Competition Among Luxury Car Brands
Luxury car brands such as Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, and Bentley are racing to bring an electric car to market. With strict regulations and the fossil fuel supply decreasing, the need for a fully electric automobile continues to increase. Lamborghini has already released a sketch and a scale model of their new luxury sports car called, "The Lamborghini Diamante." However this car will not be released to market until 2023. Also the new raging bull does posses a fully electric engine which has 4 main batteries with a full output of 965 Italian horses prancing underneath the hood just waiting to be unleashed.
Aston Martin is trying to be the first luxury car manufacturer to bring a fully electric car to market which can perform at high speeds. There is already an electric car company called Tesla and currently they make electric models but, their cars focus on fuel economy rather than pure performance. Aston Martin currently has a sedan model called the Rapide which is fully electric and will be brought to market in 2017. This bold move has attracted the attention of investors which can help Aston Martin to be more profitable in both the long and short term. This positive shift in demand can increase the firms EBITA (Earnings before interest, taxation depreciation, and amortization) as well.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/05/aston-martin-ceo-forget-tesla-well-lead-with-ultra-luxury-electric-vehicles.html
One question that comes to mind is if these luxury car brands come up with an electric car model that benefits both fuel efficiency and performance how will they create an affordable car without stripping the original model signature features. Luxury cars are appealing, but replacing their car parts are extremely expensive. In regards to marketing purposes luxury car brands must address what is success in regards to this new business endeavor.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be that these moves are not in response to a "green market", but rather to try and match the feats of Tesla. Elon Musk didn't set out to make a Prius style car - he wanted to create the best car on the market, not just the best electric car.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, I think the suppliers are trying to match the demand for more green cars rather than doing it out of the goodness of their company and what they believe the environment needs. Also, only luxury car brands seem to be interested in this type of progress as non-luxury brands do not seem focused on making their cars electric, but rather more luxury in their own way. Because of these two things, I think the range of specs for different makes and models of cars will start to become more homogeneous with less diversity in terms of consumer choice as the consumer demands begin to narrow.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Bill and Angie, while the company might not be doing it out of the goodness of their hearts...does that really matter? I think a lot of companies jump on trends similar to this because there is a high demand rather than doing it because they believe it is right. It is a step forward for environmentally friendly cars either way.
ReplyDeleteBut I do agree with Angie, to an extent, that makes and models of cars will start to become more homogeneous. I don't know much about cars, but it does seem that there is less diversity in what the cars look like and what they can do. However, I think there is a large number of different types of cars at the same time, so I think it will be a while until there are less options.