Ford Motor Company - New Product Launch Marketing Plan

New Product Launch Marketing Plan - Final

MKT/571

May 9, 2016

Executive Summary

“Ford Motor Company (FMC) is an American automotive corporation founded in 1903 by Henry Ford and 11 associate investors” ("Our Company," 2016). FMC is now offering a mid-size pickup truck with an electric engine called the Ford E-51. Although an electric it offers premium product features such as remote push star, leather interior, blue tooth and wireless capabilities. The target market for the Ford E-51 is both male and females ages 32-65 ranging in family size of one to four. The need for an electric truck within the automotive industry caters to both consumer wants and needs and also environmental pollution controls set forth by the governments. The production of the Ford E-51 allows for a more diverse market for Ford company. The new electronic mid-size truck is hassle free maintenance and a battery life that is guaranteed to last a decade. There are several benefits of the new E-51, the biggest being all electric and not requiring any gas, no longer requiring oil to lubricate the engine. Setbacks would include lack of charging stations due to this being a new product; gas stations would not be equipped with the eclectic stations yet. The growth rate is hard to predict due to there not being any history of electric trucks within the market. The first trucks off the production line will be pilot trucks hopefully spreading the word around both verbally and by potential new customers seeking the E-51 on the road. The Ford E-51 is both profitable for Ford Motor Company and the environment, giving the automotive industry an electric truck that is both environmentally friendly and easy to maintain.

SWOTT Analysis

The E-51 is incredibly green by not using gasoline or oil and in turn saves the environment and resources.  Many rebates are also available for added savings for purchasers of green products.  

Owning a Ford E-51 will eliminate maintenance hassles, like oil changes, but it can also lead to big expenses. The battery life is estimated to last a decade, and replacement packs can cost thousands of dollars.  The MSRP is costlier than the truck’s easy substitutes, the gas users.  While the top-selling Toyota HiLux truck costs $55,990 in China and its equivalent the Toyota Tacoma costs $34,630 in the US; the E-51 costs $64,999.  It’s higher prices are a result of using technology to make it fully electric.  

More and more Americans are looking to change from their gasoline vehicle to an electric vehicle because of the rising gasoline prices. The US gas substitute is the Toyota Tundra with a price tag of $46,530. VIA Motors leads the fully electric vehicle market with its electric truck costing $65,000.  The E-51 can place itself in the market with the right pricing strategy.  

The biggest threat to the Ford E-51 in the electric vehicle market is BYD the leading fully electric vehicle manufacture in China and VIA Motors the fully electric vehicle in the US.  In 2014, BYD climbed from 7th place into the 1st place within a ten-month window. BYD currently has no competition in the electric bus market, in turn allowing them to be the dominant company within this market. The Chinese government wants to see more people drive EV’s in the hope of cutting down on emissions.” (CNBC, 2016)  In China, it takes a gross length of to receive license plates, but in support of going green, “those buying electric vehicles get their license plates right away.  These policies boosted sales of electric cars to Chinese consumers to 188,000 last year, easily ahead of the U.S., where 116,000 were sold.” (CNBC, 2016) The following chart reflects plug-in car sales trends in the US according to Inside EV’s.