Market Expansion Insights for Car Dealerships

Tools: SQL, Power BI, Excel
Data Source: Kaggle (Synthetic dataset generated via Mockaroo)

Project Objective

This project analyzes global automobile sales data to help car dealerships planning international expansion answer three critical questions:

1. Which countries present the strongest expansion opportunities?

2. Which car brands and models drive the highest demand by market?

3. Which customer behaviors impact profitability and operations?

The goal was not only to explore sales trends, but to translate them into practical recommendations around market entry, brand partnerships, and operational efficiency.

Methodology

1. Data Cleaning & Validation

• Checked for null values to ensure analytical accuracy

• Preserved data integrity by creating a dummy exploration table in SQL, allowing analysis without altering the original dataset

SELECT FROM sales_analysis.cars_analys; INSERT INTO sales_analysis.cars_analys SELECT FROM cars_analysis;

2. Exploratory Data Analysis (SQL)

Total Sales by Country

SELECT country, COUNT(*) AS total_sales FROM cars_analys GROUP BY country ORDER BY total_sales DESC;

Result:
Top 5 countries by sales volume:

• China

• Indonesia

• Russia

• Philippines

• Brazil

3. Most Popular Car Brands by Country

SELECT country, car_brand, COUNT(*) AS brand_sales FROM cars_analys GROUP BY country, car_brand ORDER BY country, brand_sales DESC;

Result:
Identified the leading brands in each country, highlighting strong brand-market alignment.

4. Most Popular Car Models per Country

SELECT FROM ( SELECT country, car_model, COUNT() AS model_sales, RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY country ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC) AS rnk FROM cars_analysis GROUP BY country, car_model ) t WHERE rnk <= 5;

Result:
Revealed the top 5 car models per country, supporting localized inventory planning.

5. Most Common Car Colors

SELECT car_color, COUNT(*) AS color_popularity FROM cars_analys GROUP BY car_color ORDER BY color_popularity DESC;

Top Colors:

• Indigo

• Crimson

• Turquoise

• Purple

• Red

6. Payment Method Preferences

SELECT credit_card_type, COUNT(*) AS sales_count FROM cars_analys GROUP BY credit_card_type ORDER BY sales_count DESC;

Top Payment Methods:

• JCB

• Mastercard

• Maestro

• Switch

• American Express

Visualization & Insight Synthesis (Power BI)

After SQL exploration, Power BI was used to:

• Visualize geographic demand

• Compare brand performance across regions

• Identify operational patterns impacting revenue

Key Findings

Top 5 countries by purchases:

1. China (5,465)

2. Indonesia

3. Russia

4. Philippines

5. Brazil

Brand Performance

Top 5 brands globally:

1. Ford (2,562 purchases)

2. Chevrolet

3. Toyota

4. Dodge

5. GMC

Payment Behavior

• JCB alone accounted for 42.39% of all transactions

• JCB + Mastercard processed over 60% of total payments

Strategic Insights & Recommendations

1. Market Entry Strategy

• China shows the highest demand but likely represents a highly saturated and competitive market

• Brazil presents a more attractive entry point due to:

  • High demand

  • Potentially lower competitive pressure

  • Lower customer acquisition and brand-building costs

Recommendation:
Begin expansion in Brazil, followed by selective entry into Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, which shows strong demand with fewer dominant players.

2. Brand Partnership Strategy

• Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota consistently perform well across multiple regions

• Partnering with established, high-demand brands reduces:

  • Inventory risk

  • Unsold stock

  • Revenue volatility

Recommendation:
Focus initial partnerships on globally trusted brands before introducing niche or regional manufacturers.

3. Inventory & Operations Optimization

• The dominance of JCB (42.39%) highlights a critical operational lever

Recommendation:

• Optimize payment infrastructure for JCB transactions

• Negotiate lower processing fees with JCB providers to directly improve profit margins

Conclusion

This analysis demonstrates how SQL-driven exploration combined with Power BI visualization can guide strategic decisions in:

• Market expansion

• Brand partnerships

• Operational cost optimization

Rather than relying on intuition, dealerships can use data to enter the right markets, stock the right brands, and optimize revenue from day one.