Developing a Used Car Importing Business Model: process and sustainability

Abstract

The development of a used car importing process was the main aim for this study. The development work was done for Assistor-Uuttera, a car importing company operating in Southern Finland interested in expanding their market share in the used car importing market. The main question was that what could be considered as a competitive advantage in used car importing the future, the main point of view being sustainability and responsibility. The data needed for this development work was gathered through customer and employee interviews and implemented using principles supply chain development and business process development. As a result from the interviews, several defects from the current used car importing business model were found that caused increased risk to disruptions in the supply chain, thus causing extra costs for the company as well as lowering customer satisfaction. Solutions for the issues were found implementing the principles of supply chain development and business process development, mainly process simplification and increasing customer orientation. As a conclusion, Assistor-Uuttera shall now have an improved business model which is competitive with similar services as well as being up to date in terms of sustainability. On the basis of the new improved business model, Assistor-Uuttera can search possibilities in the future for creating a competitive edge to attract more customers and innovate in terms of further integrating sustainability and responsibility into the process.