Transformation of Bryan Motors

Intro

Sitting in his plush corner office in New York business district, Mr. Adam Rhodes was drowned in his thoughts.
He was the CEO of Briyan Motors, which was facing hard times under COVID-19. Most of its plants remain
closed, and the company was bracing for a longer shutdown period. Before the pandemic, the company was
growing, but not fast enough. Mr. Rhodes was thus on the verge of negative growth for two quarters in a row
and was wondering if it would be feasible to salvage the company once the economy started opening up.

From horse-drawn carriages to self-driven cars a century ago, and from humble family-business origins to
becoming the world’s third-largest automobile company, Briyan Motors brought in revolutions in how motor
companies operated. The company recently acquired Jamie Motors, Inc, which had complementary,
geographical strengths and product portfolios. The new acquisition brought in its share of issues, including
cultural disconnect between organizations. Briyan Motors had a strong distribution network, while Jamie
Motors had strong manufacturing hubs. Briyan Motors had all the ingredients for robust growth – new plants,
regional offices in new locations, and a promising acquisition. They were steadily growing until the COVID-19
months, and now the cost was building up. Mr. Rhodes had many burning issues to address to get his team to
drastically change to ways of working and adopt new policies to bring back Briyan Motors’s upward growth
trajectory.

The case challenge

Mr. Rhodes has asked for your help. As a consulting partner, you are to come up with a joint business plan that
addresses both (a) the joint company strengths and weaknesses and (b) cultural integration issues. Jamie
Motors and Briyan Motor company leaderships need a SWOT analysis and a view of joint pipeline, forecast,
bookings, and actuals. Help them figure out how to leverage each other’s strengths around distribution
networks and manufacturing units. Create a joint value proposition and unified branding and campaign for
the markets.

BACKGROUND

In the past decade, the industry had seen a lot of turmoil—economic recession, fluctuating oil prices, increasing
globalization, increasing competition, supply chain complexities, and product recalls. In the past few years,
Briyan Motors has struggled with patchy customer service, the ability to fulfill demands on time, inefficient
supply chain and dispatch management, and negativity in social circles. Worldwide demand for vehicles was
continuing to grow, with focus shifting to electric and hybrid cars, fuel efficiency, and lower emissions.
Automation for manufacturing processes was increasingly needed to reduce cycle times. Briyan’s dealer
ecosystem was less motivated, and inefficient incentive management processes lead to many to switch to the
competition. As if these issues were not enough, COVID-19 brought in almost an eerie stagnancy in the
production lines as well.
The Team

Emily Joseph, the CFO, had 18 years of industry experience and joined Briyan Motors after leading Sales and
Finance across Fortune 500 companies. She is detail-oriented and keeps track of top line and bottom line
very meticulously. Michael Bronx is the Sales and Marketing Head. He was Sales Head for a major German
auto before moving to New York to handle Sales and Marketing for Briyan Motors. John Hopper grew,
grounds up, within Briyan Motors, from being a shop floor engineer to the CIO of the company. He is
respected within the company and is a renowned name in the IT industry.

Exhibits

Exhibit 1. Boarding Meeting Agenda

CEO Adam Rhodes’s vision was to help Briyan Motors become to be the most respected company, both
internally and externally. He wanted Briyan Motors to have offerings that customers love and evangelize,
enabling them to create greater value for all our stakeholders. He was pushing his team to spell out what was
going in favor for the company and what areas needed improvement, from an execution point of view.

Emily Joseph, the company CFO, saw pressures building up on the cost side: investments into R&D were going
up, but company was not seeing commensurate benefits. The stock price had dipped in the recent past, though
this is in line with the market conditions.

Michael Bronx, Sales and Marketing head, thought that Briyan Motors needs to take a take another look at
their support systems and their alignment, or rather lack of it, to the new digital age. In the age and of
personalization and instant gratification, businesses needed things to move ahead and keep pace with the
market. He thought they were not listening to their customers or the market trends, and focusing inwards.

Exhibit 2. Financial summary from 5 years (numbers represent millions, $USD).

15-Dec Dec – 16 17-Dec 18-Dec Dec – 19

Net Revenues
Sales of products $ 178,520.00 $200,452.00 $205,112.00 $215,118.00 $235,222.00
Financing operations $ 15,025.00 $ 18,500.00 $ 20,012.00 $ 16,121.00 $ 15,120.00
$ $ $ $ $
Total net revenue
193,545.00 218,952.00 225,124.00 231,239.00 250,342.00
Cost and Expenses
Cost of products sold $ 156,201.00 $171,112.00 $180,115.00 $188,950.00 $191,200.00
Cost of financing
$ 8,520.00 $ 9,586.00 $ 7,261.00 $ 6,753.00 $ 6,311.00
operations
 Selling general and
$ 20,356.00 $ 21,054.00 $ 20,125.00 $ 22,585.00 $ 35,256.00
administrative
Total cost and $ $ $ $ $
expenses 185,077.00 201,752.00 207,501.00 218,288.00 232,767.00
Operating income $ 8,468.00 $17,200.00 $17,623.00 $12,951.00 $17,575.00

Exhibit 3. Relevant global statistics

Category Details
Worldwide sales of
28%
vehicles
Number of
32
Manufacturing locations
Number of selling 152
locations countries

Exhibit 4. U.S. statistics

Category Details
Number of Employees 45,655
Vehicle Sales 2150 MUSD
Number of vehicles produced 1988 million
Number of dealerships 2111

Number of models and variants 12 ( 5 hybrid models)

Countries with operations 10

Exhibit 5. New vehicle registration in the US region by age (% of total)

Age 2017 2018 2019 2020

18-34 25 24 20 50

35-49 38 36 33 48

50+ 37 40 48 2
Exhibit 6. Digital marketing success rate based on number of respondents (which will determine marketing
future spend)

Year/digital marketing Email Web Social Online

approach marketing development media Videos Mobile Search
2018 50% 65% 70% 25% 35% 30%
2019 55% 60% 65% 30% 30% 35%

Exhibit 7. Recent News

 All of March 2020 has been packed with coronavirus-related news, including that the 2020 Geneva
Motor Show (which was to be opened on March 5) was cancelled

 A study has shown that global vehicle sales in March 2020 witnessed a 39% decline
 Briyan Motors reported nil sales for April 2020, having stopped production earlier on in March because
of the ensuing nationwide lockdown.
 As a novel gesture of showing appreciation for the services rendered by frontline workers, Briyan
Motors has introduced a special initiative. Their customers who are frontline health workers against
coronavirus receive complimentary disinfection and cabin cleaning, exterior cleaning, and a general
check-up of their luxury vehicle
 Briyan Motors has announced extension of warranty for three months for vehicles warranties expiring
between March 1 and May 31, 2020. The three-month grace period will be offered beginning from the
date of expiration of each individual vehicle’s warranty scheme.
 CMOs believe content marketing and personal connect will be key mantras for FY’21