Degree
Master of Business Administration
Faculty / School
Faculty of Business Administration (FBA)
Advisor
Mr. Jami Moiz
Committee Member 1
Mr. Jami Moiz, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing & CED Business Administration - Academic Affairs, Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi
Project Type
MBA Research Project
Keywords
Toyota, Corolla 1.3L, High quality product, Competitive price, B-Sedan, Launch phase
Abstract / Summary
Toyota has globally discontinued its Corolla 1.3L in the B-Sedan segment, whereas currently Pakistan is the only country in the world where Corolla 1.3L is still being produced and sell. Therefore, Indus Motor Company decided to discontinue this Corolla 1.3L from Pakistan, and planned to launch an economy sedan, with exciting innovative features and structural design, in this B-Sedan segment, for younger generation and family oriented people. The objectives of this market feasibility study, for IMC to launch its new B-Sedan, includes the development of market characterization, insights about differentiating features for satisfying a broad range of consumers, determine variants for the new B-Sedan along with features and recommend price for each variant, and provide the recommendations for launch strategy of this new B-Sedan.
The methodology for this market feasibility study consists of five structured in-depth interviews with the users of Toyota Corolla and Honda City, two focus group discussions, with seven participants each, with the current users of Toyota Corolla and Honda City, and the electronic consumer surveys method for getting insights regarding important factors, features, recommended price of that new Toyota B-Sedan, and consumers’ attitudes and perception towards Toyota as a brand.
The findings of the research demonstrate that the most important factors for the consumers while buying a new car includes Performance of the vehicle i.e. the engine of the car should operate smoothly without generating any sort of irritating sound while driving the car; Quality of the parts and materials used in the manufacturing of car should be of supreme mechanical excellence; all Safety features should be made available in this B-Sedan regardless of low, medium, or high variant. Other than these factors, the most effectively decisive factors, which will influence consumers for buying this new Toyota B-Sedan includes High-Quality Product, i.e. the parts used in the vehicle should perform efficiently at least till its estimated tenure of warranty period, the kind of fabric used in the seats, of that new Toyota B-Sedan, should make the driver and the passenger feel comfortable, for long-route driving, by providing excellent foaming and cushioning at both sides of the seats, and along with it Toyota should provide tires either of Dunlop or Bridgestone in its B-Sedan because the General tires, currently used in Toyota Corolla, have a worse impact on the suspension of the car which badly affects the performance of vehicle, and Competitive Price which means that Toyota should launch its new sedan in a reasonable price range of PKR. 1.8Million to PKR. 2.1Million; however, after considering the factors such as extensive fluctuation in US Dollar exchange rate, we recommend Toyota to launch its new sedan around PKR. 2.3Million, which seems to be a reasonable amount for a B-Sedan in this period of high inflation and increasing oil and gas prices in Pakistan.
Our recommendations to Toyota for its new B-Sedan consists of manufacturing a reasonable engine to body size ratio car with the innovative designing feature of Aerodynamics Structure in order to improve the fuel efficiency of its new sedan because its current Toyota Corolla 1.3L is providing less fuel mileage than Honda City 1.3 due to its small engine installed in a large body size sedan. The most important safety feature i.e. seat belts should have not had elasticity in them i.e. the driver or passengers could not be able to move forward and backward while fastening the seat belts and the seat belts should be able to hold the driver and passengers tightly and firmly with a certain force, so that they should stick to their seats in case of applying emergency brakes.
For the Successful Launch Strategy of its new sedan, we recommend Toyota to conduct its marketing activities in three phases i.e. Pre-Launch Phase, Main Launch Phase, and Post-Launch Phase. In the Pre-Launch Phase, Toyota should do Teaser Video advertising on Television, Radio, and Digital media platforms, for inciting the consumers which in turn will create awareness among them regarding a new product launch by Toyota. In the Main Launch Phase of this new sedan, we recommend Toyota to do Celebrity endorsement in which a renowned celebrity, to whom the target audience can identify, is to be cast who will share his experience of driving this new Toyota sedan, for brand endorsement. Along with it Digital Screens should be intact in all the Toyota Dealerships displaying the product’s features and specifications. As a Post-Launch Phase marketing activity, Toyota should do Testimonial customer advertising by posting videos and photos featuring the product specifications and share consumers’ reviews about usage experience of this new Toyota B-Sedan. Toyota should also continue research on launching latest models and cars at competitive prices in competition with the new automobile brands that are going to be launched in near future in Pakistan which may partially grab the market share of Toyota.
Recommended Citation
Shariff, B., Ayub, M. A., Afridi, M. S., Khan, S., Ali, S. M., & Ahmed, S. S. (2019). Introduction of economy Sedan in B-Sedan segment: a market feasibility study (Unpublished graduate research project). Institute of Business Administration, Pakistan. Retrieved from https://ir.iba.edu.pk/research-projects-mba/207
