Instant Oil Change Strategic Evolution: How Can Valvoline Balance Maintaining Growth and Profitability with Market Adaptation?

This decision-based case discusses how Valvoline should adapt its strategy to the Instant Oil Change division in an evolving automotive landscape. The instant oil change segment was highly profitable, had been growing rapidly, and seemed to be better positioned than its price-focused competitors. However, significant market volatility lurked on the horizon. The electric vehicle transition threatened to upend a business built on oil changes required by internal combustion cars, connected car technology’s emergence threatened Valvoline’s ability to provide maintenance to such cars, and new mobile service models could soon enable the business to go to the customer instead of the customer coming to the store which could upend traditional store-centric services. As such, the firm needed to identify how to best serve a changing market without sacrificing its current business servicing traditional, internal combustion cars.