Competitive Strategies Case Study

Japanese Luxury Cars overtake American Cars in the US Market

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Abstract:
In the US luxury car market, two Japanese automakers, Toyota and Honda made a mark for themselves and outperformed luxury cars made indigenously by American automakers like General Motors and Ford. The growing popularity of Japanese cars in the US was evident by its high sales figures. In 2005, particularly, Lexus (Toyota) sold 150,000 units, which was more than the sales of any other luxury cars in the US. Acura (Honda) was also doing fine in the US market. These Japanese luxury cars were upsetting American automakers. How had the Japanese luxury carmakers been able to supersede US luxury cars on their home ground?

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the competitive scenario in the US luxury car market
• To analyse critical success factors for Japanese luxury car manufacturers in the US soil
• To assess the potential challenges to the Japanese automakers in the US luxury car market.

Keywords : US Luxury Car Market; Luxury Cars; General Motors and Ford; Japanese Automakers; Toyota; Honda; Nissan and BMW; Mean Selling Price (MSP); Competitive Strategies Case Study; Quality Improvement; Pricing Strategy; Fuel Efficiency; Lexus, Acura; Eight-Speed Transmission; European competitors

Contents : 
What makes a luxury car?
Luxury Car Market in the US
Japanese Steps in US Soil
Performance of Lexus and Acura
Luxury Cars Sales in the US
The Reasons Behind Japanese Success
Challenges for Japanese Automakers
Developments in the U.S Market
Lexus - Developments in the U.S Market