1. Assess China as a potential market for luxury cars. If you worked for a ­luxury car manufacturer, such as Volvo, would you enter or attempt to ­increase your presence in China? What entry strategy would you use? Why?

2. Drivers in China approach the luxury car market with a set of strong associations that influence their perceptions of the foreign brands currently available in the marketplace. Multiple factors affect those consumer attitudes, including history, class, and social status. Why are these attitudes so ­entrenched in China, and why do they play such a critical role in shaping car customer preferences?

3. Both Audi and BMW have allied with other companies to target particular market segments. Assess the relative strength of these two very different ­positioning strategies.

4. BMW has successfully targeted China’s affluent, young car drivers, but the brand’s success in that market has also provoked public backlash. What drives such public hostility to the brand, and how serious a problem is it? What ­marketing approach, if any, should the company undertake in response?