Ford Motors Marketing Mix – Product, Place, Price and Promotion
Ford is among the most well-known and biggest automotive brands in the world. The brand is dedicated to a better future for the planet while also working for more safety of the passengers. It is a global brand selling in nearly all corners of the world. Known as a technologically innovative brand, Ford makes SUVs trucks, and cars. Apart from its innovative technology and modern production, supply, and distribution chains, one important strength of the brand is the trust it has built over the years.
In recent years, it has focused more on making environment-friendly vehicles. 2017 proved to be an important year of transition when it took important steps in the direction of producing electrical vehicles. For this purpose, Ford created Team Edison whose job is to speed up the design and development of its battery-electric vehicles. This team brings together technology, product manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing to create leading-edge battery electrical vehicles for its customers globally.
21st century is an era of intense competition and almost all the vehicle brands are quite aggressive in terms of technological innovation and marketing of their brand and products. This is an analysis of the marketing mix of Ford motors that analyses the four P’s in its marketing mix including Product, place, price and promotion.
Basic Info:
Incorporated in Delaware in 1919.
Acquired Henry Ford’s Ford Motor company founded in 1903.
A global company headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan.
Number of employees globally- 186,000
Name of President and CEO: Jim Farley
Owns automotive brands Ford and Lincoln.
Product-
The company has a large product portfolio consisting of automotive and financial services. In the automotive line, the company designs, manufactures, markets, and services an entire range of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrical vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles.
The brand also provides financial services through the Ford Motor credit company LLC. It is working to achieve a leadership position in the area sof electrification, autonomous vehicles, and mobility solutions.
Some of the leading mobility products by Ford include Ford Mustang, Ecosport, Ford Endeavour, Ford 150, and Ford Expedition. The brand is working to expand its full range of electric vehicles by adding more of EVs to its product range, In this regard, it formed a joint venture with the Chinese maker of fully electrical vehicles Zotye.
The goal of this joint venture is to expand its lineup of fully electric vehicles globally to 40. Out of these 16 are intended to be full battery electric vehicles by 2020. However, it seems Ford has terminated its partnership with Zotye.
Apart from these things, Ford remained the best-selling brand in the US for the eighth straight year. Its F Series franchise also marked its 41st year as America’s best-selling pick-up. In 2017, the brand launched 11 more vehicles globally including a new F-150, Ecosport, Focus Electric, all-new Fiesta, an all-new Expedition as well as an all-new Lincoln Navigator. Moreover, Ford credit offers its customers leasing plans through Ford and Lincoln dealerships.
Place –
Ford is present globally. In 2017, it sold approximately 6,607,000 wholesale globally. Nearly, all of its products and accessories are sold through its distributors and dealerships. The majority of these dealerships are independently owned.
In 2017, its approximate number of dealerships was 11,428. The number of Ford dealerships was at 10,345 while that of Lincoln dealerships was 263 and that of Ford Lincoln combined was 820. Its wholesales represent the products sold to the dealerships mainly.
The retail sales of the brand represent the products sold by the wholesalers and dealers to the customers. Its Ford and Lincoln stores are designed to deliver a complete customer experience to its customers. Its stores provide a one-stop solution for all the maintenance and repair needs of its customers.
Price –
Ford uses a varied pricing strategy that is aimed to remain competitive in the market as well as to cater to different customer segments.
Ford has a very large customer base globally. It provides both fuel-efficient and average-priced vehicles as well as luxury vehicles that cater to the higher-end consumers. The Lincoln vehicles are specially designed for customers who want luxury and technologically efficient vehicles.
Its Ford brand sells a large range of fuel-efficient vehicles that are priced competitively. It is also extending its presence in the electric vehicles market to include more competitively priced electric vehicles.
Promotion –
Ford spends heavily on the marketing and promotion of its brands and products. In 2017, it spent 4.1 Billion dollars on advertising which was 200 million less than its previous year’s spending on advertising. Apart from its marketing campaigns the brand also uses auto shows to showcase its products and brand. Ford has been using several channels for the promotion of its brand including both digital and traditional channels.
It utilizes television advertising, print advertising as well as other traditional and innovative channels including online advertising and social media. Its promotion campaigns have helped it maintain its extensive market presence and engage customers better.
The 21st-century automotive industry is marked by high competition and therefore the brands invest heavily in both technological innovation as well as marketing. Despite a strong product mix, the brands cannot remain competitive without investing heavily in marketing which does not just create demand and increase sales but also aids the growth of the brand in other ways, helping it attract as well as retain its customers and maintain a strong brand image.
Ford has made a major comeback since the recession. It reversed its image and structure as well as organizational culture under Alan Mulally’s leadership and now it is geared for faster growth by investing more in technological innovation, autonomous driving as well as electric vehicles. It has also struck new partnerships globally to improve its market presence and to grow its sales. Above all is its focus on trust and customer satisfaction which it is continuously working to maximize through its extensive sales and distribution network.
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