Dupp AG

: a new vision for the vehicle recycling business

Abstract

This thesis provides and analyzes a business case of a German Tier 1 automotive supplier which was faced with the decision of whether to invest in a large-scale vehicle recycling plant. With the objective to make a well-founded decision, a quantitative and qualitative analysis was presented in the teaching note section. Business model economics and profitability were assessed using a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis that was tested for robustness with sensitivity metrics. The qualitative analysis was based on the current state of literature on the influences of first-mover strategies and plant location decisions, as addressed in the literature review section. Therefore, not only the go/no-go investment decision, but also potential alternative strategies regarding timing and location of the plant were evaluated. The case analysis further explored the opportunity for corporations to leverage the circular economy(CE) to build business models supporting this trend while being profitable – a topic also included in the literature review chapter. Lastly, the thesis detailed how a profitable vehicle recycling business in Europe could work and an investment was recommended.

Date of Award	24 Oct 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Nuno Magalhães Guedes (Supervisor)