Tesla - Market Plan for Lebanon

Tesla - Market Plan for Lebanon

Introduction

Tesla is one of the most innovative and leading companies when it comes to electric cars. Founded in 2003, it was able to release success car models as of 2008 with only its second car, the Model-S, being labeled as car of the year and received one of the highest customer reviews ever. Tesla’s long-term strategic goal is to “create affordable mass market electronic vehicles in order to have a material impact on oil consumption”. Therefore, in order to properly market the Tesla car in the Lebanese market, a thorough analysis must be done for this market to identify the proper segments that should be targeted and how should this company position itself in this market.

Strategy: Position & Targeting

In the first half of 2014, the number of new cars sold in the market is mostly dominant for Korean and Japanese cars; whereas the number of new cars for European cars has continuously dropped throughout the years. Over the years 2009 to 2013, the Lebanese automobile market has seen a dramatic shift where consumers are shifting towards more economical Korean, Chinese or Japanese automakers and away from the American and European manufacturers. This change is due to the negative economic climate and political instability which has weakened the customers’ purchasing power and due to the increasing fuel prices (Figure 1).

Market Analysis

Considering the current economic environment, the automobile industry in Lebanon remains doing relatively well with a 4.33% increase in year 2012 which is above the then anticipated GDP increase of 1.3% percent 2013 (The Daily Star, 2013). However, this sector is still far from being considered in good health where it is moving downwards as the rest of the economy with the customers’ behavior undertaking a radical change towards downsizing.

Due to high inflation, high fuel costs, and the ever weaker purchasing power of consumers, 91% of the new car sales have shifted to inexpensive small...