Title: The CO₂ management decision problem in tactical sales planning of light commercial vehicle manufacturers in Europe

Authors: Till Uhlich; Karsten Kieckhäfer

Addresses: FernUniversität in Hagen, 58084, Hagen, Germany ' FernUniversität in Hagen, 58084, Hagen, Germany

Abstract: In this paper, the question of how trade-offs between contribution margins and CO₂ fleet emissions could be managed within tactical sales planning of light commercial vehicle manufacturers in the EU is addressed. We develop a planning framework to derive optimal sales plans from both an ecological and environmental perspective, considering constraints such as available production and logistics capacities as well as market demand. Based on the framework, we analyse how alternative sales plans on the level of models, variants, and equipment options with similar contribution margins can lead to very different outcomes with respect to CO₂ fleet emissions and vice versa. The results of this study indicate that sales planning with a detailed view on CO₂ emissions is essential to ensure profitability of light commercial vehicle manufacturers until zero emission vehicles achieve competitive contribution margins and substantial market shares.

Keywords: CO₂ fleet emissions; CO₂ management; volume planning; installation rate planning; automotive sales management; sales and operations planning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2024.138484

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2024 Vol.24 No.1, pp.54 - 74

Received: 27 Jun 2023
Accepted: 08 Oct 2023
Published online: 07 May 2024 *

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