Table of Contents

Introduction2

Discussion2

Overview of American Automotive Industry2

Strategies and Tactics of Toyota and Nissan4

Critical Analysis for Toyota4

Marketing4

Operations5

Product Quality and Product Differentiation5

Distinctive Competencies, Order Qualifiers and Orders Winners for Toyota6

Critical Analysis for Nissan7

Marketing7

Operations8

Product Quality and Product Differentiation8

Distinctive competencies, order qualifiers and orders winners for Nissan9

Customer Satisfaction Issues10

Issues and Emerging Trends of Overall Automotive Industry10

Concluding Remarks11

Evaluation of Results Achieved and Recovering Strategies for Future12

Works Cited14

Automotive Industry

Introduction

This essay seeks to explore the automotive industry of the United States, with special emphasis on two distinct automakers: Toyota and Nissan. The focus of the essay will be on the strategies and tactics adopted by these two automakers in order to develop a convincing case for their future. The essay will discuss their competencies, order qualifying factors and orders winner factors while also elaborating upon the key elements of their marketing and issues in customer satisfaction.

The reason why we chose to explore the strategies and tactics of Toyota and Nissan is because we believe these two automakers have made their mark in the industry and have emerged as strong, global players in today's marketplace. Their products speak for themselves, based on their cost-efficiency, quality and overall performance.

Discussion

Overview of American Automotive Industry

Automotive industry is a vital component of the American economy, generating a great deal of revenues for the country. The American automotive manufacturing industry generated total revenue of $203.6 billion in 2010, representing a compound annual rate of change (CARC) of -7.7% between 2006 and 2010. Industry production volumes decreased with a CARC of -8.2% between 2006 and 2010, to reach a total of 8,329.5 thousand units in 2010 (Gereffi, Kaplinsky, pp. 1-24). American automotive industry has a special place in the international division of labour. A variety of industry dynamics, availability of various raw materials and skilled labour, highly developed scientific and research base has allowed American industry to ensure the mass production of a diverse series of automotive products and production of unique instruments and equipments for domestic as well as global markets.

The largest sector of the transport machinery of the U.S. is the automotive industry. Cars are the main vehicle for millions of Americans, and road transportation plays an important role in the overall locomotive structure of the country. In the manufacturing of American automobiles, their marketing and commercial operations employ about 20 million people or one in six Americans work directly or indirectly in the automotive industry. The American automotive industry utilizes most of the fleet of machines and forging equipments (Held, Goldblatt, Perraton, pp. 511-525).

Production of cars in the United States is undertaken at a high level, but the industry is highly exposed to market fluctuations and downturns that directly affect both the automotive and related industries for example metallurgical, chemical and rubber industry, and machine tools etc., causing under-load production capacities and unemployment. The American automobile market is facing increased competition from foreign, medium-and small-displacement cars, supplied mainly by Japan and Germany. Successful competition of these machines contributed to the energy crisis and the sharp rise in ...