The Research Of Business Models In China's Car Manufacturing Industry

Based on the wide review of existing documents about the definition and components of Business Models, this paper finds two kinds of components which are accepted by most researchers: One is products and their value, and the other is value activities defined by M. E. Porter. This paper thus puts forward the following ideas about Business Models:A Business Model consists of two basic components: One is the Value Model which describes the value an enterprise provides for its customers, and the other is the Value Activity Model which describes how the enterprise creates value and delivers it to the customers. The former is composed of the Product Mix Model and the Value Property Model, and the latter is composed of the Basic Activity Model and the Supportive Activity Model. And both the Basic Activity Model and the Supportive Activity Model can be subdivided into multiple activity models. A specific enterprise's Value Model and Value Activtity Model compose the enterprise's complete Business Model. Based on these ideas, this paper holds the opinion that a Busines Model is an organic system that is composed of the value an enterprise provides for its customers to gain profit and the models the enterprise applies to pursue multiple activities.However, not all the activity models are of the same importance to an enterprise. Integrated with the characteristics of China's car manufacturing industry, this paper finds out that the R&D Model and the Performance-Price Model are the two activity models of strategic importance.Limited by time, energy and also the length of this paper, only the Value Model, the R&D Model and the Performance-Price Model in China's car manufacturing industry are discussed in this paper. Conclusions are as follows:(1) Classified by the levels of cars an enterprise manufactures, four Product Mix Models are found in China's car manufacturing industry. Great effect a Product Mix Model has on an enterprise's sales volume is also found in this paper.(2) With Impetus, Oil Economy, Safety, Comfort, and Convenience as five independent variables in the cluster analysis, this paper attains five Value Property Models. This paper finds out that a Value Property Model has great effect on the products'cost, price and sales volume.(3) Based on existing documents and enterprises'practice, this paper finds four R&D Models in China's car manufacturing industry: Outsourcing Model, Adaptive Improvement Model, Collaborative Development Model, and Independent Development Model. Which R&D Model an enterprise should choose depends first on its ownership, and then on its resources and abilities.(4) With cars'Manufacturer Proposed Prices as the dependent variable and Impetus, Oil Economy, Safety, Comfort, and Convenience as the independent variables in the correlation analysis, partial correlation analysis and regression analysis, this paper attains five Performance-Price Models. This paper finds out that the first, third, fourth and the fifth kinds of Performance-Price Models have been accepted by consumers. However, this paper fails to comment on the extent to which the second kind of Performance-Price Model is accepted by consumers due to the lack of data needed.