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Smart Car Case Study

Smart's competitive advantages include its ecological friendliness, quality, and compact two-passenger size. It targets environmentally conscious city dwellers with an affordable yet stylish design. However, the Smart may not succeed in the large US market where drivers prefer larger, more powerful vehicles. While some Americans care about the environment, the Smart's small size and 80 mph speed limit are not major selling points. Compared to models like the Honda Element, Toyota Scion, and Kia Soul, the Smart is smaller with only two seats and a lower speed limit, making it appeal to different customers than these competitors which seat more people and drive faster. Losing its US distributor, Penske Automotive Group, will significantly hurt

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1K views1 page

Smart Car Case Study

Smart's competitive advantages include its ecological friendliness, quality, and compact two-passenger size. It targets environmentally conscious city dwellers with an affordable yet stylish design. However, the Smart may not succeed in the large US market where drivers prefer larger, more powerful vehicles. While some Americans care about the environment, the Smart's small size and 80 mph speed limit are not major selling points. Compared to models like the Honda Element, Toyota Scion, and Kia Soul, the Smart is smaller with only two seats and a lower speed limit, making it appeal to different customers than these competitors which seat more people and drive faster. Losing its US distributor, Penske Automotive Group, will significantly hurt

Uploaded by

Chaerin Lee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MKT315

CASE STUDY: THE SMART CAR


Question 1: What is Smart’s competitive advantage? Brand promise? Positioning?
Smart’s competitive advantage is that the car has better characteristics compared to its
competitors. It offers good quality, it is ecologically harmless, comfortable and it fits two passengers.
Smart’s brand promise is to address the needs of city residents at very affordable prices and makes its
customers to be emotionally attached to the car because the car is designed to be affordable, stylish,
durable and comfortable. As to Smart’s positioning, the brand targets customers sensitive to the use of
natural resources as fuels. Since the use of gasoline is minimized.
Question 2: Assess the U.S. market potential for the Smart. Do you think the car will be a success?
Why or why not?
I don’t think that the car will be a success in the U.S market unless it targets a niche of
ecological safety. People in the United States rather prefer big comfortable cars. The speed
restriction of 80 miles is also not the winning feature for Smart . Some Americans care about
the ecological imbalance nowadays and might be the best target for Smart in the U.S
Question 3: How does the Smart compare to the Honda Element, Toyota Scion, or Kia Soul? Are
these models targeting the same consumers as the Smart? In view of the Japanese carmakers’ success
with these brands, do you think the Smart’s U.S. launch is too late?
Smart compares to Honda Element, Toyota Scion, or Kia Soul in that Smart is a two seats car,
ecologically friendly, is smaller in size, and its speed limit is lower than is competitors that are two to
five seats, speed limits are higher, slightly bigger in size and eco-friendly. These models may not be
targeting the same consumers as Smart. This is because they may target couples with children due to
the additional seats, bigger size and higher speed limit while Smart may target couples without
children. The Smart’s U.S. launch is no too late. In order to catch up Smart may concentrate on
ecological friendly and maybe increase it space to four seats.
Question 4: As noted in the case, Penske Automotive Group is no longer the distributor for Smart
USA. How will this affect Smart’s fortunes in the United States?
The smart cars goal to take the market within few years are greatly affected by the withdrawal
of the group. Smart’s fortune may be affected in a way that its sale will constantly fall due to little or
no demand for such car models and size. As a result, Smart needs to increase the number of seats, the
size of the car and the speed limit in order to survive.

Question 5: Evaluate Smart USA’s social media strategy. What additional channels or tactics would
you recommend?
Smart’s social media strategy is to position itself with segments mostly like young people,
couples without children. I would recommend Smart to operate on mass marketing with bigger size
and more than two seats. Other channels like Instagram, twitter and tv

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