Assignment 3 - Mercedes Benz

The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. The first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz's and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company.^[1] Mercedes-Benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations that later became common in other vehicles.^[2] Mercedes-Benz is one of the most well-known and established automotive brands in the world, and is also the world's oldest automotive brand still in existence today. John Blanchard is president and CEO of Mercedes Benz.

Mercedes Benz main products are obviously automobiles. They manufacture sedans, coupes, sports cars and super cars. They also manufacture semis and other industrial automobiles.
Target Market:
Mercedes Benz carries different target markets for each vehicle. A similarity between all of them are those consumers who look for a quality vehicle and who are willing to pay a premium price as such.

Mercedes dealerships carry 14 different "classes" or models with the lowest end and most affordable being the B class, starting at $29,900:

Mercedes, of course, also carries sports cars that well exceed the 100 000 dollar mark as well:

(http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/content/canada/mpc/mpc_canada_website/en/home_mpc/passengercars.flash.skipintro.html)

Fixed Costs:

Factory, labour, materials

Long run costs:

New factories

2010 Profits:

The division's full-year earnings before interest and taxes will be "at the upper end" of its forecast of between 2.5 billion euros and 3 billion euros, Daimler also said. In the first quarter, Mercedes-Benz Cars posted Ebit of 806 million euros. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/daimlers-mercedes-benz-unit-sees-higher-earnings-2010-05-28)

Strongest Competitors:

BMW, Porsche, (Honda) Acura, (Nissan)Infiniti, (Toyota) Lexus

Mercedes Competitive Advantage:

Oldest running car manufacturer in history, pioneer in automobile innovative technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes Strengths:

Ability to build brand loyalty for over a century and maintain it's reputation for exceptionally engineered vehicles. Able to adapt to a changing market and keep one step ahead of it's competitors.

Mercedes Weakness:

Overly priced by some people's standards, and can be a deterrent because of this.

Summary:

Mercedes Benz continues to be one of the world's most recognizable and sought after vehicles.