Smart Car
INDUSTRY
Classification and definition of the industry
The relevant industry for Smart Car is worldwide automakers because the target audience will be cost-conscious Americans. In 1999, the American car market was filled with many foreign imports that directly competed against and in some instances beat American domestic car producers.
Analysis of existing competitors
Today there are other low cost automobile manufacturers marketing to the United States. None, however, produce anything like SmartCar. The modular/custom design has no known peer in the U.S at this time. Daimler-Benz owns Chrysler so we can assume that at least one of the big three domestic automakers will probably not be directly competing against Smart Car. It is not known whether Smart Car’s prospective competitors could create price competition by lowering prices enough to hinder its entrance in the market. In the event of the Smart Car’s introduction. There likely would be advertizing battles. These battles might feature competitors stressing the need for accident safety. This would exploit a visual defect of Smart Car that is deeply seeded in the heart of many Americans: “I like good gas mileage and new trends, but I want to drive a vehicle that will allow me to survive a crash with an SUV.” Could Japanese automakers, GM, Ford, VW or Volvo create something similar to compete? Perhaps. But that assumes they believe that America will support the design and concept in the first place. If they are skeptical, then it may be more advantageous to lower prices and the MPG on present models and stress crashworthyness.
Americans tend to love differentiation through uniqgue customization. This will be a major selling point for the Smart car to Americans. Government regulations may be a significant hindrance to its entry. Complex and strict government regulation often limits the entrance of competitors to a market and this may be true here especially with regard to
Classification and definition of the industry
The relevant industry for Smart Car is worldwide automakers because the target audience will be cost-conscious Americans. In 1999, the American car market was filled with many foreign imports that directly competed against and in some instances beat American domestic car producers.
Analysis of existing competitors
Today there are other low cost automobile manufacturers marketing to the United States. None, however, produce anything like SmartCar. The modular/custom design has no known peer in the U.S at this time. Daimler-Benz owns Chrysler so we can assume that at least one of the big three domestic automakers will probably not be directly competing against Smart Car. It is not known whether Smart Car’s prospective competitors could create price competition by lowering prices enough to hinder its entrance in the market. In the event of the Smart Car’s introduction. There likely would be advertizing battles. These battles might feature competitors stressing the need for accident safety. This would exploit a visual defect of Smart Car that is deeply seeded in the heart of many Americans: “I like good gas mileage and new trends, but I want to drive a vehicle that will allow me to survive a crash with an SUV.” Could Japanese automakers, GM, Ford, VW or Volvo create something similar to compete? Perhaps. But that assumes they believe that America will support the design and concept in the first place. If they are skeptical, then it may be more advantageous to lower prices and the MPG on present models and stress crashworthyness.
Americans tend to love differentiation through uniqgue customization. This will be a major selling point for the Smart car to Americans. Government regulations may be a significant hindrance to its entry. Complex and strict government regulation often limits the entrance of competitors to a market and this may be true here especially with regard to