Affiliations: Department of Operations and Supply Chain Management, Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Sameer Kumar, Department of Operations and Supply Chain Management, Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas, 1000 LaSalle Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403-2005, USA. E-mail: sameerkumar724@gmail.com
Abstract: The aim of this study is to understand the current consumer perceptions and to attempt to identify any recent trends that could assist U.S. automakers in repositioning themselves through appropriate integrated manufacturing and business strategies in the automobile manufacturing market after the recent economic recession which ended in June 2009. Data for this study was collected from government and private sources, as well as, a consumer survey. This data was assessed using regression, advanced forecasting, game theoretic modeling and analysis of data from survey. The industry system analysis suggests that there is a growing consumer preference for foreign automobiles. This trend appears to be continuing into the near future, a notion that will be less than comforting to U.S. automobile manufacturers. This study is valuable to academics and executives in the auto industry affected by current and future market trends. If this research was to endure, authors would focus on other countries such as China and Korea using the same analytical framework applied in this study. Their automobiles' growing popularity may have an impact on the current automobile manufacturing industry. This was a real project, with real problems and solutions that can be acted upon.
Keywords: U.S. automobile industry, light vehicle market share, product variety, manufacturing strategy, business strategy, systems thinking, system analysis, game theory
