Land Rover North America

Situation:

Land Rover North America (LRNA) which is a UK based company wants to penetrate into US market. In the process of introducing its new product “Discovery” and improving the company’s share in the US market, Land Rover has come up with three different marketing strategies.

Problems:

LRNA has to determine a suitable positioning strategy which differentiates Discovery’s features with the other SUVs of Land Rover.

Lack of brand awareness is hindering Land Rover’s goal to achieve 40,000 units by 1998.

Company is confused on whether to implement exclusive retailers or to develop Land Rover centers.

Analysis:

Most of the Land Rover’s customers have an income of at least 100,000$ majorly between the age group of 35 to 49, which means, the inclination is towards wealthy customers who can afford the vehicle. The statistical data consists of two new user segments: Group1: Conservative buyers, primarily families who prefer to purchase vehicles that are smart and functional rather than those with image statements. Group 2: Young, comfortable and affordable, childless adults who purchases the vehicle for the purpose of prestige symbol and dignity. They are not much concerned about the car performance but are more concerned to be apart and different from the masses just for the ownership image. Considering the brand pros and cons of Land Rover versus other US competitors, difference in perceptions of brand in US and UK markets and features of Discovery versus other SUVs of Land Rover, company is confused on which of the following position option to choose for newly introduced Land Rover Discovery: The definitive family, The Evolved Land Rover, The More Affordable Range Rover.

There is always confusion with the brand name in US market. In contrast to UK, US customers are not very well educated on the automobile industry. They always had a perception that Range Rover is the corporate brand, whereas it is just one of the products in Land Rover brand line. Communication is very low due to its low Ad recall. Land Rover is not so good at brand recognition. According to the statistics only 16% of the people who can afford SUVs are showing preference to purchase Land Rover cars but only 8% of the affordable buyers are confident and definite about purchasing it. This implies the poor brand recognition of Land Rovers.

Based on Yankelovich monitor survey, the company came up with a new retailing strategy that involved conversion of existing franchisees into exclusive retail outlets called Land Rover centers. However the management is skeptical in implementing this as it is too expensive and imposes high investment risk if the plan fails. Moreover the company is confused on whether to go with exclusive centers as