German Automobile Industry Background Essay

The automobile industry in Germany was born on in the earlier 1886 when the first â€Å"vehicle powered by a gas engine† was assembled and registered. 125 years has passed, and with it the industry has acquired an incredible growth and global recognition. The industry now is one of the most powerful and reliable of the world that actually competes â€Å"vis a vis† with the one of the most dominant car industries of the world: Asian automobile industry. The German automobile industry is one of the stronger and successful industries in the world, it is the fourth global manufacturer in terms of volume (numbers of cars assembled) after China, United States and Japan. In fact, German automobile industry is responsible for of the manufacturing of 17% of the total global car production. Furthermore, it represents the main sector of Germany’s economy (main driver of growth) as well as the largest automotive market in the whole European continent. One of the key factors of success of this industry has been the large budgets invested in automotive development and research, which has allowed them to manufacture and offer vehicles with latest technology that in most of the cases fits better with consumer insights; in other words, an evolutionary process of application of innovation and cutting-edge technology has lead into one of the main industries in Germany. A good example of this fact is the development of environmental friendly vehicles, which makes â€Å"Germany the most innovative auto nation in the world†. German cars are known globally due to its attributes in terms of comfort, luxury, security, efficiency, reliability, design and image. In addition, the industry counts with one of the higher qualified labor forces, as well as modern infrastructures and research facilities. The industry actually employ 747,600 people just within Germany, and this rate is increasing sharply over the years. The result, Europe’s largest automobile market: about 5. 4 million passenger cars manufactured in 2012; 46 automobile assembly and engine production plants with a capacity over one third of the total automobile production in Europe. Giving the importance of German automobile industry is not a surprise to find some of the most influent companies of the world setting their headquarters and principal assembly plants in the country. The market is dominated by Audi, BMW, Ford Germany, Mercedes Benz, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen. All these companies have a common characteristic: global demand. Therefore, even when domestic economy is huge –including Germany and the European Union- the industry growth is predominantly due to the exports of vehicles to other countries. Also, as well as the manufacturing of passenger cars, the industry in comprised in an important proportion by the manufacturing and trade of auto parts. The latest reports indicate that last January was a historic month for German automotive industry in which they experienced a sharp increase in demand due to past few years’ trends that have been defining market behavior. Audi and Mercedes Benz sold more cars around the world in January than any corresponding month in the past. The Volkswagen subsidiary Audi sold 117,500 cars, the higher quantity of monthly sales in its history. Also, it increased the worldwide distribution by 16% the same month. The trend was indicating in the past years a significant growth in trade especially with the Asian market, last January the trend was confirmed. Even though the sales increase in all regions, in China the increase was of 38. 5%. Giving this, is possible to identify the markets that represent the clusters of largest demands of German cars as: Asia (mainly China), US and Europe. Bibliography Bibliography IANS. (2013, 02 13). German Cars in Global Demand. Retrieved from Zeebiz. com: http://zeenews. india.com/business/automobiles/auto-news/german-cars-audi-mercedes-benz-in-global-demand_69691. html Invest, G. T. (n. d. ). Automotive Industry. Retrieved from Germany Trade and Invest : http://www. gtai. de/GTAI/Navigation/EN/Invest/Industries/Logistics-mobility/automotive. html Invest, G. T. (n. d. ). The Automotive Industry in Germany. Retrieved from Ixpos. de: http://www. ixpos. de/IXPOS/Content/EN/Your-business-in-germany/_SharedDocs/Downloads/automotive-industry-in-germany. pdf.