BizResearch

Cars Online 09/10

The current economic crises has affected both mature and developing markets alike, with the automotive industry being one of the hardest-hit sectors. The downturn has led most automotive businesses to put in place initiatives aimed at short-term survival and mid-term stability with a focus largely on cost cutting and cash preservation.

Cars Online 09/10 is Capgemini’s 11th annual global automotive study which seeks to identify current car-purchasing trends. This year’s report finds a strong shift toward green vehicles, increasing convergence of buying behaviours in mature and developing markets, and opportunities for recovery.  With vehicle sales suffering in most markets today and automotive companies focused on cost cutting and cash preservation, it’s easy to take your eye off the consumer. But, in a climate characterized by volatility, consumer insight is more important than ever as buying behaviour patterns evolve rapidly.

How do car buyers research vehicles? What types of cars are they looking for? What triggers them to buy? Where – and how – do they want to buy? How do they want to communicate with manufacturers and dealers? Capgemini’s research aims to answer these questions and more to provide insight that can help automotive companies respond faster and more effectively to changing consumer needs and demands

Highlights of the Study

• The vast amount of information available on the Internet is resulting in a shrinking buying cycle. Over two-thirds of respondents begin the research process two to four months in advance of their purchase. 
• Less than half of consumers with cars still in-warranty have their vehicles serviced at the purchasing dealership, emphasizing the importance of delivering a strong aftersales and servicing experience. 
• Developing markets show early signs of trending toward mature markets, as consumers in the BRIC countries become more familiar with buying cars. 
   
• Online buying continues to gain momentum. Nearly 40% of consumers would like to buy a car over the Internet, and half would purchase parts and accessories online, the main drivers being price discounts and dissatisfaction with the dealer/retailer process. 
   
• Green vehicle ownership continues its upward trend: 41% of respondents own a fuel-efficient or alternative-fuel vehicle, up from 36% the year before, and 30% plan to buy one. Fuel economy and environmental impact are the primary reasons.

The report can be downloaded from the Capgemini website (pre-registration required)
 
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Air Transport Association 2009 Economic Report

The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the US airlines, has just released its 2009 Economic Report, documenting operational statistics and financial results for the industry for calendar year 2008.  The ATA Economic Report provides both economic and statistical information about the US passenger and cargo airline industry. This year’s report also includes special sections on the economy, demand, energy, taxes and operations.

Selected highlights from the report:

Annually, commercial aviation helps drive $1.1 trillion in US economic activity and more than 10 million US jobs.  US airlines operate nearly 28,000 flights in 80 countries, using more than 6,000 aircraft to carry an average of two million passengers and 50,000 tons of cargo.

Operating revenues grew a healthy $11 billion in 2008, whilst operating expenses surged $24 billion, swinging the industry’s operating income into the red.

From 2001 through 2008, US passenger and cargo airlines reported cumulative net losses of more than $55 billion. Not surprisingly, over the same period, US passenger airlines were left with no choice but to sharply downsize, shedding more than 150,000 jobs.

The average price paid for a gallon of jet fuel jumped 96 cents in 2008 – the largest annual increase in history – to an all-time high of $3.07.

Flying operations, which constituted 42% of industry costs, increased 27% on a $16 billion year-over-year spike in fuel expenses to $58 billion in 2008.

US airlines have improved their fuel efficiency by more than 120% over the past three decades.
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ATA airlines are good environmental stewards, and are on track to meet or exceed their commitment to improving their fuel efficiency another 30% between 2005 and 2025, which will result in CO2 savings equivalent to taking 13 million cars off the road each year during that period.

Cargo transport accounted for 16% of total industry revenues and generated $5.3 billion more sales than in 2008, reaching an all-time high of $30 billion.

The 2009 Economic Report, as well as all previous editions of this ATA publication, is available on the ATA Web site.

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Global powers of retailing 2009

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, in conjunction with STORES Magazine have just released the results of their 12th annual Global Powers of Retailing survey. The survey identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world based on publicly available data for the companies’ fiscal year 2007 (encompasses fiscal years ended through June 2008).  It also identifies 10 trends for retailers to consider as they plan their growth strategies and confront the current economic crisis.

Highlights from this year's report:

The average Top 250 company generated $14.5 billion in retail sales in 2007, up from $13 billion for the 2006 group. To become a member of this elite list required fiscal 2007 retail sales of approximately $3 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2006.

Economic concentration of the leading companies fell in 2007, although retail sales for the Top 10 did exceed $1 trillion for the first time. Unlike in prior years, the world’s 10 largest retailers saw their share of Top 250 sales decline slightly to 29.6% from 30.1% in 2006.

French and German retailers are the most international in scope. The 13 French retailers on the Top 250 list operated in an average 18.9 countries in 2007 and generated 35.3% of their sales from outside their domestic borders. The 21 German retailers did business in an average 13.8 countries and generated the highest share of sales from foreign operations, 41.8%.

In contrast, US retailers still are not major players in international markets. Of the 87 US-based companies in the Top 250, 49 have no international operations. On average, US retailers operated in 4.2 countries in 2007. The vast majority of their sales, 88.3%, still come from domestic operations.

Asia/Pacific (Japan, in particular) and Latin American retailers have been the slowest in going global. The 24 Japanese retailers on the Top 250 list operated in an average of just 2.8 countries in 2007. Only 10% of their retail sales took place outside Japan. Latin American retailers operated in the fewest number of countries, just 1.6. Their international operations comprised 9.9% of sales.

The full report is available from the Deloitte website

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KPMG’s Global Auto Executive Survey 2009 Industry concerns and expectations 2009-2013

  KPMG’s Global auto executive survey 2009 coincided with the unfolding of an unprecedented global economic crisis with profound implications for the automotive industry. The expectations recorded in this survey reflect the depth of the crisis.

"..the near future is going to be very tough for the automotive industry. Yet the KPMG Survey also shows that long-term concerns have not greatly changed. When asked about long-term trends, opportunities and challenges, companies continue to say they retain a long-term focus on innovation and technology – particularly fuel technologies.

The 2009 Survey suggests that innovation and technology are likely to be at the heart of industry efforts to recapture profitability in the coming months and years. For example, innovation – especially process innovation – is still seen by companies as the best way to cut costs, rather than attacking direct overheads. Companies also believe that product innovation will be key to rebuilding sales: it is notable that despite the fall in energy costs during the last few months, expectations of sales of hybrid and other fuel-efficient vehicles continue to rise
sharply compared with previous years."

Click here to read the full report.

Picture: Creative Commons:FlickR: Gaetan Lee

Betting and Gaming

This Key Note market report looks at those betting and gaming activities requiring a licence from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and which are obliged to pay betting or gaming levies to HM Revenue & Customs.  It covers five main categories: lotteries; casinos; licensed bingo; football pools; bookmaking. The report also covers gaming machines.

The UK betting and gaming industry has been through significant change in the last year or so, with the introduction of new legislation, a tougher tax regime introduced by the 2007 Budget, and the reduction in the number of permissible high jackpot machines. Nevertheless, as a whole the betting and gaming industry has made a substantial turnover. In 2007, net expenditure on games of chance, including the National Lottery, increased by 2.1% on the previous year. This is because this type of activity is much more recession-proof than others. In fact, rising household bills, a faltering housing market and the credit crunch may make betting and gaming even more appealing to some.  The British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007, carried out on behalf of the Gambling Commission found that around 32 million adults (68% of the adult population) had participated in some form of gambling activity within the previous year. Excluding people who had gambled only on the National Lottery, in 2007, around 23 million (48% of the population) had participated in other forms of gambling. The most popular gambling activities in 2007 were the National Lottery draw (57%), scratch cards (20%), betting on horse races (17%) and playing slot machines (14%).

This latest report from key note can be found in the market reports collection located on the first floor of the library.

Alternatively, current London Business School students, faculty and staff can access this report from Key Note Online, located on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal

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Key figures on European business

The latest edition of Key figures on European business summarises the main features of European business and its different activities: from its size and structure to the importance of foreign-controlled enterprises. The focus of this publication is on structural business statistics: both traditional business statistics which are disseminated regularly, as well as specific information compiled on a multi-yearly basis, plus the latest results from development projects on topics of key political interest.  This edition includes a special feature on the factors of business success, including an analysis of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. It is based on the results of an ad-hoc survey of enterprises started in 2002, which had survived to 2005, and which were still managed by the original entrepreneur or founder. The survey provides a useful insight into the issues that determine the success and growth of newly born enterprises, as well as the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they face.

The report is available for the Eurostat website – click here to download the publication (PDF 3207kB)

Consulting - New Research Resource Guide

The Library has added a new guide to consulting to its range of Research Resource Guides. These are guides which direct our users the most appropriate sources for a particular industry or topic.

It concentrates on our subscribed databases available through Portal but also lists some free web resources.

Go to: Portal Library >Help and Advice>Research Resource Guides

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Global powers of retailing 2007

Deloitte, in conjunction with STORES Magazine, have released the 10th annual Global Powers of Retailing. This report identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world based on publicly available company data for the fiscal year 2005 (ended July 1, 2005-June 30, 2006). The report also provides an outlook for the global economy; an analysis of market capitalization in the industry; and a discussion of major challenges facing today’s retailers.

To read this report in full go to Deloitte Global powers of retailing 2007.

Top 100 grocery brands 2007

ACNielsen produce an annual survey of the top 100 grocery brands in the UK. The 2007 survey, compiled with Checkout magazine and the Independent Retail News reveals that the UK's favourite brands include 'better for you' products such as bread, cereals and water and ‘not so good for you’ products such as chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks. The survey is based on sales data from more than 74,000 grocery stores, providing a useful insight into the changing tastes of the British consumer. The report can be freely downloaded from the ACNielsen website.

Other ACNielsen products that can be freely downloaded include ‘What’s hot around the globe’ short reports which identify the fastest-growing categories and product areas across 69 markets around the world and a range of reports covering topics such as consumer confidence.

 

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The communications market 2007

Ofcom has just published its 4th annual report focusing on the trends and developments in the UK’s communications market.

The communications industry plays a key role in the UK’s economy. Figures from the Office of National Statistics suggest that in terms of Gross Value Added, telecoms, broadcasting and the content-related components of the creative industries contribute over three times as much as the UK’s electricity, gas and water supply industries combined. Indeed, in 2006 the estimated revenue of broadcasting and telecoms networks and services was over £50bn.

The report also includes new research which examines the impact of mobile phones and DVD recorders on traditional media. In both cases the report identifies a growing challenge to traditional industry economics, with 78% of DVR owners claiming to regularly fast forward through adverts when watching recorded programmes and the growing substitution of more traditional devices such as cameras, portable music players and games consoles with high specification mobile handsets.

To read the findings of this report in full visit the Ofcom website.

 

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Consultancy market guide 2007

The July issue of the ENDS report (a monthly journal covering environmental policy and business in the UK) includes a special report on the consultancy market. The guide analyses current trends in consultancy services and client demands. Climate change and carbon emissions are highlighted as the most significant developments in the corporate environmental agenda during 2006/07. The consultancy client survey findings show that more and more organisations are seeking advice from environmental consultants on waste management, carbon footprinting, accounting and offsetting.

To read this report in full visit the library, the journal collection can be found in the library basement.