Hybrid cars

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION pg.2

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING OPPORTUNITY pg.2

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING ENVIRONMENT pg.2

CUSTOMER ANALYSISpg.4

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS pg.5

COMPETITIVE MARKET ANALYSIS pg.5

SWOT pg.7

COMPETITIVE ADV, SUCCESSFACTORS, RISKS AND REWARDS pg.8

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING INITIATIVES FOR THE FUTURE pg.9

CONCLUSION pg.11

INTRODUCTION

A new generation of greener vehicles has come and they are not just for environmentalists. The popularity of these cars has increased inthe last years and their performance has improved considerably. The most well-known and awarded car under this category is the Toyota Prius but there are more options available, from hybrid cars to new clean gasoline vehicles, including those which can run with ethanol, bio-diesel or natural gas (these are just some examples of the different technologies that car manufacturers such as Toyota, Fordor Mercedes Benz are trying to develop).

Green cars’ philosophy is to realise stable, long-term growth by working hard to reach a balance between the requirements of people and society, the global environment and the world economy, aiming to achieve a mixture of environmental performance and power.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING OPPORTUNITY
With oil flirting at $100 a barrel (and consequentlygasoline prices rising) one wonders how long it will be before there is a rapid effort to move the petroleum addiction. Also currently it exists a big trend towards the defence of the environment, you can agree or disagree with the new Al Gore’s apocalyptical theory about the different causes of global warming but the only thing that is clear is that the climate is changing as has changed during theEarth’s life, so today it exists an increasing concern about respecting and taking care of the environment which address a big opportunity to the establishments of the new generation of green cars. The auto industry has the technology to address these concerns and therefore international marketers should be conscious about these issues to promote all of these new friendly environmentaltechnologies. Furthermore there are researches where analysts estimate the hybrid and green market will grow to as much as 6% of the new-car market in two years, with the introduction of a handful of cars, and much higher as the offerings grow. Also some experts even see hybrid technology, which uses electricity and gasoline to propel vehicles, becoming the standard.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING ENVIRONMENTThere are consumers who are eager to buy environmentally-friendly vehicles. Whether they are motivated by a passion to be green or a desire to be style setters, they are the group the auto industry is counting on to bring the latest wave of eco-friendly automobiles to a new level of legitimacy in the marketplace. Japanese automakers Honda and Toyota have been both the pioneers introducingenvironmentally-friendly models. Other manufacturers are expected to follow suit.
Until recently, consumers have been able to choose from only a handful of all-electric cars to satisfy their desires. But recently brand-new cars with super fuel-efficient, "hybrid," gasoline-electric engines surged into the marketplace (Toyota Prius and Honda Insight). The big automakers will begin introducing their own...