The Chrysler PT Cruiser - Essay Example

?Assignment Table of Contents Overview 3 Market Segment for the Product 4 Marketing Objectives 5 Proposed Marketing Plan 6 References 7 Overview The companies and the various brands across the globe are continuously reinvigorating their businesses and positioning themselves in order to achieve growth and profitability. The companies need to continuously innovate, reinvigorate and update themselves and their products in order to beat the competition and cement their leading position in the market. The company that has been chosen for the study is Chrysler. The product that is chosen for the study is PT Cruiser. The Chrysler Group is Daimler Chrysler AG’s unit which is world’s fifth biggest automaker producing company in both passengers as well as commercial vehicle segments (Seatcheck, n.d.). The Chrysler PT Cruiser is built by Chrysler which is a “retro” styled station wagon. It is the marquee of Daimler Chrysler. The model resembles in size and shape to the 1997 Chrysler CCV prototype (Chrysler PT Cruiser, 2011). The marketing plan is all about repositioning and revitalising the PT Cruiser that has been struggling since many years and underwent a decline stage. PT Cruiser has been one of the successful retro-styled vehicles. More than 1.3 million PT Cruiser cars were manufactured since the year 2000. However, despite its stylish look and many advanced features, the sales of the car have been plummeting in the recent years. It has been analysed that the reason behind the sales slide and the failure of the PT Cruiser have been that the Chrysler didn’t invest the required sum in this model. It has even been argued that the reason behind its failure has been that the car was never improved by the company over its life span. The target segment was primarily the middle aged people who bought these cars. Market Segment for the Product It has been evident that PT Chrysler has been targeting the middle aged group, i.e. 50 years and above. The term market segmentation can be defined as the process whereby the customers and/or the potential customers are split in a market into different groups or sections (McDonald & Dunbar, 2007). There are always two basic strategic choices for any company. Either the company can segment the market or it can treat its entire market as its potential customers for the goods and services that it renders. By the word ‘segmentation’ the development of the unique marketing strategies in order to meet the market needs of the market place, is perceived (Weinstein, 2004). In addition to the middle aged people the target segment should be youngsters as well. By driving its attention towards this particular segment, the company can gain a significant number of customers in comparison to the middle aged people. In terms of psychographic segmentation, the company needs to segment its market to the outgoing people who usually hangout with their friends and relatives. The company has been providing its services all over the world; however, it would be better if the company targets the Asian countries as there is huge potential in these countries. In terms of benefit segmentation, the company needs to focus upon investing in the style of the product as it has not gone through much change with respect to the product and there has been no investment made to upgrade it. In terms of physiographic segmentation, the company can target both the economy minded as well as the high income group people. Marketing Objectives The main objective of the company must be to invest adequate resources so that they can appeal to the mass consumers. In the era of competition, it is important for the companies to keep themselves updated with the modern technologies. The major reason for the failure of the product has been that the model and features provided by the car were same throughout its entire of its 11 years existence in the market. Therefore, the main objective of the company must be to make changes in the product model along with providing new advanced features with the aim to beat the competition and remain ahead of its competitors. Old concepts become obsolete with the change in the tastes and preferences of the consumers. Moreover, the entry of the new competitors makes it important for the companies to bring certain changes in the traditional method of working (Doyle, 2008). In order to achieve the above mentioned changes, company will have to take into account the 4 ‘P’s of marketing namely the product, price, place and promotion. A proper time frame needs to be set with the aim to revive the brand as soon as possible. Proposed Marketing Plan It can be proposed that PT Cruiser should make certain modifications in its model according to the current needs of the customer. It has been evident that the product has been targeted towards all age groups, however because of its ‘retro-styled outlook’ the middle aged people were more attracted towards this particular car. Therefore, in order to appeal to the youngsters and bring them as the target consumers, the company needs to pay due attention towards its model. It needs to change the design of the car as this was affecting its quality as well. It can be proposed that the company should use hybrid technology and increase the fuel efficiency of the product which will make the product attractive to the entire segment. In order to provide the customers with higher level of satisfaction, the company needs to focus upon style, comfort, fuel efficiency, design and quality. After adding certain features to the product, it would be prudent for the company to pay attention towards the promotional strategy as well. This is one of the major considerations within the marketing strategies. The customers’ feedback also plays a major role while reviving the product. Therefore, it can be proposed that the company should try to collect information from the potential customers in order to improve the product in a systematic manner and provide the consumers with a product according to their need. It may be such that during this stage little bit of alterations can be done within the product. In the ever changing world of today, it is very important to match the customers’ requirement with the final product. If the company recognises this factor, then it can capitalise on its existing product and become the leader in this particular segment. References Chrysler PT Cruiser, 2011. Chrysler PT Cruiser History. Chrysler PT Cruiser. [Online] Available at: http://chrysler-pt-cruiser.info/history/ [Accessed February 02, 2011]. Doyle, P., 2008. Value-Based Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Corporate Growth and Shareholder Value. John Wiley and Sons. McDonald, M. & Dunbar, I., 2007. Market Segmentation: How to Do it, How to Profit From It. Butter-Heinemann. Seatcheck, No Date. About Chrysler. Chrysler. [Online] Available at: http://www.seatcheck.org/about_chrysler.html [Accessed February 02, 2011]. Weinstein, A., 2004. Handbook of Market Segmentation: Strategic Targeting For Business and Technology Firms. Routledge. Read More