Ford Hybrid Marketing Plan

Introduction

The push for green cars comes from people looking for ways to lessen their impact on the environment and become less dependent on oil. The research into alternative and more efficient energy is ongoing, but there is technology available for those who are willing to help. At the individual level, personal automobiles are one of the easiest ways for people to help with the movement. As more people are becoming informed and taking action, companies are feeling pressure from the government and customers to make changes. The change process has been relatively slow and not all countries feel passionate about making changes. In Greece, the change has been slow to sell more green cars. Our consulting group has been assigned the task of helping the Vrohidis-Hatzis Ford dealership find ways to sell green cars in Greece to gain a competitive advantage in the automobile market.

Background

Our client, The Vrohidis-Hatzis Ford dealership opened its doors in 1996. Tasos Hatzis is the current owner of the company located on О"ОµÐŸ‰ÐŸÐƒÐžÑ-Оâ„-ОÑ"О® ОЈП‡ÐžÑ--О»Ðž® in Thessaloniki. The company has maintained high sales from year to year and last year the company sold 1,800 cars. There are currently a total of four Ford dealerships in the area, all competing for the same market. To increase sales and gain a first mover advantage, the dealership is exploring the possibility of green vehicles. As mentioned, Greece is slow to adopt these more environmentally friendly vehicles. However, the Ford Motor Company states on their website they are committed to improving fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Around the world, and in the United States especially, there has been high demand for the Ford Escape hybrid and other vehicles.

Ironically, the problem our client faces comes from the European headquarters in Germany. They are not convinced the hybrid cars will sell in Greece and refuse to ship any of the vehicles. In general, Ford’s market share has increased in Greece. In 2001, Ford became one of the top ten car brands in Greece. Currently, the main competition for comes from the Opel, Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai brands. Of these, only Toyota offers a hybrid car model for sale (www.seaa.gr).

Problem Definition

Our consulting group has been asked to find ways to exploit the new trend of green vehicles for the Vrohidis-Hatzis Ford dealership to increase sales by emphasizing future Ford plans. The dealership’s problem is two-fold. They must convince Ford to deliver the vehicles and convince customers to purchase the new vehicles. The task is quite large, involving many variables beyond the control of the dealership. Our recommendations are based on the interviews with the dealership employees and research on the green car movement.

Research Objectives

What direction will Ford take in making green vehicles?

• Short and long term plans

What other options are available if Ford refuses to send the hybrid vehicles?

• Research ethanol fuel

• Research partial hybrid options

• Research an ethanol/hybrid vehicle

What are the competitors doing in regards to green cars?

• Sales figures

• Advertising

• Trends

How do you convince the people of Greece to buy green cars?

• Government regulations

• Fuelling stations

• Methods of advertising

• Tax benefits

Industry Analysis

The car market in Greece is large with around 250,000 cars sold every year. The top five companies are Toyota, VW, Ford, Hyundai, and Opel. Their market shares are 9.53%, 7.94%, 7.6%, 7.36%, and 6.78% respectively. Toyota is the market leader, with sales around 25,000 cars per year. With each company having many dealerships, competition is fierce. Below are the market shares and sales figures for the top five automobile companies.

All numbers were taken from: http://www.seaa.gr/common/statistics

Market shares 2006

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total:

Toyota 9.3% 10.3% 8.7% 9.6% 9.4% 10.5% 9.9% 9.8% 9.7% 10.0% 9.5% 6.5% 9.5%

VW 7.3% 7.1% 6.9% 7.2% 8.9% 8.9% 8.1% 7.3% 8.1% 8.4% 8.8% 8.6% 7.9%

Ford 6.2% 6.2% 7.3% 9.6% 8.2% 7.5% 7.7% 7.8% 6.2% 8.4% 6.3% 11.3% 7.6%

Huyndai 8.3% 7.8% 8.2% 8.4% 6.3% 8.5% 8.4% 8.3% 5.6% 5.2% 5.6% 5.3% 7.4%

Opel 7.0% 6.8% 7.3% 6.0% 7.1% 6.6% 6.3% 5.6% 7.1% 7.0% 8.2% 6.5% 6.8%

Total cars 29,793 21,198 25,072 23,541 26,432 26,658 26,643 19,271 18,355 19,620 18,520 12,603 267,706

As far as the sales per region are concerned, we have observed that the top two districts are Athens and Northern Greece (Thessaloniki and Macedonia). They have around 65% of the sales. The other 35% is distributed among other small regions like Epirus, Aegean Island, Ionian Island etc.

Change in Sales 2005/2006

Sales 2005 Sales 2006 Change 05/06

Toyota 21,961 25,514 16.18%

VW 19,091 21,256 11.34%

Ford 19,639 20,357 3.66%

Hyundai 24,859 19,715 -20.69%

Opel 21,515 18,154 -15.62%

While comparing the total sales for 2005 and 2006 we observed that three of the top five companies have positive growth rates and two of them are negative. Toyota has increased it’s sales by 16.18% (from 21,961 sales in 2005 to 25,514 sales in 2006); VW has a positive growth of 11.34%