Can I have some background on goals of automative industry?

Hi Sethu,

The main player in the automotive industry are a limited number of Groups which own all the brands you may have heard of (e.g. VW, Audi, Jaguar, etc). Most of the groups use different brands to penetrate different markets in different geographies (e.g. family cars in the US, sport cars in europe...). 

Behind these groups there is a multitude of OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) which produces the main cars components (e.g. ABS, brakes, etc...)

At the moment automation players are increasing their effort to reduce the production cost through:

- Rationalization of their product portfolio (i.e. standardization of cars components to generate sinergies among different models)

- Reduction of stored part volumes through the development of a "justy in time" supply chain

- Improvement of OEM purchasing strategies through demand aggregation and imrpovement of negotiation techinque 

In addition to that there is a long lasting run for innovation on few main topics (e.g. electric cars, autonomous cars, etc). Yet no dominant design has been defined on any of these topics.

Hope this may help,

In case you have any doubt please don't hesitate to contact me,

Thanks,

Ale

Hi Sethu,
the biggest goal of automotive players is gaining market share in the market of electric vehicles,  autonomous vehicles, and smart mobility. This required large investments, therefore the common strategy is merging/making partnerships with competitors (e.g. FCA + PSA) or with tech players (e.g. Ford - Lyft).

Best,
Antonello

Hello!

Agree on the goals Antonello outlined about gaining market size. 

However, don´t get crazy trying to have some background goals about all industries, since (1) it´s a big invesment of time with little ROI and (2) it´s not going to be game-changing what-so-ever when it comes to the interviews. 

Each case is self-contained and has all the info needed to crack it, without the need of having any pre-knowledge about the industry. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hello Sethu,

I agree with Antonello and Alessandro. However, don't focus too much on the goals of a specific industry. Once that interviewer will present the case, you are allowed to ask for full details on targets and goals. 
Unless you are not an experienced hire that is applying for this specific practice, I would focus more on general issues.

Best,
Luca