Renault launch its new 100% electric car in the US: The Twizy

Thèmes abordés

Renault, electric car, China or India

Résumé du document

The proactive motivation for Renault to move in the US is to increase the demand. The group has the capacities and competences to produce enough vehicles for both Europe and United States. They also have the skills to produce a technological and quality car concept.
This kind of vehicle is only use in developed countries with a mature market, it can't be sold in emerging markets like China or India at the moment. So they look for a qualified customer to distribute their niche product. Even if the car industry in the US is also in crisis, the opportunity to reach Americans customers can make the difference in sales growth for the company. Supported by a strong production line and financial capacities, the strategy is to use the technological advantages and managerial competences to introduce the car in the US. The final objective is of course to increase profit and market share, but also to support the production by fetching the demand in a new country where the market is mature, and where Renault can easily transport and distribute a new car concept.

Before exporting the vehicle, Renault will have to consider the potential barriers to exportation, as is for instance the taxation applied for foreign products. It also exist non-tariff barriers like quotas or limitation of exported products. The product also has to respect some norms before it can be sold in America. There is also a small risk of "protectionism" from the US government because they are currently trying to save the car industry like we have seen with Chrysler and Ford in Detroit. It can have consequence on the taxation rate or quotas for instance.

Extraits

[...] The competitive advantage for the group is the technology and the patents, particularly in the electric car industry. The combination of Renault and Nissan R&D department and know-how is a real advantage to differentiate. Before penetrate the US market, the group will probably launch a benchmark program including the value chain analysis, the core competencies and competitive advantages. Customers will have to rate firm performance and keys competitors' performance. The measures include monitoring delivery, reliability ease of ordering, after sales service etc . [...]

[...] They also have recently launched a new electric vehicle called Twizy and it can be an good opportunity to enter with this new concept in the US market. The company is actually a global firm with up to 47% of sales realize in an international level vs in 2011 ("Renault Group commercial results 2012"). In first semester 2012, the international sales reached a record level with an increase of higher than market growth 9.5 thanks to successes in Russia and Brazil particularly. [...]

[...] It is not targeting a mass audience like individual or commercial vehicle, and so they just need a partner for the distribution. Describe the International Product Lifecycle and its implications for the electric / hybrid car models? The first step of the International Product Lifecycle is the phase of novelty. The advantage over competition is absolute for the innovative company that exports the product and benefits from financial compensation. Then, in the mature phase, the manufacturing processes are diffused and imitating countries will start to compete successfully with the group and sales will decline. [...]

[...] all this are indicators that need to be controlled to market a product like the Twizy in the US market. REFERENCES Stoll, Jerome. RÉSULTATS COMMERCIAUX 1ER SEMESTRE 2012. Rep. N.p.: Groupe Renault, n.d. Web July Europe. Commission Européenne. Obstacles Au Commerce Et À L'Investissement - Rapport 2011. N.p., n.d. Web. [...]

[...] The main difference is in the working habits, but it will be easy for Renault to deal with American employees than with French workers (Strikes weeks holidays etc . If we refer to Hofstede's Culture ranking, we notice that the individualism is much higher in the US than in France like the masculinity. Conversely, power distance and uncertainty avoidance are low in the US. That mean people are more willing to take risks. In a marketing point of view, these differences between the cultures will have an impact on the strategy. The way to market the product and to dialog with stakeholders will be different. [...]