Strategic Research on ZipCar Essay

In addition to their green initiatives, Ford is looking at other trends regarding consumer elasticity and behavior towards the automobile market. In addition to dealing with the shift in consumer short-term behavior (going from “I really want” to “I do not really need”), the automotive industry, along with all others are wondering what the long-term change will be in consumer behavior due to the recent recession. According to Barkley US, there will be significant long-term changes in consumer behavior. Most notably, the changes will be the consumer going back to a basics mentality, the use of technology and green strategy, and women influencing more purchase decisions. The biggest changes will take place in America and parts of Europe, where housing and stock market bubbles have imploded and unemployment has soared. Companies will also need to show they empathize with consumers’ new concerns. “There will need to be a move from passion to compassion in

Summary: Who: Robin Chase CEO and Co-founderWhen: October 14, 2000What: Option 1: Reach out to other investors Option 2: Create a new business model Option 3: Close the businessMain Players: * Robin Chase * Antje Danielson - * Corporate PresidentOthers * Glenn Urban – Dean and mentor to Chase * JohnSnow – Consulting Firm * Paul Covell – MIT engineer * Investors CircleAlliance Partners: * Dan Holland – Venture partner * Transit Stations * AP reporter – press coverage Competitors: * Europe car sharing companies - Swiss Mobility CarSharing, Drive Stadtauto * Rental Car Companies –

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has started its operations in 1962 by establishing and successfully developing a new niche in the car renting industry. The business had strictly focused on replacing local citizens’ cars due to repairs. Later on Enterprise started to serve two additional segments, leisure & discretionally rentals and business rentals. Newly launched segments were successful; however the main focus of Enterprise continued to be the initial business stream – the Replacement Rentals. This business section takes up 78% of Enterprise’s resources, which enables the company to capture approximately 55% of the US replacement rentals market share. Yet, the total replacement Rent-A-Car

Q&A: Based on the material covered in this chapter what questions would you ask the firm’s founders before making your funding decision? What answers would satisfy you?

Jack feels that the company should go under a new system to increase efficiency for their warehouse and inventor. Liz is concerned that the investment for the (ASRS) may not yield the necessary return to justify the investment.

CarMax (Nasdaq: KMX), was established by Sharp when he took a gander at the $150 billion utilized auto advertise and saw three qualities that persuaded him the Circuit City way to deal with retailing could be joined onto the utilized auto market: to begin with, the supply of utilized autos was plenteous; second, the interest for utilized autos was reliable; and third the administration rehearses utilized inside of the divided business were unsophisticated. Similarly as numbers for CarMax goes, in the second from last quarter it came to make back the initial investment of $0.00 per offer contrasted with $0.31 a year prior and from $0.00 per offer from the past quarter.

The goal is to increase the overall market share and profits of MM’s Motors in the current market environment by targeting appropriate customer segments and proper allocation of marketing resources. Our initial strategy was to concentrate on segment A because of the following reasons:

Target Markets and Marketing Segmentation 5.4. Market Trends 5.5. Pricing 5.6. Promotion 5.7. Place 5.8.

We spent $1,245,000 on advertising this period, $50,000 more than the previous year. We found out we spent so much on advertising but the spread of spending on different media outlets were incorrect. As a result, we would allocate our spending differently for 2017. A large amount should be put into magazines and none into internet. According to the market research, magazines are the most effective method path in reaching customers. Furthermore, we increased our spending on branding from $250,000 to $275,000. We increased branding for this year in hopes it will continue to enhance overall brand awareness. As a result, we spent $25,000 more on branding for this year. However, the firm in first place spent almost double in branding compared to ours and it has clearly done the trick. Our company will continue to discuss branding spending moving forward. One problem that cost us this year was the increased price of the mountain bike. The price of $775 was the most expensive and we did not see the increase in sales we were

4) What is the strongest argument Chase could make to a potential investor about the attractiveness of the venture? What, specifically, should her elevator pitch be at the Springboard forum?

Determine the profile of the investor for which this company may be a fit, relative to that potential investor’s investment strategy. Provide support for your rationale.

8. Any additional market analysis and evaluation to further justify the development of your business.

For our initial strategy we wanted to choose a product line that would be most intriguing to customers in this poor economy. To initiate this we focused our products around better gas mileage, safety, and quality. In order to do this we needed to evaluate consumers’ needs and desires when making a high involvement purchase such as a car. We believe the best target market for this type of car would be a middle class family that does not have as much disposable income due to the recession in our economy.

Chase should have bid for the loan mandate in such a way to maximize the investment fee income after controlling for risks involved, and the client’s preferences for syndicated loan. Thus. Chase faced a trade off between Risks and rewards. We have to weigh out the risks with rewards as below

General Motors employs a competitive pricing strategy out of necessity in the current marketplace and they always work from a list price. The list price is located in the window of every single vehicle on a car lot. There is a stigma in the auto industry with consumers believing that nobody ever pays sticker price. This theory is being tested with the new Terrain and Equinox models, as they do not offer any cash discounts and the only discount available to the consumer comes from the dealerships themselves. A variety of different pricing strategies exist in the market for vehicles and they include cash discounts, rebates, quantity discounts for businesses (aka fleet), trade-ins, loss-leaders or rebates. The customer always feels the best when they can employ all of these strategies, as implausible as that seems. The current 2010 buyer is more educated than ever before and because of this the pricing strategy needs to be clear and concise throughout all promotional mediums. We are going to change the avenue that General Motors is using for price by reintroducing 0% financing and bringing back leasing. Because of the current economic conditions, the general population has become very price sensitive and as a result General Motors has created large cash discounts on most vehicles. These large discounts are in response to low interest rates offered by banks on lines of credit and the surprisingly high level of availability. We are not suggesting