Introduction. Automobile Industry Has Been Rapidly Shifting

Today’s marketer must take into consideration many generational differences when considering a marketing strategy for a product. Most products are intended for a massive audience, requiring the marketer to utilize an integrated marketing scheme to encompass all generations.

The United States of America is one of the biggest automobile markets in the world. This trend has also created awareness for environmentalist to bring attention to rising level of pollution and emission within the cities and metropolis. As response, the U.S. Government is encouraging the automobile manufacturers to produce clean and renewable alternative vehicles that will drastically reduce pollution and emission. Subsequently, the automobile industry has witnessed a gradual introduction of environmental friendly vehicles that use clean and renewable energy to encourage less pollution and safer environment. The manufactures of these vehicles have introduced into the market three categories of electric passenger car

The automobile industry has brought the United States economic growth due to the impact that automobiles have made on society. There has been a plethora of jobs associated with the auto industry, including manufacturing, auto repairs, insurance, and the development of roads, sales, and auto parts to enhance vehicles. Cars, trucks, and SUVs’ have become a way of life for people and have made an additional economic impact by becoming the primary means of transportation for consumers to commute to and from work, vacations, and travel between destinations. Most family households live on a budget and they must make the decision of how much of their budget they can allocate to transportation costs.

Thesis statement: it is hypothesized that compared with the gas powered vehicles, hybrids offer more benefits in maintenance, are cost-effective, and most importantly environmental-friendly.

The spread of the automobiles transformed the United States by creating new jobs, changing where people lived, and by changing the assembly-line technique. Automobiles essentially changed the face of the United States. The automobile industry was the largest single manufacturing industry. By 1929, one in four Americans were employed directly or indirectly in the automobile industry (Roark 754). Automobiles created millions of related jobs as the need for tires, glass, steel, highways, oil, and gasoline arose. Small towns started decaying as the automobile enabled rural people to bypass the towns in favor of distant cities and towns. Workers began to move into the suburbs and traveled to work on crowded highways, which led to the disappearance

Expanding the Nighthawk Motors product line to include a plug-in hybrid vehicle is an exciting and innovation move for the company. As an organization, we will be aiming to provide our customers with a vehicle that is fuel efficient, reliable, cost affordable, and fun to drive. The new product line, the Ecostar, presents a unique and exhilarating vehicle to our customers. The new plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) offers a 1.8L 4-cylinder engine with a 500-mile range on a tank of gas with an 80mile range on batteries alone. The EPA rating for the Ecostar has been verified at 60 miles per gallon for city and 55 miles per gallon for highway driving. The Ecostar is not alone in the market, it will have direct competition from the Toyota Prius; however,

Marketing to people in the world is done in different ways depending on the demographics. “Demographics underlies almost every marketing program, and is often a source of potent insights and opportunities for marketers (Hiam, 1992).” In society today, the different age groups and social classes of our population are part of the demographics that are considered. The groups are these: the youth market, teens, underclass, baby boomers, elderly and marital status (Hiam,

The Majority of vehicles used to this day utilize gasoline for their primary source of fuel. Because of this, electric vehicles have faced a decline in the future of their industry due to natural physics that exists in the world. Although many of the electric vehicles offer benefits, petroleum vehicles naturally outperform the electric run vehicles. This is the result of the technology of electric vehicles due to its battery capabilities, performance, impact on the environment, and the financing of the car.

In 1900, 38% of cars were electrically powered. These electric cars were second only to steam powered automobiles up until the invention of the electric car starter and the muffler in 1912. The drop in popularity was due to a surge in demand for gasoline-powered vehicles whose ease of use and relatively low cost are factors that continue to sway consumers toward gasoline-based cars today (Duke Energy). From 1912 to 1997 - the year Toyota unveiled its first Prius model - carbon emissions skyrocketed as a result of electric cars falling out of production and gasoline dominating the United States' market as the primary transportation fuel. (Bowling 2013). As concerns for global warming grew, other companies began releasing hybrids, and, in 2006, Tesla Motors released the Tesla Roadster, a fully electric ultra-sport car that could out-race many gasoline driven vehicles (Duke Energy). From there, the electric car market slowed while consumers wrestled with the decision between ultra-high gas prices increasing in 2008 up to four dollars per gallon, and the increased vehicle cost of the electric and hybrid cars on the current market (Duke Energy). Since then, hundreds of hybrid and electric vehicles have been released, ranging from compact Smart cars to economical hybrids, hybrid SUVs, and all the way up to the top-of-the-line, all-electric, luxury

Hybrid electric cars are the wave of the future. At this point, the human race does not really have a choice anymore: we must act now to prevent further warming of our planet. With global warming graduating from theory to fact, and in the wake of some of the most devastating storms our civilized world has ever seen, I strode into a nearby Honda dealership to see what kind of advancements are being made in the Hybrid electric vehicle field. Keeping in mind what a typical college student might be looking for in a car: pleasing aesthetics, affordability and low maintenance cost, I present you my findings on the Honda Civic LX, compared with the Honda Civic Hybrid model.

The United States recession (which lead to a world recession), began in 1997 and significantly impacted the United States automobile industry during the recession period. The United States automobile industry is still reeling from the effects of the recession throughout the period of economic recovery that continues today. According to Chu and Su, “In this credit-driven recession, one of the hardest hit sectors was the automotive industry, along with the housing and financial markets. Chrysler and General Motors were pushed into bankruptcy; and 276,000 jobs in the automobile and parts industry were destroyed, a whopping 36 percent of the total employment in the sector”.

To ensure successful marketing for the Ecostar, it is most crucial to identify the best target market segment for this new automobile. When it comes to buying hybrid automobiles, there are certain customers who would more likely be interested in purchasing this kind of vehicle. Identifying the best target market segments will allow Nighthawk Motors to better strategize how to attract potential customers. The best group that should be targeted for marketing for the Ecostar is the middle class. Middle-class consumers have certain values in mind when they are making purchases. While they are able to live comfortably, they still want to have the best quality products for the amount of money that they spend. Low-class consumers are more likely to buy automobiles that are used due to higher financial restrictions (Blombäck, 2005). While high-class consumers are likely to buy new automobiles, they are also more likely to buy luxury brand automobiles (Blombäck, 2005). Because Ecostar is a new automobile, middle-class consumers are the best target market as they are more likely to look to purchase a new automobile that is also cost efficient.

Recently there has been much excitement regarding the release of the first hybrid electric car into the American consumer market. The concept of eco-friendly driving and the wide variety of electric cars in the market may seem to be a relatively new concept in the automobile industry; however, this is far from true.

challenges, however, are the most difficult ones to face and overcome. Some environmental issues that

Functional hybrids have additionally been around for over a century. By 1900, a Belgian carmaker introduced a hybrid that had a small gasoline engine along with an electric motor. Like the history of electric cars, the production of hybrid vehicles was at a standstill between the 1930’s and 1960’s due to the development of the piston combustion engine, and the fact that oil consumption and air quality were not pressing issues. After this period of time, hybrid vehicles once again attracted interest and by the 1990’s more time and energy were going into the development of hybrid vehicles (Berman 1). Most manufacturers developed EV’s on an experimental basis in the 1990’s, often with research subsidies from the government. But since these initial breakthroughs, the manufacture of EV’s driven solely by an electric motor has been discontinued due to practical considerations. The key problem was their limited range, often less than 100 miles, and the recharging process took upwards of several