The Evolution of Distribution Chains

On the car market, competition has increased significantly during the last decades (see e.g. Scherer, 1996). Many big car markets in e.g. Western Europe and America have stagnated, thus causing overproduction (Affärsvärlden, 1997). As markets mature and competition intensifies, the focus of marketing strategy shifts progressively from acquiring new customers to retaining current ones (Reicheld and Sasser, 1990). This shift reflects both the increasing scarcity of new buyers and the fact that marketers, and firms, derive a variety of important advantages from long-term customers (Maute and Forrester, 1998). These trends make it interesting to study how car producers could maintain and develop competitiveness on a stagnating market. By tradition, the behaviour and performance of the distribution chain and particularly the retailer have been essential to the marketing of cars.