Sport Utility Vehicle and Mercedes Essay Example for Free

Sport Utility Vehicle and Mercedes Essay 1. What is the decision facing Mercedes? Mercedes must determine how to market the BlueHybrid and the so-called mild hybrid the ML450 to the United States market, while competing with Toyota and Honda. Mercedes also needs to be concerned with making sure that they keep their existing customers, while transitioning into the green marketplace. 2. What factors are most important in understanding this decision situation? Consumers are attracted to Mercedes-Benz for the vehicles’ luxury, design, safety, and powerful engines that have excellent handling and acceleration. The performance that Mercedes is known for must not be lost in a hybrid or of a mild hybrid. The marketers need to ensure that all the reasons that consumers are attracted to Mercedes stay the same and maybe even add a bit of â€Å"green† to it. However, customers are not going to want to pay $80,000 to $90,000 for a hybrid SUV that shutters when transitioning from gas to electric. 3. What are the alternatives? Mercedes must determine how it is going to represent its brand. Is it the well known for fast well built cars with little concern for family vehicles and gas mileage or will they blend the two and use their â€Å"brand† to bring new people and existing customers to a green vehicle with the newly developed lithium-ion battery? 4. What are the decisions you recommend? I think that the challenge of Mercedes is that they are so well know for crafting excellent vehicles that when considering branching out into new technology with a new market potential, with expansion of American facilities, there creeps in the decline of the brand. What if the hybrids and mild-hybrid fail? What will it do to the brand? I recommend that Mercedes enter into the SUV marketing with this hybrid technology on a low-scale, marketing to the environmentally green customer and see what the response is, as well as the performance of the vehicles. 5. What are some of the ways to implement your recommendations? Mercedes has to ensure that the market research shows the consumer desire to match in order to introduce a hybrid luxury SUV to the United States market. Marketers must target the most viable customer base that will be thought to purchase the luxury SUVs. Mercedes will need to use its branding in commercials, television shows and the standard billboards around town to get the vehicles into the public’s awareness. Bibliography Michael Levens (2012). Marketing: Defined, Explained, Applied, Second Edition (text and case book).