Portfolio strategy

SQUARING PRODUCTS, TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES

Challenges

SPECIFIC, INTERNALLY CONSISTENT, INTEGRATED

The portfolio is an automotive company’s total offer, the place where product, technology and service all meet. At Berylls we help client create portfolios that are specific, internally consistent and which meaningfully integrate physical products and digital services.  

To us, product portfolio means more than just cars. It means components, manufacturing technologies, digital and cloud-based services, vehicle operating systems and software-defined features. At Berylls we have the seniority, the experience, and the know-how to help clients make the right choices in tailoring their portfolios to different target regions, customers and segments - and make them fast.    

We do this first and foremost by helping our clients understand what their customers want – be they the automotive end-users, OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers or even a Big Tech company.  

Berylls perspective

THE MASSIVE PORTFOLIO CHALLENGES AHEAD

E-mobility forces many automotive companies to radically trim down or turn inside-out their existing product offerings, and to do it fast, in the face of limited information. When portfolio managers are faced with a clear choice between “A” or “B”, we do not take detours with redundant analyses but apply our experience to quickly identify the right levers to pull.

When clients ask for a wholesale assessment of their portfolio, we always analyze in context. We know that a luxury portfolio has vastly different criteria compared to one targeting a specific region or customer base. We help clients integrate different offerings into a cohesive whole. Because we know that future-proof portfolios must integrate on- and off-board offerings not just seamlessly but meaningfully.

Track record

ALL CLIENTS, SEGMENTS, REGIONS AND PRODUCTS

Our portfolio track record covers OEMS, suppliers, Big Tech companies and start-ups, and cuts across all segments, regions and product types.

OEMs
We have advised volume, premium and luxury OEMs on all aspects of their product portfolios including global model line-ups, regional adaptations and digital service offerings:

  • Top-end product portfolio redefinition for a high-performance luxury brand to support aggressive growth plans
  • Portfolio definition for a Chinese BEV-only OEM assessing which segments to add to a still limited model range
  • Vehicle-as-a-Service and Mobility Service portfolio assessment for an incumbent OEM’s new mobility holding company
  • Digital service portfolio definition and implementation for the software organization of a leading volume OEM
  • Regional product differentiation strategy for a premium OEM’s top-of-the-range model line

Suppliers

We have advised automotive suppliers seeking to remedy their dependency on legacy components and technologies, and helped process specialists assess the viability of new technologies or manufacturing techniques:

  • Portfolio future-proofing for ICE powertrain component specialists and transition plan development towards e-mobility
  • Portfolio augmentation and expansion beyond the automotive sector
  • Portfolio and technology roadmap development through both organic and inorganic growth
  • Businesses covered also include Berylls’ own portfolio companies

Big Tech companies

We have advised some of the world’s most renowned Big Tech companies on their automotive strategies ranging from vehicle operating systems, cloud-based service offerings or aftersales services:

  • Joint venture negotiation and setup between a Big Tech company and an automotive ECU manufacturer to develop integrated cloud-based offerings and hardware integration for automotive OEMs
  • Automotive cloud solutions development using an “open-source software-first” approach that gathered relevant players into an open-source community built around our client’s cloud services

Start-ups

We have supported start-ups in tailoring their products to OEMs’ requirements and in establishing the right contacts to bring their portfolio to life:

  • Service portfolio definition and operating model development for a mobility service provider
  • Business opportunities assessment and business model development in hydrogen-fueled mobility
  • E-mobility strategy for a gas station operator
  • E-fuel strategy for an oil and gas company

OEMs
We have advised volume, premium and luxury OEMs on all aspects of their product portfolios including global model line-ups, regional adaptations and digital service offerings:

  • Top-end product portfolio redefinition for a high-performance luxury brand to support aggressive growth plans
  • Portfolio definition for a Chinese BEV-only OEM assessing which segments to add to a still limited model range
  • Vehicle-as-a-Service and Mobility Service portfolio assessment for an incumbent OEM’s new mobility holding company
  • Digital service portfolio definition and implementation for the software organization of a leading volume OEM
  • Regional product differentiation strategy for a premium OEM’s top-of-the-range model line

Service offering

FROM PRODUCT DEFINITION TO IMPLEMENTATION

Berylls offers a wide range of portfolio-related services to solve our clients’ portfolio challenges.

360° portfolio assessment

We apply a data- and hypotheses-driven approach that critically analyzes our clients’ product and service offerings from multiple angles. Our point of departure is always to match our clients’ portfolios to their customers’ needs.

We conduct 360° assessments to define short-term actions, for example on specific car lines or regional.

But we also conduct more fully-fledged assessments that help clients define long-term portfolio changes, for example to gradually transition to a fully electrified offering with different product attributes and attendant service offerings.

Our offering includes:

  • Fit-for-purpose, flexible customer segmentation
  • Big data and AI-supported identification of impactful patterns
  • Social listening tool and analysis for tracking portfolio-related trends
  • Portfolio risk assessment and mitigation
  • Risk and return analysis
Portfolio definition

In portfolio definition coherence and integration are everything.

We help clients define portfolios that are more than just a list of products and services. We develop an offering that is specific, internally consistent and which meaningfully integrates physical products and digital services.

Our offering includes:

  • Tailoring portfolio to a specific target customer, segment or region.
  • Safeguarding portfolio cohesiveness by ensuring that key product attributes and experiences obtain across all products that comprise a portfolio
  • Integration of digital services and physical products into a meaningful whole by ensuring complementarity between product and services and comprehensiveness across both
Ecosystem design

Future products and services need to be defined around ecosystems that cover customer journeys across complex offerings. A successful offering ecosystem performs better than the sum of its parts.

We look beyond the individual products and services, and help our clients identify the levers that make or break their ecosystems – why they deliver value to customers, why they appeal in the marketplace, and what determines their financial success.

Our offering includes:

  • Comprehensive analyses of current offering ecosystems
  • Identification and refinement of customized ecosystem design principles
  • Design of new or updated offering ecosystems built around clear design principles
Operating model design

The complexity of future offerings and rapidly changing customer requirements demand a rethinking of portfolio operating models. We offer a holistic solution to assess the costs and benefits of integrated offerings across the full lifecycle.

Our offering includes:

  • Business model design across multiple offerings and/or usage cycles
  • Customer lifetime value assessment
  • Vehicle lifetime value assessment
  • Fully integrated calculation models
PORTFOLIO CONCEPT FOR MOBILITY-RELATED SERVICES

Portfolio concepts for complex services require intricate knowledge of the underlying business. We offer a fine-tuned integration with Mobility-as-a-Service and Vehicle-as-a-Service offerings as well as with mobility-related services including charging and energy

Our offering includes:

  • Portfolio concept for Vehicle-as-a-Service with optimized synergies for the traditional new car and used car business
  • Portfolio analysis for Mobility-as-a-Service solutions
  • Modular and integrated mobility-related services portfolio concept (including charging and energy)
  • Integrated portfolio strategy across all as-a-service offerings and mobility-related services
Governance model design

Coping with significant portfolio changes typically requires strong governance, organizational and process adjustments, and improved implementation capabilities.

We offer a flexible solution to understand and address the specific challenges in client organizations, combined with a universally applicable toolset to orchestrate user stories across offerings for effective implementation and management.

Our offering includes:

  • Portfolio governance assessment and optimization
  • Orchestration of requirements and user stories across offerings
  • Concept development for new products and services
  • Pilot and launch support for new products and services

Team

OUR PORTFOLIO EXPERTS

CEO

Dr. Jan Burgard

I will never forget the moment when the first digital product brought a PowerPoint concept to life. I never want to miss that feeling again. In the meantime, we have taken another step: we no longer just develop on behalf of customers, but we develop…

Project Manager

Benjamin Bierl

Being a Beryll enables me to combine my passion for cars and profession every day. This enthusiasm, which connects me with the entire team, enables us to actively shape the future of mobility - in line with our theme BUT DIFFERENT!

Project Manager

Timo Krall

Berylls, to me, is a high-carat team passionate about shaping the future of mobility in tandem with our clients and partners – but different, with empathy and a healthy sense for what truly matters.

Project Manager

Lukas Ripper

Genuine enthusiasm for the mobility industry as a whole, cars in particular, and "gasoline in the blood" - that's what makes us as a team. Berylls offers me the unique opportunity to combine my deep private interest in cars with a professional focus.…

Consultant

Hendrik Honert

Berylls is "but different" because we not only have expertise but also passion and commitment. We are consultants, visionaries, and innovators leading the automotive industry towards an exciting future.
Featured insights
THE VOICE WITH A DIFFERENCE
Index
Automobility Index

The WTCAR covers the 100 most relevant and promising listed companies worldwide.

SEE Index
Podcast
Berylls Podcast

The latest in automobility for when you're on the road.

Spotify Homepage

Join us

Become a Beryll

But Different: two simple words that have the potential to change everything – from the way we stand out to how we tackle challenges and opportunities. With But Different we break free of old routines and fixed habits. 

Apply now