Autosalon Klokočka: Seeking Directions for Growth

Autosalon Klokočka Holding s.r.o. (Autosalon Klokočka), a Czech Republic-based car dealership, needed to change its business ways. A family-owned car dealership, the company was founded in Prague in 1988 by Jan Klokočka. In the last thirty years, the company had grown into one of the largest authorized car dealers in the Czech Republic by providing a comprehensive range of services to car owners. But the automobile industry had been among the most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As automotive companies braced for a revival, they had to be prepared to undergo significant modifications to alter how they operated and generated value for consumers. Despite its continuous expansion over thirty years, Autosalon Klokočka had been experiencing substantial slowdown and financial losses. In 2020, the company recorded a significantly lower revenue than in the previous years. By early 2022, it was still unclear how long the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic would last and how changes in customer behaviour and capabilities, supply chains, channels, original equipment manufacturer strategic choices, and other crucial factors would affect Autosalon Klokočka. As the company found its financial position vulnerable, Jan Klokočka needed to determine how to mitigate negative consequences and create growth opportunities. How could the firm adapt its existing business model to improve profits in the next three to five years?

The case has been designed for graduate-level courses in growth strategy, change management, and business model innovation as well as strategic management courses with innovation modules. Due to the external changes it covers, instructors may find this an excellent addition to supply chain or logistics courses that deal with reconfiguring automobile supply chain strategies.<br><br>This case provides a holistic overview of the automotive industry’s trends and disruptions and prepares students for dealing with complex systems and navigating change for companies operating in this sector. In considering global drivers of industrial change, local market specificity, and the company’s situation, the case asks students to develop recommendations for adjusting Autosalon Klokočka’s existing business model to ensure sustainable benefits. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to<br><br><ul><li>understand the process of business transformation under unexpected external uncertainty;</li><li>be prepared for the ambiguity of the automobile market and equipped to handle complex transitions in business;</li><li>understand car dealers’ roles, opportunities, and challenges to adapt their existing business model to external changes; and</li><li>identify the main stakeholders and their role in business transformation.</li></ul>

• growth strategy, international expansion