Teslas Marketing Model in China - Research Paper Example

The paper "Tesla’s Marketing Model in China" is a perfect example of a Marketing Research Paper. The history of Tesla dates back to 2003 when two engineers Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard came together to literally ‘disrupt’ the auto industry not just in America but also globally. Their main focus was to see a global auto industry that does not necessarily rely on gasoline for its survival. For that reason, originally known as Tesla Motors, Tesla, Inc. has always focused on the design and manufacture of superior electric vehicles. Famously known for his superb entrepreneurial skills, Elon Musk joined the business one year later in order to steer Tesla’s $7.5 million Series A financing. And, it was at that point that he took over as Tesla Motors’ Board Chairman. Years later, Elon Musk became the company’s CEO (Tesla, 2017).

China is increasingly becoming one of the greatest consumers in the automotive industry. This is largely attributed to the rapid rise in the country’s middle class and high-class citizens whose appetite to own cars is considerably high. The increase in consumption of the auto industry products can also be attributed to the high population in China which in itself signifies a huge market share of the global auto industry (Perkowski, 2009). It is such statistics that have led to an exponential increase in the number of automobile companies scrambling for a market share in China, one of which is Tesla, Inc.

According to Duong (2017), there were at least 6,500 automotive companies in China as at the end of 2014, a number which has been increasing over time. It is estimated that by the end of 2014, the total annual value of the auto market in China stood at more than US$200 billion. In terms of the overall market demand for vehicles, the United States has for the longest time been the global leader followed closely by Japan with China coming third. These statistics changed in 2006 when China overtook Japan as the second-largest auto market in the world. Three years later, the Chinese auto market grew to become the largest globally with the US being displaced to the second position before Japan (Pollet, Staffell & Shang, 2012).

In its quest to expand its global network, Tesla Inc. has managed to enter the Chinese market where it is aggressively routing for better ways of running the business in that part of the Asian market. In order to fully thrive in this market, Tesla Inc. has adopted different marketing strategies to ensure that it survives in the Chinese market – a market that is largely seen as a dynamic one.

This Chapter, therefore, delves deep into the analysis of the different marketing models Tesla Inc. may want to adopt as it seeks to dominate the Chinese market. Specifically, this literature review does the analysis of Tesla’s marketing model in China using three common types of market strategy analysis i.e. SWOT Analysis, the 4Ps Marketing Mix, and Porter’s Five Forces Analysis in that order.

An Analysis of Tesla’s Marketing Model in China

The SWOT Analysis

A SWOT Analysis is usually an important measurement parameter in determining the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of a given organization. According to Fifield (2012), Strengths and Weaknesses are classified as the internal factors that may affect an organization’s performance. On the other hand, Opportunities and Threats refer to the outside parameters that have an impact on the success of an organization.