Truck industry is suffering badly - but there will also be global winners!
With up to 60% sales down, the commercial vehicle industry is suffering badly - but there will also be global winners.
When a market of global significance departs from a long-standing pattern of healthy growth, it is time to ask some searching questions. Is it "just" the economic downturn that has put the brake on the truck industry? Or are there other, more fundamental factors at work? Where is the market heading? Are key players ready for the challenges and changes ahead? And if not, how can they prepare themselves for a future that, in many ways, has never seemed so uncertain?
These are the vital issues addressed in the new study "Truck industry 2020: The future is global". Drawing on in-depth research and personal interviews with many top executives in the industry, commercial vehicle experts Norbert Dressler und Jochen Gleisberg examine the current changes in the industry landscape, explore the influences that are driving them and look at where the industry is likely to be in 2020. Based on interviews with more than 50 top executives from truck OEMs and suppliers serving key markets in all the world's major truck regions, they also ask what manufacturers should and must do now to prepare themselves for the challenges of tomorrow.
The truck market as a whole is globalizing rapidly; and this statement applies not only to OEMs, but also to customers. The key criteria that influence purchase decisions are becoming more and more alike in different regions. As a result, OEMs can develop a single, common concept to serve the various segments across different regions. This approach generates additional potential for globalization in the truest sense of the word.
The key question for OEMs then is how best to exploit their own strengths and existing market opportunities, weigh up the relevant risks and benefits, avoid potential pitfalls, and so turn globalization to their own advantage. "We examine the obvious differences that exist between the triad and emerging markets on the one hand, and between the world's premium, budget and low-cost segments on the other", says Norbert Dressler. "In doing so, we find that OEMs moving in either direction must take account of these differences and their gradual convergence across segments in order to successfully implement their globalization strategies."
As premium triad OEMs "downgrade" their offerings to penetrate the budget and perhaps even low-cost segments in developing countries, emerging market OEMs are seeking the knowledge and technology they need to move into the budget and premium segments. As Jochen Gleisberg point out, the study identifies "three winning strategies for each type of OEM, but also outlines the very real risks that OEMs must bear in mind as they seek to apply the strategies we propose."
When a market of global significance departs from a long-standing pattern of healthy growth, it is time to ask some searching questions. Is it "just" the economic downturn that has put the brake on the truck industry? Or are there other, more fundamental factors at work? Where is the market heading? Are key players ready for the challenges and changes ahead? And if not, how can they prepare themselves for a future that, in many ways, has never seemed so uncertain?
These are the vital issues addressed in the new study "Truck industry 2020: The future is global". Drawing on in-depth research and personal interviews with many top executives in the industry, commercial vehicle experts Norbert Dressler und Jochen Gleisberg examine the current changes in the industry landscape, explore the influences that are driving them and look at where the industry is likely to be in 2020. Based on interviews with more than 50 top executives from truck OEMs and suppliers serving key markets in all the world's major truck regions, they also ask what manufacturers should and must do now to prepare themselves for the challenges of tomorrow.
The truck market as a whole is globalizing rapidly; and this statement applies not only to OEMs, but also to customers. The key criteria that influence purchase decisions are becoming more and more alike in different regions. As a result, OEMs can develop a single, common concept to serve the various segments across different regions. This approach generates additional potential for globalization in the truest sense of the word.
The key question for OEMs then is how best to exploit their own strengths and existing market opportunities, weigh up the relevant risks and benefits, avoid potential pitfalls, and so turn globalization to their own advantage. "We examine the obvious differences that exist between the triad and emerging markets on the one hand, and between the world's premium, budget and low-cost segments on the other", says Norbert Dressler. "In doing so, we find that OEMs moving in either direction must take account of these differences and their gradual convergence across segments in order to successfully implement their globalization strategies."
As premium triad OEMs "downgrade" their offerings to penetrate the budget and perhaps even low-cost segments in developing countries, emerging market OEMs are seeking the knowledge and technology they need to move into the budget and premium segments. As Jochen Gleisberg point out, the study identifies "three winning strategies for each type of OEM, but also outlines the very real risks that OEMs must bear in mind as they seek to apply the strategies we propose."
