The competitive challenges in the automotive industry and how was BMW affected by it? The case was written by PROF Stefen Thomke and research associate Ashoke Nimgade during the late 1990’s. Hence we shall concentrate on the changes that occurred in the automotive industry during this period, the kind of competitive challenges it created and the effect it had on BMW. Firstly this decade saw Globalization, regionalization and market convergence in the automotive industry– Due to the effects of liberalization, national markets became increasingly globalized. Though this gave companies a chance to expand to new markets, but it also increased the threat of new entrants or increased competition in traditional markets. Hence all car manufacturers were experiencing the boons and banes of the biggest buyer market in history. Next we see the emergence of increasingly diversified consumer aggregate patterns of behaviour – Consumers were no longer accepting standardized products, but wanted products that satisfied their individual requirements and tastes. Target groups thus had to be downsized by companies to attract customers by the products offered. However, because of the increased global competition with a stronger focus on price and not on brand loyalty, consumers generally did not reward companies only for their more individualized products irrespective of price. In other words the customers became price sensitive, were not ready to pay a premium for more innovative products, and used their bargaining power to become more demanding. As a result of these factors, automobile manufacturers had new demanding requirements within their field of activity. To help these opulent consumer generous financial schemes were also offered by banking institutions. All in all demand, growth and expanding opportunities increased rapidly. To take advantage of the new demand and