Reshaping of premium segment in global automotive market

• Published in: Marketing (Beograd) Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 236 - 246
• Main Authors: Marković, Dušan, Madić, Vladan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Srpsko udruženje za marketing 2021
• Subjects: automotive industry; digitalization; disruptiv innovations; premium segment
• ISSN: 0354-3471; 2334-8364
• DOI: 10.5937/mkng2104236M

Automotive industry has faced frequent and radical changes of business environment during 21st century. Great recession, disruptive innovations, rise of emerging markets competitors, and Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in new customer preferences and constrains in managing supply chain. These factors significantly have affected business operations in automotive premium segment. Traditional competencies are not sufficient to gain and sustain competitive advantage in the market segment. The paper analyzes: trends in premium automotive segments and restructuring of business models, competitive and marketing strategies in the market segment. Technological innovations and digitalization have changed customer perception of premium vehicles. To sustain market position in unpredictable business environment and deal with these factors the competitors have to be agile and flexible. Automotive companies in premium segment have to deal with increasingly complex products, to achieve business efficiency. At the same time the companies have to differentiate their products in the new way, aiming to compete traditional competitors and new comers. To achieve these opposite goals, the companies develop new technological processes, which result in lower operating costs, and integrate hardware, software and service, to create the most valuable premium packet for customers in the segment.