Lotus Rental Car wants to reduce expenses and increase their consumer base by adding new fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles to the Lotus fleet if these measures would be profitable. Key problems With the high demand for car rentals, and having more ecologically aware consumers, keeping alternative fuel vehicles in stock has been difficult. Hertz Rental Car Corporation has 4,000 hybrids throughout the United States, rents the hybrids for more money and still has a higher demand than supply. The demand for the hybrids has jumped 40% in the last year. Because of high consumer demand, auto manufacturers do not offer big discounts to commercial accounts.
Many economy car companies attempt to replicate the look and feel of many luxury cars. Which usually results in a failure. This is true because in order to compete with the luxury cars the economy cars would have to use the highest quality materials as does the luxury cars do. In doing so the total cost of the car would increase. This cost increase would decrease the amount of people in their targeted market.
For example, the first cars were so expensive that only rich people could afford to buy them but cars became cheaper when Ford invented the moving assembly line and the work went faster. But there were also some bad effects of the advanced technology in the factory. The industrial workers became mere wage earners as the machinery was too expensive. Some worker had to face unemployment as the machines made the work faster than before and it required fewer workers at some point. This system made the working condition dangerous as many industrial workers face the possibility of fatal
Prices in gas have changed how much food cost since the transportation of these goods needs gas. This rising tide has also sent the price of rubber and plastic product soaring. Yet, the biggest problem due to these prices is car sales. Transportation of food in America is mainly by semi-trucks or trains. With the cost of diesel gas almost breaking five and a half dollars per gallon, many companies cannot afford to transport their product.
* This lack of customization of Ka towards a target segment caused confusions among the customers and it is evident from the target groups interviewed, they had different perceptions of the car. * Ford should have been more strategic. It was never firm in its decisions and in a haste move to come up with a new car for small car market, they made a mistake of manufacturing a car that was not targeted to a particular market segment. 2. What were some of the major car-buying dimensions that emerged from the psychographics study?
Hybrids have become very popular and more and more people are converting to them each day. Though the hybrids name, and sales rates are growing, there is always much controversy over the cost and maintenance on the hybrid vehicles. Aside from the controversy and opinions, even though hybrid vehicles have a slightly higher purchasing and maintenance cost, they are still much more efficient and will be cheaper on the owner throughout the vehicles life expectancy. The hybrid has made a name for itself, and when buying a new car, why not get one that will benefit for you most? The problem some people face though when looking for new vehicles is the fact that they don’t know much about the hybrid or electric vehicle, and they will pass by them without any knowledge of what they are.
This affects rates on everything from mortgages to car loans. Fiscal policy is set by legislative action or executive order, so the auto industry plays a significant role in the U.S. economy. In October 2021, employment at auto and parts manufacturing and dealerships was more than 6.4 million, the health of the auto industry depends on the health of the economy. Monetary policy sets the tone for the economy so if interest rates are low, cars are more affordable, which usually means more auto jobs which is a good thing but if interest rates are high, dealerships have fewer auto jobs and more unsold cars . This leads to less tax paid by the industry and more unemployment insurance payouts, both of which affect fiscal policy.
Under the guidance of Griffith, Zipcar's operating income rose to $one hundred million, which means this is a profitable, and the members are also increased. This will increase the new entrants, who may be compress the cost, thus reduce car rental prices. Bargaining power of customers (buyers): There are many car rental companies available, such as HERTZ, AVIS, so consumers make their choice depend on which company can give a discount and which is the cheapest one. This will influence zipcar’s profit. The consumer may ask more service, such as a more clean or new car, this will increase zipcar’s cost.
The increase of gas prices hurt the benefit of motorists. Because of the ridiculous high gas prices, many people have to choose pool car to share the transportation/gas fees with other people or use public transportation. For instance, my uncle, who lives in Foster City and works at downtown San Francisco, drives to work every day. However, when the gas prices went up, he had to take Caltrain-a kind of public transportation to go to work since it was cheaper than drive. However, it took longer time to go to work since he just needed 40 minutes to drive to work but he needed more or less two hours to go to work by Caltrain.
An example of a product with an import surplus in the U.S. is cars imported from China. The U.S. auto industry saw significant job loss and was close to total collapse because of the rapid growth of cars imported from China at very competitive cost. Though the auto industry in the U.S. has rebounded with the help of a government stimulus program, they still have much ground to make up because of what many call unfair trading policies between the U.S. and China. As long as the U.S. is in a trade deficit the nation’s economy is in jeopardy. This hurts business in the long term and ultimately the American consumer since businesses will not be able to compete with the low prices