Porsche Case Study (Case Study Sample)

Case Study Summary: Porsche
Insert Name
Institution
Instructor
Date
Porsche Case Summary
Porsche is one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of sports cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Porsche is a majority shareholder in the Volkswagen automotive group. The range of cars offered by the company include Cayman, 911, Panamera, and Boxster. The company primarily operates in Western Europe, the US, China, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and other parts of the world (Archer, et. Al., 2012). The effects of the financial crisis led Volkswagen group to acquire 100% shares in Porsche. The company had been operating independently for over 100 years. Porsche succumbed to a reverse takeover by the Volkswagen Auto Group in 2010. The VW takeover benefitted from Porsches executive expertise in the management of other VW brands. VW controls renowned auto brands such as Bugatti, Audi, Lamborghini, VW, Skoda, Scania, Porsche, and SEAT (Archer, et. Al., 2012).
Ferdinand Porsche laid the foundations of Porsche in 1931 after founding the Porsche Engineering Office in Stuttgart (Archer, et. Al., 2012). He received the order for the design and construction of a German Volkswagen in 1934. However, the first Porsche was unveiled in 1900. Ferdinand was not only an engineer but also a competent racecar driver. Porsche’s first sports car was introduced in 1948. Over the years, Porsche made significant developments including the introductions of the Porsche 924 in 1975, the Porsche 956 in 1982, the Boxster in 1993, Porsche 911 Carrera, and Porsche 959 in 1995 (Archer, et. Al., 2012). The Porsche Cayenne and Porsche 911 GT3 were introduced in later years (Smith, 2013).
Porsche entered into partnership with new companies such as Michelin and Miseschke Hofmann und Partner (MHP). Such partnerships enabled Porsche to expand to new markets. The expansion into new markets enabled the company to increase competition with companies within the VW brand and others like Mercedes Benz, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Maserati among others. By 2007, Porsche had increased its stake in VW to 31% and expanded the control to 35.14% a year later. By 2009, Porsche controlled 50.76% of all ordinary voting shares in VW. Meanwhile, attempts to takeover VW led to lawsuits and losses to Porsche (Archer, et. Al., 2012). By 2012, VW had purchased the stake in Porsche making VW the owner of Porsche’s business operations.
Competitive environment
Porsche’s top competitors include BMW, Mercedes Benz, Ford, Hyundai, GM, and among other leading automotive firms. Porsche operates in a competitive industry characterized by increased competition, high investment costs, creativity, innovation, and costly research and development (Ahmad & Whitfield, 2012). The firms in the automotive industry face stringent rules and regulations on safety and quality standards that vary depending on the region. International exposure among automotive companies is high and firms needs increased collaborations to improve expansions to new markets. The Americas and Asia forms a major market for most auto manufacturers.
Porsche’s competitive behaviour and rivalry is founded upon several tenets. The first tenet is the high product quality (Archer, et. Al., 2012). Most sports...