Marketing the 2cv in USA, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Entering the used car market in the USA during a time of recession would take a bold marketing plan.  This particularly when Citroen has no real market presence in the USA.  See Fig 1 which illustrates the latest table for 2009.  The Japanese firms of Toyota and Honda have better market presence than that of the US domestic car manufacturers.  This has essentially been due to two key factors (i) Quality and reliability – established track record of reliability (ii) Price – very competitive in terms of value for money.  Ford have made up a lot of ground recently by enhancement of the product range, improving qualities and efficiencies and offering extremely good 0% interest financial deals.  Citroen would need a hard sell in the marketing mix in order to compete.

Examining the Marketing Mix

The Marketing mix essentially examines four components within the overall marketing strategy: (1) Price (2) Place (3) Product and (4) Promotion.  Hence the offer that ends up being made to the customer can depend upon how you mix these elements.  Considering the Citroen 2CV sale in the USA we might determine the following preliminary analysis that will determine our marketing mix and ultimately the approach to marketing the car in the USA.

Hence the market analysis illustrates that you would need to enter with a relatively competitive price and good finance purchase options.  You would target Cities and the urban commuter as the main distribution channel.  You are selling a concept car that is practical, fun and more about the experience and makes a personal statement about your enjoyment of life rather than being trapped by the conventional.  The car is most likely to appeal to the female gender, both young and old alike, but more skewed towards the baby boomers 50 & 60 year olds who are less concerned about image and speed but quality of life in a fun low cost car.