Volvo CE in China : a case study of dual - brand strategy

Abstract: Introduction: The part of introduction is presented to help readers give insight into the setting of our thesis. Firstly, we present the background of Volvo CE and Lingong. With the rapid economy growth and large amount of infrastructure construction projects, the large demand for CE push Volvo to accelerate its pace into Chinese market, the situation of the Chinese market and the importance are introduced continuously. We are aimed to analyze the dual - brand strategy implemented by Volvo and Lingong, and what synergies produced. We will also face two major limitations such as limited materials and hard access to interviewees. Lastly, we also have brief introduction for the outlet of the thesis.   Theory Framework: This part includes three related theoretical fields. First one is global strategic marketing, as a MNE, Volvo CE entered China, which is one member of BRICs, and took acquisition of Lingong. The following is cross - boundaries culture and customer behavior, if one company wants to gain success in an overseas market, a good adaption to the local culture is essential. The last one is brand management field, brand is a intangible asset, however, in order to avoid cross - boundaries problems, Volvo CE decide to implement a dual - brand strategy, so we can use brand alliance theories to analyze.   Methodology: Because of the special characteristics, we decide to adopt the quantitative method, case study, because it is impossible for us to gather a large sample of survey on the CE. We analyze two cases, one is " Danone & Wahaha" and the other is "Shanghai Automotive", the current situation of two cases are totally different, Danone and Wahaha got divorce in 2007, because of the brand conflict, while Shanghai have been making it to become the largest motor manufacturer in China, the experiences behind are very precious for us to analyze the brand alliance of Volvo and Lingong.   Complementary cases study and analysis We will have a detailed introduction on how Danone and Wahaha deal with the brand conflicts and the process of a series of arbitrations and lawsuits. Then presenting how successful Shanghai Automotive integrates with VW and GM. Then we use the corresponding theories to analyze the two cases, why brand conflicts happened between Danone and Wahaha, why Shanghai Automotive can successfully integrate with VW and GM   Findings In this part, we use the cases analysis and corresponding theories to form the finding. Finding is focused on the dual - brand strategy implemented by Volvo and Lingong, and we analyze its feasibility and the synergies.   Conclusions In this part, we come out with three conclusions. Firstly, global strategy management helps us to have a macro view over the dual-brand topic in China. Secondly, the dual-brand strategy can make Volvo gain goodwill from the consumers. Thirdly, Lingong and Volvo can benefit each other and get win-win by using dual-brand strategy.