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Harley-Davidson has been able to build a community of enthusiasts around its brand that includes members from very diverse groups, and with almost no advertising. How does the king of heavyweight motorcycling keep its fans so loyal? It gives them a reason to "belong."

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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iMotors offers customers the chance to custom-order used cars online, all for low, low prices. But can its business plan deliver profitability? And how will it sustain its advantages in the face of growing competition? Professor Ron Adner and Charles Nunn ask you to consider the management's next steps in this case study.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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The automotive industry has changed radically in the past twenty years. In the 1980s, Japanese firms dominated, but today they've lost ground to multi-nationals. The new shape of the industry brings difficulties and opportunities alike. Using the 1999 Renault-Nissan union as their example, the authors ask you to consider the challenges of cross-border acquisitions and alliances.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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When Peugeot pulled out of its partnership with the Guangzhou Automobile Group in 1997, it left behind slow sales, a decrepit factory filled with 20-year-old equipment, and 1,600 exasperated employees. In this new Case Study, Professors Philippe Lasserre and Ming Zeng, and Hiromi Hinata tell how Honda turned this picture around.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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In 1999, when Renault agreed to throw a financial lifeline to a floundering Nissan, many observers predicted an ugly crash. Yet in just over two years, Nissan was in a sufficiently strong position to be able to return the favour to Renault. This case series explores how that remarkable turnaround was achieved.

Once General Motors spun off Electronic Data Systems, it was a perfect time to revamp the IT organization, jettison half its legacy systems, and rethink its strategic vendors.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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Business mergers tend to have fairly dicey odds of success. Failure rates are generally reported to be roughly 50%; poor culture fit or difficulties aligning systems to create inefficiencies tend to stand out as culprits. But a closer look at the economics of mergers reveals that the motivations of corporations, among them increasing market power, can be in direct conflict with the rules upheld by competition law. In this Case Study, Philip Krinks and Professors Daniel Traça and Vanessa Strauss-Kahn look at the attempted Volvo-Scania merger from a competition policy perspective.

The way to create a world-class brand is to give customers what they need, when they need it, and never let them out of your sight.

Robert J. Thomas, president and chief executive at Nissan, took time out to asses what he knew about the car business and where it is going. The result has been a radical rethinking of the business. Nissan is now in the midst of a major sea of change, entailing an internal shift from a business with a manufacturing mind-set to a marketing-oriented company that puts consumers' needs first.

At first glance, what Honda of America does to develop its products, sustain its supply base and manage its purchasing function seems little different from what most other car makers do. But the results that Honda achieves are often remarkably superior.

CEO J.T. Battenberg III was determined his directors be not just independent, but engaged.

A Communist car monopoly turned Volkswagen subsidiary is now becoming an entrepreneurial global enterprise.

Across the automotive industry and around the globe, Toyota ranks as suppliers' preferred OEM-the one with which they would most like to do more business. Yet Toyota is also known to be extremely demanding of its suppliers and rigorous in its insistence on openness and highly disciplined processes. The authors outline the principles and practices that Toyota employs to win its suppliers' extraordinary performance-and loyalty.

Will Volkswagen's "Olympic" program help it reassert its advantage in China?

When does having too many brands and too many variations of those brands create a perilous situation? The answer is that when you are an American icon, once thought too big to fail, and that never ever thought it should modify, let alone re-consider trimming, its portfolio of offerings. On the verge, General Motors illustrates why building an offering for every market segment may make sense in the boardroom, but not on the balance sheet, where it stanches the flow of cash the corporation desperately needs.