GM and VW in the best position to dominate the fastest growing car markets

According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, General Motors and Volkswagen are the best positioned car manufacturers in the largest and fastest-growing emerging markets at a time when auto sales in those countries could grow more than 40 percent by 2014.

There were an estimated 19 million car sales on a combined basis in China, Brazil, India and Russia in 2009, accounting for 30 percent of the estimated 62 million units sold globally last year, the study said.

Car sales in those four countries would grow between 4 million and 8 million units in the next five years to reach up to 27 million units in 2014, when global car sales are projected to be at 78 to 87 million units.
The four largest and fastest growing emerging markets will challenge car makers strategies over the past decade to push for global vehicle platforms because each country has different needs, according to the study.

“Auto companies cannot succeed in these markets by offering one-size-fits-all products, processes, or approaches,” said Nikolaus Lang, the study’s author.

China, which overtook the US as the world’s biggest market in 2009, will account for more than 60 percent of the expected sales volume in the countries, the study said.

GM and VW are the biggest players in China’s car market, where sales jumped 48 percent last year due in part to government incentives and sales tax cuts. That has provided some rare positive news for a battered industry.

“They (GM and VW) really went there and established local operations,” Lang said.

He said latecomers would find it more challenging than before to make a profit in the increasingly competitive market.

Source: Automotive News