Emerging markets provide some of the most robust growth opportunities in the global automotive industry. However, each market presents challenges that require local expertise. Over the last decades, automotive sales in emerging markets have proved not only resilient but also more robust than many experts would have predicted. China, for example, is the largest market as measured by vehicle sales, and it’s also the fastest-growing market in the world. Along with the sales increases comes a rapidly changing market landscape and evolving consumer demands.

In the coming decade, the majority of the growth in the Chinese market will come from lower-tier cities. Consumer patterns also differ across regional clusters; we help clients improve their consumer-insight capabilities, innovate their digital-marketing tools, and systematically grow and optimize their dealer network.

In India, the challenges are quite different. The subcontinent pioneered the concept of ultra-low-cost cars, and the low-cost customer segment remains a hearty subset of the burgeoning auto marketplace there. Small cars form more than 75 percent of the total market. We help clients localize products, redesign supply chains, and adjust pricing to meet that demand.

Other global trends, such as electric vehicles (EVs), take on a different character in India: the focus there is on two-wheeled, not four-wheeled vehicles, and lower excise taxes are boosting this growing market. However, with excise duties of 4 percent on EVs compared with 10- to 22 percent on conventional cars, there is also real potential for cycles, cars, and trucks in India’s growing EV market. We help automakers enter this market with the right products aimed at the most appealing customer segments.

In a market like Brazil, localization is key due to both legislation and consumers’ requiring “tropicalized” products, with a good mix of quality and price. Our design-to-value work helps companies optimize cost/value tradeoffs and achieve attractive profit margins.

Questions of where to play in Brazil are also important; some cities there are seeing faster growth in auto sales than their peers in China, whereas others experience auto-sales growth that is slower than in major European cities. With local-market expertise and international experience, we can help automotive companies identify pockets of growth, build a stronghold in those areas, and tap into the vast potential in the developing world.