Buzz For Volkswagen And The New Beetle example essay topic

Executive Summary: The reign of Hitler often introduces a bagful of evil; however his ideas boiled down to revolutionizing Germany and it unstable economy. Hitler was the marketing genius of introducing the Beetle to the Germans. He considered the car the "people's car", translated to Volkswagen. People related to the theme and the car became an instant hit.

Similarly, when the car was introduced to America, people did not know of its history but fell in love with its quality and furthermore the inexpensiveness. Over time, the Japanese entered the market producing quality cars for prices cheaper than both Volkswagen and American competitors. Volkswagen, as a whole fell apart during this period until it revived the Beetle. Beetle: Old to New Inside the cell-room consisted cracking-plastered walls, a flat bed and a barred window that hinted just enough moonlight to assemble the creation that would affect masses of the world. Although the light of the moon might have been limited, the light bulb in his mind was almost as bright as he was. Sometime, when he got bored, he cupped his hand against the outer wall, pressed his ear hard against the cup to hear the cries of his people.

He heard people crying from hunger, unemployment and instability. He knew one-day freedom would come and he will provide a revolution that would make millions turn their tears to cheers. His fascination for art became his vehicle for the documentation of his visions. At first, he drew 4 wheels.

Next he shaded in the headlights. Then after looking up at the moon for hints, he spotted a bug crawling up the wall and decided his vision would take the shape of the beetle. (Interesting Facts... ) After taking power of Germany as the Chancellor in 1933, Hitler took this vision and began his revolution. With the help of famous car maker, Ferdinand Porsche, Hitler promoted this invention as the "people's car", or as it is said in German, "Volkswagen". He claimed that this idea was simple and honest, and that it would improve the life of Germany and its people by offering solutions to unemployment and the dying economy.

After Porsche produced several prototypes, in 1938 the first roll out of the Beetle was in introduced. With Hitler in power, stability seemed no longer an issue (although the ideals of Nazism were immoral). The Beetle radically helped the economy by creating jobs in both the car building industry and the road construction industry. The car fit the needs of most families as it was affordable than most other cars in the market, and it fit 2 adults and 3 children respectably. Distractions from World War II only helped the production of the Beetle. Several sanctions were placed against Germany post the world war.

Families needed special permits to purchase cars, and in Germany, the sale of the Beetle (and other cars) ultimately dropped. However, this opened a window of opportunity to market the car in foreign markets. The largest market for car consumers at the time was America, the Mecca of automobile making and consuming. The introduction of the Beetle in America became an instant hit.

It offered an inexpensive solution to transportation. The market strategy couldn't have been any more perfect as in Germany; people in America were also suffering from an economic depression (one that lagged on from the 1920s). Other ideas of Hilter seemed almost sinful at the time, but with the Beetle, Hilter was giving people what they wanted; he knew his audience. By 1950, the Beetle was the leading imported car in America. The car represented a very good value for the consumer's money (class handout).

In 1954, the Beetle offered a 4-speed transmission, maximum speed up to 67 MPH and a great sense of quality. In the 1980's, the Japanese entered the automobile industry offering cars for an incredible low price; a price that competed directly at the sales of the Beetle. Japanese cars were as small as the Beetle, but offered more incentives at a similar price. The Japanese out-sold the Beetle and its American competitors by strategically producing its product different.

They followed such principles as Just-in-Time or Kaizen principles that identified problems in production before the occurred thus eliminated unsought of expenses. They streamlined outsourced parts of the car into the production. The entrance of the Japanese market forced Volkswagen to drop the Beetle from production on August 12, 1985. In 1993, Volkswagen recorded a $1.1 billion loss. The company was plagued by uneven quality, uninspired styling and over employment ("One Hit Wonder").

Volkswagen had always targeted the working class, hence the name "people's car". Volkswagen needed a new image and move up the brand market. Chairman Ferdinand Piech launched an aggressive product marketing campaign to introduce a 12-cylinder Super Passat that was price at about $85,000 ("One Hit Wonder"). Sport enthusiast caught on to the new Passat, but it was no match for lower priced American and Japanese cars.

To lower cost, Piech decided to implement a cost-cutting program, which entailed the firing of senior managers, reducing manufacturing platforms, and forming production teams and circles to encourage the flow of ideas from the bottom up. However, sales in the U.S. were unaffected by these actions as only 49,000 Volkswagen were sold that year ("One Hit Wonder"). In 1991, Volkswagen had decided to close down its U.S. based operations. In the meantime, the employees of this base evaluated ideas on reviving the base, claiming there was room for improvement.

They needed to re-revolutionize Volkswagen in America again. The first time around, Volkswagen had introduced the Beetle; a small, economic, good quality car that served the needs of the average family. So why not re-introduce the Beetle? Only this time, offer heat, A / C, power steering and other features most cars come with today. Initially, the revival of the Beetle movement was a hard sell to the Volkswagen headquarters in Germany. Management did not want to bring the model back as it had ties with principles of Hitler.

At this time, Volkswagen had heavy sales of it Golf model in Europe and decided that's where it wanted to keep its focus. American designers reconfigured their prototypes so that the Beetle body can utilitize the Golf chassis, thus reusing the production facilities already in place for the Golf. In 1994, management finally consented to the idea and scheduled production. Shortly after this announcement, Volkswagen hired Doyle Dane and Bernbach (DDB), a "highly creative" marketing agency to help advertise the new Beetle.

The agency launched a new theme, "On the road of life there are passengers and there are drivers. Drivers wanted". Along with this theme, they advertised the new Beetle as "the Lemon,"Ugly" etc; anything to get consumers into a Volkswagen dealership. Volkswagen also utilized the internet, by offering sales on certain cars exclusively through the internet. The buzz for Volkswagen and the new Beetle was so strong, Volkswagen sales in 1998 grew by 61% and over 200,000 cars were sold that year.

Conclusion: Volkswagen, and more specifically the Beetle has always been the "people's car". Hitler couldn't have drawn a better vision to help the German economy and revive employment hopes for his people. World War II helped the introduction of the Beetle in foreign markets, most importantly in America. Over time, it became the number one selling car as it also solved the financial needs of the American people. Not much improvement was made to the Beetle over a number of years, and because of this Volkswagen was not ready for competition. After falling flat after a couple years, management had threatened to shut down the American-based plant, and focus on their marquee model, the Golf in Europe.

In lieu of losing their jobs, American employees created prototypes of a new Beetle that provided the American population with a "buzz-wordy" new car. With the help of the DDB marketing agency, Volkswagen was back in the forefront of selling cars in America.

Bibliography

"Volkswagen Bug / Cabriolet history... and interesting facts", web "Volkswagen's New Beetle: One Hit Wonder?" , web NYU Stern. "Volkswagon's New Beetle", Class Handout.