Auto Market

        Introduction

The trend for the auto market today is the plug in hybrid electric engine because it does not consume much petrol compared to the gasoline engine. In this assignment, we are going to clarify the two internal factors and two external factors that have driven the organizations to adopt with the change of traditional gasoline or fuel engine cars to hybrid or electric vehicles (EVs) in the automotive industry. The internal factors are the customer’s preferences towards the car today and also the organization structure for most of the auto makers. On the other hand, the external factors are the technological environment and globalization for the organizations in automotive industry.

Internal Factor

In order for the organizations to remain competitive in the automotive industry, they should conduct a survey on customer’s preferences towards the cars today. Consumer preference for fuel efficiency will be critical determinants of the rate of penetration of fuel efficiency technology  (H.Gibbons, 1982). It is a golden opportunity for the organizations to promote their hybrid vehicles since the consumers have been complaining about the price of fuel which is steadily rising for many years. Hybrid cars are the fuel efficiency and low emission cars. In a recent survey conducted by Cars.com, 85 percent of consumers said the rise in fuel prices for a long period of time would prompt them to buy a more fuel-efficient car (Cars.com, 2008). Undeniably, organizations shall start to focus on planting the hybrid technology for different types of car so it would be their selling point and attracts customers. This is because different customers have different preferences on cars. For instance, consumer A prefer a family car whereas consumer B prefer a SUV. But, they all have one similarity that is they demand car which is fuel-efficiency.

        Besides, the waste that released by the traditional gasoline engine is harmful to human health and causes pollution to the environment. The consciousness of consumer towards “going green” and “eco-friendly” has been increasing due to the environmental issues happening around the world. Hybrid cars released very little of the dangerous substance into the atmosphere, thus reducing emissions and air pollution. Therefore, most of the consumers prefer hybrid vehicles nowadays in order to save the environment and for their own good. According to (Haldis, 2007), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles have the ability to reduce the expense of owning a vehicle and, along with smart-grid technologies, cut vehicles' carbon dioxide emissions as much as 50%. Therefore, the organizations in automotive industry also trying to adapt this change where they start to use “eco-friendly” as their slogan or their selling point. Toyota Company has successfully draw the market’s attention with its green car strategy. Toyota Prius has been named as one of the best environmental friendly cars for 2014.