The changing landscape of auto distribution

Author

Selz, Dorian ; Klein, Stefan

Author_Institution

Inst. for Inf. Manage., St. Gallen Univ., Switzerland

Volume

6

fYear

1998

fDate

6-9 Jan 1998

Firstpage

592

Abstract

The emerging electronic marketplace will change the structure of value chains and will-in particular-increase the presence of intermediaries (so-called “cybermediaries”). The paper examines the roles and functions of these new players and their impact on established distribution and sales channels in the case of the automotive industry. Two different automotive cybermediary categories are identified: automotive service brokers and automotive information brokers. Their initial success indicates that they might become serious competitors to the automobile manufacturer´s exclusive distribution systems. Our analysis focuses on the impact of the World Wide Web in an industry which is characterized by physical products and infrastructures. Based on this analysis and reconstruction of current trends in the automotive industry, we discuss strategic options for automobile manufacturers using a blend of market brand strength mixed with the concept of an online community

Keywords

Internet; automobile industry; goods dispatch data processing; information industry; World Wide Web; automobile distribution channels; automobile manufacturers; automotive industry; automotive information brokers; automotive service brokers; cybermediaries; electronic marketplace; infrastructures; intermediaries; market brand strength; online community; physical products; sales channels; strategic options; value chains; Acceleration; Automotive engineering; Capacitive sensors; Consumer electronics; Costs; Electronics industry; Industrial electronics; Information management; Internet; Logistics; Manufacturing industries; Marketing and sales; Production; Vehicle dynamics; Web and internet services;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

System Sciences, 1998., Proceedings of the Thirty-First Hawaii International Conference on

Conference_Location

Kohala Coast, HI

Print_ISBN

0-8186-8255-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/HICSS.1998.654820

Filename

654820