Bridgestone Case

Table of Contents

Global Marketing Management 1

Introduction 1

The European tire market can be a competitive one and firms have to continue to come up with new and innovative ways to maintain and improve their market position. 1

Problem Statement 2

Situation Analysis 2

Michelin 2

Continental 4

Goodyear 5

Global Marketing Management

Introduction

The European tire market can be a competitive one and firms have to continue to come up with new and innovative ways to maintain and improve their market position.

Bridgestone is one of the world's largest manufacturers of tires and other rubber products. The name Bridgestone is associated with other well known brands such as Firestone that gives the company a strong presence in the tire markets worldwide. Bridgestone operations are very diversified and include business in automobile parts, individual goods, chemical products and sporting goods.

Bridgestone is currently holding the second spot for being the largest tire manufacturer in the world, second to Michelin. Based on the case study we are currently examining, we take a look at Bridgestone's market share in Europe and ways to improve their current position in the European market.

Based on the case study we can see that there is a great demand for replacement tires which accounts for double the sales as compared to new sales of tires in Europe.

Michelin holds the greatest percentage of the market share in Europe which stands at 32% as compared to Bridgestone / Firestone at 10%. It should also be noted that Continental, Goodyear, Pirelli all have a greater share of the European market than Japanese company Bridgestone. Another important fact to note is that the two top companies holding the greatest market share in Europe are in fact European companies; Michelin from France and Continental from Germany.

It should also be noted that the sales of retreaded tires are highest in Germany, the UK and France.

Brand awareness for Michelin is very high throughout the major European markets; UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. It should also be noted that Bridgestone has the highest brand awareness in Germany. This is a good start to increasing their market share in Europe since Germany has the greatest population compared to the other major European markets.

Problem Statement

Bridgestone is faced with the challenge of increasing it's European