In-depth analysis guides multinational motorcycle manufacturer's China aftersales and marketing campaigns
During recent years, the Chinese market has experienced a significant sales growth in the motorcycle industry. This development has been driven by a high domestic, and a rising international demand. Additionally, changes in lifestyle, combined with the current traffic issues in China, are driving more and more people to shift to motorcycles for their daily commute, creating a huge market potential in China.
The client is a long-standing, renowned German company, which produces automobiles and motorcycles. With a target of selling 200,000 motorcycles worldwide by the year 2020, the client is not only seeking new motorcycle customers but also focusing on existing customer retention through aftermarket sales and services.
Since the dealerships are currently independently owned and operated, the client does not have direct control of its established Chinese dealerships. Therefore, in order to increase dealerships and increase the focus on aftermarket sales and services, comprehensive field research was necessary. The goal was twofold: to clarify both the current obstacles and to identify opportunities going forward.
ARC Consulting was requested to conduct the market research in China. The objectives were to:
- Acquire a clear understanding about customers’ behaviors and profiles in the aftermarket sales and service field.
- Gather data to understand the client impact of future aftermarket marketing and sales campaigns.
- Receive information to strategically guide the dealerships.
The project was conducted in five Chinese cities: (Beijing – North, Shanghai – East, Chengdu – West, Guangzhou – South and Hefei – Middle), and both qualitative and quantitative data was collected.
In addition, two independent clubs in Beijing and Shanghai were visited to conduct immersions for this research. The immersions were recorded to show the client an actual customer visit and experience at the independent clubs.
The overall research methodology employed is as follows:
Step 1: Collect quantitative and qualitative data through onsite interviews in the five selected cities.
Step 2: Analyze the data collected from the interviews.
Step 3: Generate conclusions and recommendations based on the data analysis.
Based on the analysis of the collected data, ARC Consulting presented a comprehensive findings report, along with achievable and impactful recommendations to the client for both short and long term business operations.
ARC Consulting successfully identified several potential areas of improvement for the client, focusing on the current status of the dealerships, customer behavior, and satisfaction levels, along with consumer demand and expectations. By following ARC Consulting’s recommendations, the client achieved increased customer engagement, which led to the behavior change the brand was seeking.
See more about our market expansion consulting services and our experience in the consumer products and automotive sectors.
