Impact Of Covid-19 On The Marketing And Sales Of Volkswagen Case Study

Case Study For Impact Of Covid-19 On The Marketing And Sales Of Volkswagen

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

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Complexities in the business world had increased to a great extent and because of this the firm are facing issues while operating appropriately. While operating in the business environment, the organisations need to focus on different factors of external and internal factors that can affect the sales, marketing practices, profitability, and position in the marketplace (Watson IV, et. al. 2018). The recent event of Covid-19 pandemic had affected all the businesses operating in the diverse industries. This global pandemic is also a significant factor that is having a major negative impact on the businesses. With the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the sales of many companies are highly affected (Nayak, et. al. 2021). Due to this, the businesses are working effectively on their marketing strategies that can help them in managing the adverse effect of pandemic and leading the firm towards success. In the present research, the researcher would focus on explaining the problem faced by the firm related to their sales and marketing because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This dissertation would be focusing on explaining that how the automobile sector is affected due to the covid-19 pandemic situation. This would explain about impact of the current pandemic situation on the business operation and how this is affecting the sales and marketing. In this report, the case of Volkswagen would be considered that is a German motor vehicle manufacturing company (Wuest, et. al.2020). The firm is offering wide range of cars and other automobiles to their customers across the globe as they are operating in different nations. In the pandemic situation and lockdown, the automobile sector is one of the worst hit sections. Volkswagen had also experienced the decline in their sales at the global level due to the pandemic situation.

Background

Operating in the international business environment is becoming complex since sales are getting fierce. Many companies now can operate from different locations, leading to global expansion but putting pressure on the sales team to achieve the targets. Different factors of internal and external business world such as political factors, legal factors or environmental factors etc. can affect the business operations significantly. This research study will pay attention on analysing that how the pandemic is affecting the sales and marketing of the automobile firms (KMand KG, 2021). For this the case of Volkswagen would be considered which is experiencing the decrease in their sales as a negative impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the situation of lockdown at majority of the nations across the world. The case company had faced the decrease of around 15% in their overall sales in 2020 as a result of the pandemic situation.

Automobile sector is experiencing a decline in the sales and this is affecting all the firms to a greater extent. Due to the declining sales the organisations are focusing on bringing changes in their marketing strategies that would help them in managing their sales in and reducing the impact on this pandemic. The companies are looking forward to making changes in their marketing practices in their post covid situation so that they are attract the customers effectively. In this study the report will include both primary and secondary data. Detailed research would be conducted so that the research topic can be explained in detail.

Aim and Objectives

Aim

The research aims at explaining the impact of Covid-19 on sales and marketing of Volkswagen.

Objectives

• Exploring the difficulties faced by the automobile sector due to the covid-19 pandemic.
• Evaluating the impact of Covid-19 on the sales of Volkswagen
• Analysing that how the firms had changed the marketing strategies due to the pandemic.
• What strategies have in line by Volkswagen for managing the negative impact of Covid-19 and recovering from it?

Rationale of the study

Automobile sector is included in one of the worst hit industry due to the covid 19 pandemic. Understanding the impact of the pandemic on the sales of the company is essential for the businesses. In this dissertation the researcher is discussing the impact of covid-19 on marketing and sales of the firms operating at automobile sector. This topic is selected because sales and marketing are important factors of international marketing management. Due to pandemic the business operations are highly affected due to the trade restrictions and the situation of lockdowns. Exploring this topic is important as this would help the automobile firms in understanding the impact of the pandemic and developing better strategies for dealing with this issue in an appropriate manner.

Significance of the study

This study is having a major significance for the entire automobile sector because it will help them in understanding negative impactof the pandemic situation on their businesses. This dissertation would focus on explaining all the different factors of business operations that are affected due to the pandemic situation. This research will help the car manufacturers and automobile firms in understanding that how the covid-19 is affecting them and what would be its long-term impact. This study would help them in exploring the different changes made by the case company in their marketing strategies for improving their sales and managing the reduces sales in an appropriate manner. In this situation it is crucial for the businesses to develop strategies for solving the issue of sales down due to the pandemic. Also,the firms need to manage their marketing practices and sales in this pandemic situation and can recover from the negative impact of it on the firms. Thus, it can be said that this research study is having greater significance for all the stakeholders that includes the readers, the organisation, the industry, and the researcher itself as it would expand their knowledge related to it.

Structure of the report

This research study would have different chapters/sections that will discuss diverse elements. The first chapter would be the introduction that will provide an overview of the impact of Covid-19 on the sales and marketing of the case company Volkswagen. Along with this the chapter also includes the different sub-sections such as rationale, significance and structure of the report which would introduce the chosen issue efficiently. The second chapter will be the literature review that will include diverse literature sources that will help the researcher in discussing the different concepts related to the study in detail. Methodology will be the third chapter that focuses on explaining the methodology and the diverse tools and techniques selected by the researcher for conducting the research study and explaining the chosen issue in detail. The next section would be the results and finding which would include the interpretation of the results. The first chapter would be the data analysis in which the collected data would be analysed. Conclusion would be the second last chapter that will conclude the study with the overall outcomes and the last chapter would be the References.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Sales management in international businesses during the pandemic

According to Ingram et. al. (2019) the international firms needs to manage different factors related to sales, marketing and business operations that can help them in operating in an effective manner. The study had mentioned that sales management is also a one of the most important tasks for the businesses. When the firm is operating at international level, it is important to focus on managing the factors associated with international business management that can affect the sales. If the organisation focuses on managing all the different factors affecting sales efficiently, then it would help them in operating efficiently.

Vasilev and Kehayova-Stoycheva (2019) had stated that sales management is referred as the practice of developing the sales force and coordinating the sales operations. Along with this, the study had mentioned that in the pandemic situation it is crucial to develop an effective sales management strategy that can help them in managing their sales in this situation properly. In support to this, Hinson et.al (2018) had defined that sales management is the process of hiring, training, and motivating the staff and coordinating all the sales operations properly so that it can help the organisation in generating higher revenue and leading the firm towards success.

Islamgaleyev and Uruzbayeva (2018) had mentioned that sales management is an important business operation for all the firms operating at both international and national level. The study had mentioned that the sales management department sector of the firm is responsible for analysing, planning, developing strategy, implementing, and making effective decisions for managing the proper functioning and managing the sales appropriately.

Malek et. al. (2018) had mentioned that businesses need to focus on managing all the different factors in an appropriate manner that is affecting the sales. The report had stated that the factors such as product range, marketing strategy, financial resources, suppliers, and technological advancement are some of the important factors that affect the business operations and sales. It can be said that seller needs to focus on all the different factors properly and should manage the business operations effectively that are influencing the sales and profitability of the firm.

In support to this Gerybadze and Wiesenauer (2018) had mentioned that when the firm are operating at international level then it is important for them to focus on their marketing strategy because it is having a major impact on the sales. The sales and profitability of the firm are depended on the marketing strategy so it is crucial for the businesses to ensure that they should have better marketing strategies. Schmid (2021) had mentioned that the sales and the promotional strategy also play a major role in the sales of the firm. Companies invest better capital in offering different discounts and offers to their customers. In the present pandemic situation, firms need to focus on their promotional strategies after the post pandemic era so that they can manage their sales effectively.

Fraccastoro et. al. (2021) had mentioned that the international firms need to focus on having an effective marketing strategy when while operating in the international market. The marketing strategies of the company enable them in attracting and retaining the customers efficiently and this also affect their overall sales. In support to this Fornari (2018) had stated the MNCs are using both the online and offline marketing strategies and invest a better capital in attracting the customers. This helps them in increasing their sales by having large number of customers and creating an attractive customer base in the foreign nations.

Pyanikova et. al. (2018) had conducting a research on analysing the relationship between sales of the company and their marketing strategy. In this study, the researcher had found that sales are affected by the marketing strategy of the company because that would help them in attracting the customers. In conclusion the researcher had explained that firms need to focus on investing capital on their marketing strategies when they are operating at the global level.

Corbo? et. al.(2019) had mentioned that the external and internal factors of the business environment are also having a major impact on the sales. Competition in industry is also an important factor that affects the sales of the company to a greater extent. Along with this, there are political, legal, and economic factors are having a major impact on the sales of the company. Businesses need to focus on all these factors and need to manage them in an appropriate manner so that they would not affect the firm negatively.

CHAPTER 3: REFERENCES

Corbo?, R.A., Popescu, R.I. and Bunea, O.I., 2019. The influence of the sales management style on the company's competitiveness. Calitatea, 20(S2), pp.197-201.

Fraccastoro, S., Gabrielsson, M. and Pullins, E.B., 2021. The integrated use of social media, digital, and traditional communication tools in the B2B sales process of international SMEs. International Business Review, 30(4), p.101776.

Gerybadze, A. and Wiesenauer, S., 2018. The international sales accelerator: A project management tool for improving sales performance in foreign target markets (No. 10-2018). Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences.

Hinson, R.E., Adeola, O. and Amartey, A.F.O., 2018. Sales Management: A Primer for Frontier Markets. IAP.

Ingram, T.N., LaForge, R.W., Avila, R.A., Schwepker, C.H. and Williams, M.R., 2019. Sales management: Analysis and decision making. Routledge.

Islamgaleyev, A.H. and Uruzbayeva, N.A., 2018. Using a customer-oriented approach in sales management in the metal trading market of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

KM, K.R. and KG, N.K., 2021. Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic in the Automobile Industry: A Case Study. International Journal of Case Studies in Business, IT and Education (IJCSBE), 5(1), pp.36-49.

Malek, S.L., Sarin, S. and Jaworski, B.J., 2018. Sales management control systems: review, synthesis, and directions for future exploration. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 38(1), pp.30-55.

Nayak, J., Mishra, M., Naik, B., Swapnarekha, H., Cengiz, K. and Shanmuganathan, V., 2021. An impact study of COVID?19 on six different industries: Automobile, energy and power, agriculture, education, travel and tourism and consumer electronics. Expert Systems.

Pyanikova, E.A., Kovaleva, A.E. and Zaikina, M.A., 2018. Sales Management Mechanism and Methodologies for Solving the Problems of Special-Purpose Product Management and Sales. In Emerging Issues in the Global Economy (pp. 333-340). Springer, Cham.

Schmid, C., 2021. Digital Healthcare Applications: Marketing, Sales, and Communication. Digitalization in Healthcare: Implementing Innovation and Artificial Intelligence, pp.147-161.

Vasilev, J. and Kehayova-Stoycheva, M., 2019. Sales Management by Providing Mobile Access to a Desktop Enterprise Resource Planning System. TEM Journal, 8(4), p.1107.

Watson IV, G.F., Weaven, S., Perkins, H., Sardana, D. and Palmatier, R.W., 2018. International market entry strategies: Relational, digital, and hybrid approaches. Journal of International Marketing Assignment, 26(1), pp.30-60.

Welch, J., 2019. The Volkswagen recovery: leaving scandal in the dust. Journal of Business Strategy.

Wuest, T., Kusiak, A., Dai, T. and Tayur, S.R., 2020. Impact of COVID-19 on manufacturing and supply networks—The case for AI-inspired digital transformation. Available at SSRN 3593540.