it comes to rims, bigger rims are detrimental for a cars driving
comfort. Even though it is Opels house style to have big rims it will be a point of attention in the
future since bigger rims can also affect a cars Co2 emission which is extremely important. Dealers
asked for more choice in rims for Business+editions since now there are only two sorts available.
Furthermore the annual color reports as well as the dealers opted for more natural colors like Dark
Mahogany or the new color Emerald green. Also dealers would like to see a stronger gasoline engine
on the Cascada.
Also all the interviewed dealers came up with the idea to make the rain sensor standard on the
Ampera and to make package concerning parking sensors which includes forward as well as
backwards sensors.
At last regarding the subject of the trend analysis I would suggest Opel Nederland keep watching the
trends through all possible channels such social media and competitor websites in order to stay
ahead of the trends.
REFLECTION
The framework of IBMS competencies returns during the internship. In this chapter I explain what I
have learned from my assignments in relation to the IBMS competencies. The following three IBMS
competencies are related to my internship:
1. International Business Awareness & Intercultural Proficiency
The ability to gather information, to spot and analyze trends, to evaluate the impact of
changes in the international business environment, to develop a vision on these trends, and
to advise management.
The ability to recognize and appreciate cultural differences in behavior and values and to
work with an open attitude in an international environment.
Fields of study: International Business, Economics, Law, Intercultural Awareness
4. International Marketing Management
The ability to draft a marketing strategy, to plan and organize e-marketing activities in an
international and intercultural context and to solve problems in the implementation.
Fields of study: International Marketing, E-commerce, CRM,
9. Research, Professional behavior & Personal leadership
The ability conduct research, to develop a professional attitude and to understand and
develop oneself in a professional relationship with others.
Fields of study: Intercultural team development, cooperation, personal leadership, project
management, business research and learning
International BusinessAwareness Intercultural Proficiency
This competency gives a great summary of IBMS, therefore it can be seen as one of the most
important competencies. During my internship I mainly worked with the first bullet point: The
ability to gather information, to spot and analyze trends, to evaluate the impact of changes in the
international business environment, to develop e vision on these trends and to advise management.
First of all my internship assignment is a trend analysis, which means that I will consult Opel about
the latest trends in the automotive market based on desk & field research. During this research I
learned that the automotive sector is by far one of the most competing and evolving industries. But
also it is a struggling industry. I gathered information by doing mystery shopping calls, interviews and
striving the internet for hours.
International MarketingManagement
Setting up a marketing strategy, probably this is what students do must in their first year at IBMS.
However at Opel I also needed to set up a marketing plan called Cascada Dealer Toolkit which is
included as separate file to this report. For this assignment it was my goal to inform all Opel dealers
(189) about all the ins and outs of Opels latest model in a marketing plan. Furthermore I had to
make price comparisons and competitor comparisons, these are in my opinion part of a marketing
plan, an example of a competitor analysis can be found in the appendix.
Research,Professional behavior Personal leadership
At last I would like to discuss the competency of Research, Professional behavior & Personal
leadership since during my internship I had to do a lot of research. I certainly developed my
research skills since I had to work with extensive databases but also my task was to retrieve
competitor information which is not always available.
At last I would like to add that I learned a lot on the field of Excel, and therefore I hope that IBMS
starts a course of Excel in the near future since it is a beautiful program with a lot of opportunities.
During my internship my skills in excel grown from almost zero to an average user.
REFERENCE LIST
Beside the internet links and books that were used to carry out this research a lot of the found
information comes from GM/Opel secured sources, these can be accessed only by GM employees.
All relevant information concerning market shares, option penetration and all Opel information is
mostly found in those databases such as JATO or the T-drive.
Accenture. (2011). Perspectives on In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems and Telematics. Retrieved from:
http://accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Perspectives-on-In-Vehicle-Infotainment-
Systems-and-Telematics.pdf
Autoweek. (2013). Verkoopgegevens , News items . Retrieved from: www.autoweek.nl
Barry, Keith. (2010). ''The Future of In-Car Technology. Retrieved from:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q2/the_future_of_in-car_technology-feature
Bartz, Daniel.(2009). ''In-Car Wi-Fi Puts Infobahn on the Autobahn. Retrieved from:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/10/in-car-internet/
Bovag. (2012). Duurzaamheidsmonitor 2012. Retrieved from:
www.bovag.nl/data/sitemanagement/media/Duurzaamheidsmonitor%202012.pdf
Bovag. (2012). Mobiliteit in cijfers. Retrieved from:
http://www.bovagrai.info/auto/2012/2.7e.html
Boyle, Rebecca.(2011). ''How Intelligent Cars Will Make Driving Easier and Greener.'' Retrieved from:
http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2011-07/smartening-car
Car connectivity consortium. (2013). Mirrorlink overview. Retrieved from:
http://www.mirrorlink.com/products/
Car of the year. (2012). Ampera/Volt sweeps on car of the year 2012. Retrieved from:
www.caroftheyear.org/winner/2012_1/coty
Cara McLaughlin. (2013). Competitiveness of auto industry must not be overlooked in Co2 review.
Retrevied from :
http://www.acea.be/news/news_detail/http://www.acea.be/index.php/news/news_detail/passeng
er_car_registrations_-8.7_in_january_2013/
Chappell, Lindsay. (2011). ''War with computer hackers hits the road. Retrieved from:
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110919/OEM06/309199991/1143
Charles Murray. (2011). Ready to be chauffeured by your car?. Retrieved from:
www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1395&doc_id=235321
Claes Bell. (2012). Connected car: Cloud computing drives off . Retrieved from:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/connected-car-cloud-computing-drives-off-1.aspx
Consumer Reports.(2011). ''Connected cars: A new risk.'' Retrieved from:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/october/cars/the-connected-
car/overview/index.htm
Cunningham, Wayne. (2011) ''10 automakers race for the apps. ''. Retrieved from:
http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-10863_7-10009488-4.html?s=1&o=10009478
Danny Oosterveer. (2012). Smartphone bezit in Nederland groeit naar 58%. Retrieved from:
http://www.marketingfacts.nl/berichten/marktaandeel-smartphone-in-nederland-groeit-naar-58-
procent
Del-Colle, Andrew. (2011). ''Why Your Smartphone Will Become Your In-Car Infotainment System.''
Retrieved from: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/industry/why-your-smartphone-will-
become-your-in-car-infotainment-system
Dupont. (2012). 2011 DuPont Global Automotive Color Popularity Report Insights. Retrieved from:
http://www2.dupont.com/automotive/en-us/au/article/color-popularity.html
Fiona Macrae. (2010). Black cars most likely to be involved with accidents. Retrieved from:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1288457/Black-cars-likely-involved-accidents.html
Fontys. (2013). All relevant information regarding school assignments. Retrieved from:
https://portal.fontys.nl/instituten/marketingmanagement/ENG/Semester4-2013S/default.aspx
Ford Motors. (2013). Ford Personenautos, all relevant information regarding Fords product offer.
Retrieved from: www.ford.nl/Personenautos/Overzicht?gclid=CLums5iEyLcCFUTHtAodYlYA-A
General Motors intern. (2013). All press releases, organograms and organizational matters.
Retrieved from: https://gmweb.gm.com/sites/socrates/Pages/Home.aspx
General Motors. (2013). In vehicle infotainment. Retrieved from:
http://www.gm.com/vision/design_technology/in-vehicle_infotainment.html
Jeremy Neuhart. (2012). PPG announces annual automotive color popularity, trend data.
Retrieved from: http://www.ppg.com/en/newsroom/news/Pages/20121010A.aspx
Nitin Puri. (2013). Your vehicle is now a smartphone app . Retrieved from:
http://www.zdnet.com/mirrorlink-your-vehicle-is-now-a-smartphone-app-7000012017/
Opel Nederland. (2013). All relevant information regarding Opel actions and models. Retrieved
from: http://www.opel.nl/Default.aspx
Opel Experience. (2013). Wir Leben Autos. Retreived from:
http://www.opel.com/experience_opel/index.html
Oxford. (2013). Definition of trend. Retrieved from:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/trend
Rabobank. (2013). Cijfers & Trends Automotive branche. Retrieved from:
https://www.rabobankcijfersentrends.nl/index.cfm?action=branche&branche=Automotive&p=1
Roger C. Lanctot. (2012). The connected car : Its all about HMI. Retrieved from:
http://www.w3.org/2012/08/web-and-automotive/slides/webandauto-day2-Strategy_Analytics.pdf
Tod Woody. (2011). Bill Fords better idea: The car in the cloud. Retrieved from:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2011/11/02/bill-fords-better-idea-the-car-in-the-cloud/
APPENDICES
Here the appendices of the Automotive option trend analysis can be found .
1.Timeline
1862
Adam Opel founded Opel as a sewing machine manufacturer.
1899
Auto construction started in Rsselheim, 11 Opel Patent Motor Cars system Lutzmann were
shipped.
1924
Opel started producing models on the assembly line as first company in Germany.
1929
General Motors buys Opel and so Opel and Vauxhall become part of Americas biggest car
manufacturer.
1936
Opels bestseller is born, the Kadett comes in the production line. Opel becomes Europes
biggest car manufacturer.
1959
Launch of the Opel Kapitn and became the most successful luxury-class model Opel has
ever built.
1991
Opel launches the Astra which is the most sold Opel in the Netherlands (450.000).
2001
The Zafira CNG is launched which is one of the first earth gas cars for consumers.
2009
The Opel Insignia wins the car of the year award, furthermore Opel closes a plant in
Antwerpen and was almost sold by General Motors to a Russian Company.
2012
Opel Ampera wins car of the year award and sets new standards for electric vehicles, also
Opel announces savings and closings of a factory in Bochum, furthermore they announced to
launch 26 new models from now on till 2016 in order to improve their results.
*Opel Insignia *Opel Ampera
2.General Motors Vision and Values
3.Opel product range
Opel Passenger cars
Model Segment Starting price Registrations 2012 Market share of
segment
Picture
ADAM* A 12.495,00 - -
Agila A 10.695,00 5.677 4.7%
Ampera C 48.295,00 2.696 3,5%
Astra C 19.495,00 8.010 6.9%
Cascada* C-C 34.395,00 - -
Corsa B 12.995,00 9.362 8,2%
Insignia D 28.095,00 3.977 7,1%
Meriva MPV-B 18.995,00 3.003 24,5%
Mokka* SUV-B 22.645,00 - -
Zafira
Tourer
MPV-C 25.595,00 2.381 10,6%
Total - - 35.106 7,1%of total passengers vehicle market
*Models ADAM, Cascada & Mokka were not available in 2012 since they are new therefore they have no
registrations yet.
Opel Commercial vehicle cars
Model Segment Starting
price
Registrations 2012 Market share of
segment(%)
Picture
Combo Van-B 9.995,00 1.434 7,2%
Vivaro Van-D 16.990,00 1.128 14,7%
Movano Van-E 19.995,00 3.210 6,3%
Total - - 5.772 8,83%of the total commercial
vehicle market
4.Equipment levels (in Dutch)
Berlin
Design
Edition
CosmoSportBusiness+BiTurbo
Buitenspiegels elektrisch bedienbaar,
verwarmbaar en handmatig wegklapbaar, in
carrosseriekleur
Cruise control en snelheidsbegrenzer
Boordcomputer
Zichtbare uitlaatpijp
Airconditioning
Dagrijverlichting 'Wing'
Radio CD300
Bevat:Aansluiting externe audio-apparatuur
(iPod, MP3, ...)
Verlaagd chassis
RADIO CD400
Bevat:Aansluiting externe audio-apparatuur
(iPod, MP3, ...)
Chromen omlijsting rondom de zijramen
Mistlampen vr
LED Dagrijverlichting 'Wing'
Berlin
Design
Edition
CosmoSportBusiness+BiTurbo
Lichtmetalen velgen 7Jx17" '10-spaaks'
Zicht- en lichtpakket 1
Bevat:Regensensor
Automatisch dimmende binnenspiegel
Automatic Light Control (ALC)
Electronic Climate Control
Lichtmetalen velgen 7Jx17" 'Multi spaaks',
Technical Grey
Ergonomische comfortstoelen (AGR-
gecertificeerd)
Bevat:Zesvoudig verstelbare bestuurdersstoel
Zesvoudig verstelbare passagiersstoel
Verschuifbare zitting bestuurderszijde
Verschuifbare zitting passagierszijde
Elektrisch verstelbare lendensteun
bestuurderszijde
passagierszijde
Actieve hoofdsteunen voor, 4 voudig
verstelbaar
Lichtmetalen velgen 7,5J x 18'' 5-dubbelspaaks
Lichtmetalen velgen 8J x 18'' 5-dubbelspaaks
BiTurbo Sportchassis
Ergonomsiche Bestuurdersstoel
Bevat:Zesvoudig verstelbare bestuurdersstoel
In lengte verstelbare passagiersstoel
Verschuifbare zitting bestuurderszijde
bestuurderszijde
Actieve hoofdsteunen voor, 4-voudig
verstelbaar bestuurder, 2-voudig
verstelbaar passagier
5.Overview car segments
Segments Examples Picture
A Opel Agila, Fiat Panda, Renault Twingo, Peugeot 107
B Opel Corsa, Toyota Yaris, VW Polo, Ford Fiesta
B-MPV Opel Meriva, Ford B-max, Nissan Note, Hyundai IX20
C Opel Astra, Opel Ampera, Ford Focus, VW Golf, Audi A1
C-MPV Opel Zafira, Ford C-Max, Renault scenic, VW Touran
D Opel Insignia, Audi A4, VW Passat, BMW3, Peugeot 508
SUV Opel Mokka, VW Tiguan, BMW X3, Kia Sportage
Van-B Opel Combo, VW Caddy, Renault Kangoo, Fiat Doblo
Van-D Opel Vivaro, VW Transporter, Ford Transit,
Van-E Opel Movano, Mercedes Sprinter, Renault Master
Decline
in
market
share
Increasing
Asian
competition
Kia Hyundai
Economic
crisis
Fuel prices
Savings
Environmental
laws
BPM
'Bijtelling' MRB
Competitors
Ford
Volkswage
n
French
car's
(Citroen,
Renault,
Peugeot)
Image
6.Causesof Opelsbad market position
7.Market shareautomotivemarket in theNetherlands
8.Organizational chart marketingdepartment Opel
9.Market shareper car segment

10.Market shareNetherlands
Opel
7.1%
Ford
7.1%
VW
12.0%
Audi
4.0%
BMW
3.7%
Renault
8.7%
Peugeot
8.0%
Toyota
6.7%
Other
Japanese
7.9%
Kia
5.4%
Others
29.3%
2012
Opel
3.7%
Ford
8.8%
VW
12.2%
Audi
5.9%
BMW
6.2%
Renault
7.7%
Peugeot
8.6%
Toyota
5.8%
Other
Japanese
6.6%
Kia
7.6%
Others
27.1%
Jan 13
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Other 19 24.2 26.4 25.9 27.7 27.6 21.9 19.3 17.6 16.1
E 5 4 3.8 3.8 3.5 3.4 3 3 2.7 2.7
D 20.3 18.6 16.8 17.2 15.7 13.8 14.6 14.1 10.3 10.9
C 23.1 22.1 22.4 22.5 18.4 19.8 21.1 22 19.9 17.9
B 22.4 22.6 20.5 20.5 22 22.2 22.8 21.3 24.2 26.8
A 10.2 8.5 10.1 10.1 12.7 13.2 16.6 20.3 25.3 25.6
0
20
40
60
80
100
M
a
r
k
e
t
%
Year
Market share (%) per car segment
Other
E
D
C
B
A

11. Alternativepropulsion
12.Vehicles sold per energy label
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
U
n
i
t
s
Alternative prupolsion sales
Earth-gas
Bio-fuel
Electric
LPG
Hybrid
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Vehicles sold per energy label
G
F
E
D
C
B
A
13.Infotainment changes
14 Automotivecolor popularity
-1997
Cassette
CD
1998-2005
Cassette
CD
Phone
2006-2010
CD
Phone
MP3
2011-
CD
Phone
MP3
Apps
'Cloud'
2013
GM
Willem Castelijns
[A CAR TREND ANALYSIS]
Dealer
Naam
Dit onderzoek gaat over de laatste trends en ontwikkelingen van opties op personen autos.
Nu heb ik opties onderverdeelt in verschillende categorien zoals infotainment, velgen, technologische opties,
kleuren etc.
INFOTAINMENT
1. Waarschijnlijk een van de belangrijkste en groter wordende categorie is infotainment zoals die
genoemd wordt binnen Opel, Audio systemen, navigatie en niet te vergeten mobiele telefoon
integratie. Wat merkt u van de veranderingen over deze groep?
2. Het nieuwe systeem op de ADAM, Intellilink is volgens Opel de start van de integratie van mobiele
telefoons in Autos, werkt dit volgens u naar behoren en zou dit in meer autos moeten komen, zo ja
welke?
3. Navigatie systemen zijn tegenwoordig ook heel erg belangrijk en dat is te zien in de verkoop ervan.
Merkt u dit ook en ziet u ook een ontwikkeling in het verschil tussen navi 600 en navi 900?
4.
WHEELS/ RIMS
5. De schoenen van de auto, de velgen. Wat verandert er in deze categorie? Menig Opels hebben
bijvoorbeeld grotere velgen dan een Mercedes slk. Is dit een goede zaak volgens u? omdat grotere
velgen misschien wel mooi overkomen, alleen vaak wel nadelig zijn voor het rijcomfort.
6. Kiezen er tegenwoordig nog veel mensen voor lichtmetaal? Of laten ze het liever bij de standaard
velgen/wieldoppen?
7. Wat zou Opel volgens u moeten doen op het gebied van velgen in de toekomst, bijvoorbeeld kleinere
velgen standaard maken, of 20 uit het assortiment halen etc?
EXTERIOR COLORS
8. Nu autos zich steeds meer ontwikkelen als transportmiddel naar lifestyle product worden ook
kleuren steeds belangrijker, zeker met een model als ADAM. Ziet u ontwikkelen in de selectie van een
kleur door de klant? En zo ja bij welke soort auto, Adam vs Insignia.
9. Bij het kiezen van een kleur, neemt de klant dan ook de soort lak mee in zijn keuze voor een kleur? Bv
Parelmoer of briljant lak.
ENGINE POWER
10. Meestal is een van de eerste keuzes van een klant welke motor hij kiest, waar wordt dan meestal naar
gekeken? Kortom: wat is de meetbaarheid van een motor. PK? Of verandert dat steeds meer naar
uitstoot per motor.
11. Merkt u het downsizen goed in uw verkoop? Met Downsizen bedoel ik dan het kiezen voor een
zuinigere maar ook minder sterke motor?
12. Wat zou Opel volgens u moeten doen qua vermogen van motoren?
FUEL TYPE
13. Momenteel is er ook veel te doen om het kiezen van een brandstof. Waar in 2007 opel alleen maar
benzine en diesel motoren verkocht, verkoopt opel nu zon 20%aan alternatieve brandstoffen zoals
Electrisch (Ampera), LPG en zelfs CNG op de Zafira tourer. Merkt u dit zelf ook aan uw verkopen?
14. Is het waar dat zakelijke klanten steeds minder voor Diesel kiezen i.v.m. de hoge BPM en de opkomst
van alternatieve brandstoffen?
15. Dat de Opel Ampera een succes is, valt niet om heen te gaan. Alleen dreigt deze in 2014 in een
nieuwe bijtellingscategorie te vallen van 7%waardoor hij zijn marktpositie kan gaan verliezen. Wat
kan Opel Nederland doen behalve het verbeteren van de co2 waardes om de markpositie van de
Ampera zo te houden?
CO2 EMISSION
De oude Managing Director van Opel Karl Howkins, de enigste Engelsman in de organisatie kent eigenlijk maar
een woord Nederlands en dat is Bijtelling. Dit is ontzettend belangrijk voor de autoverkopen omdat een groot
deel van de totale verkopen zakelijk is.
16. Opel heeft laatste jaren kritiek gekregen op het gewicht en de co2 uitstoot van hun motoren wat
zorgt voor een lagere bijtellingsklasse. Merkt u zelf op lokaal niveau dat Opel hier niet in mee kan en
dus de concurrent om de hoek het beter is gaan doen?
17. Vindt u dat de Nederlandse overheid overdrijft met het stellen van zulke strenge fiscale regelingen?
Om die helemaal afhankelijk te maken van de co2 uitstoot van een auto. Omdat het in landen zoals
Belgie of Duitsland nauwelijks gebeurt?
BEKLEDING, LEER OF STOF?
18. Bij Opel heeft ongeveer 10 %van de nieuw verkochte autos leer. Dit zie je met name op autos als
Insignia. Maar wat opvalt in deze categorie is dat van alle verkochte Mokkas 26%leer als uitrusting
heeft. Heeft u een idee waarom dit is?
19. Opel wil het oude imago van kwaliteit en premium terug krijgen, dit kan onder meer door lederen
bekleding standaard te maken op bepaalde modellen zoals Cascada of sommige edities van Insignia
zoals de Cosmo of Sport. Bent u hier een voorstander van?
TECHNISCHE OPTIES
Opel heeft behoorlijk wat technische opties in huis, zoals AFL, traffic sign detection en Opel Eye.
20. Wat is volgens u Opels innovatiefste optie?
21. Wat is bij uw klanten een populaire optie?
16. Visited dealers:
Driessen
Hugo van der Goeslaan 1a
5643 TW Eindhoven
Telefoon: 040 264 66 99
Fax: 040 258 77 20
rj.thepass@driessenautogroep.nl
Markgraaff
Industrieweg 25
5527 AJ Hapert
Telefoon: 0497 - 38 29 13
Fax: 0497 - 38 70 80
info@garagemarkgraaff.nl
Vullings
Bestseweg 47
5688 NP Oirschot
Telefoon: 0499-572325
sales@autovullings.nl
Lathouwers
Afrikalaan 2
5232 BD Hertogenbosch 's-
Telefoon: 073 - 646 34 63
Fax: 073 - 643 00 65
denbosch@lathouwers.nl
Van Mill
Mijlweg 31
3316 BE Dordrecht
Telefoon: 078 - 613 21 55
Fax: 078 - 613 26 32
Sales-dordrecht@vanmill.nl

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