Question

You are working for a small company that has developed an electric scooter that is lower cost, lighter, and has longer battery range than most existing electric scooters on the market. What strategies might your company pursue to try to increase your company’s success?

Answer 1

Electric scooters are becoming more popular everywhere in the world due to the economic value they provide and their pollution-free, noise-free and low running cost uniqueness. These scooters are so light, easy to operate, and the most important advantage is they don't produce dangerous gases.

Assume the company which I work for has developed an electric scooter that has lower cost as compared to other electric scooters available in the market and has a longer battery range. Overall this scooter has unique selling points compared with other electric scooters available in the market. The company can use the below-mentioned strategies to become successful in the industry,

a. Approach parcel or food delivery companies: One of the greatest advantages of electric scooters is the lowest running cost than any other two-wheeler available in the market. On the other side, the biggest cost with courier or food delivery companies is the fuel cost spent on petrol running scooters or motorbike. An electric scooter can fill this gap and can save 80% of the running cost for these delivery companies. There could be other advantages with our electric scooter such as longer battery range so the rider does not need to charge batter every time. They can travel 100+ kms in a single charge. Other companies that might be interested in using electric vehicles could be e-commerce delivery companies, first and last-mile pickup and drop taxi companies, restaurants, etc.

b. Better dealership or franchise model: One of the biggest markets for an electric vehicle is the B2C market where individual people such as old people, office people, housewives, kids, etc. My company would definitely want to cater to this market. But to cater B2C market, the company should invest in developing its dealership network so that the scooter can reach the targeted and potential customers easily. Unlike petrol running scooters, the electric scooter has low after sell service requirements because there are only 3 main components such as motor, controller and charger and that too are connected through wires. So it will be less lucrative for dealers to invest in the dealership of the electric scooters. Because the biggest revenue for petrol running scooters comes from after sell servicing. So the company will develop better dealership plans to attract more dealers from every part of the country.

c. Proper marketing strategies: There is a negative perception of electric vehicles in the mind of customers because of the failure of lead-acid batteries in past and bad services provided by other companies in the past. There were so many issues with lead-acid batteries such as heavyweight and less batter life. So it was not possible for electric scooter owners to get the proper to resell value of the scooter. But my company is using advanced batteries that are lighter and with longer battery life. So my company will use marketing and promotional strategies to reach out to the target and potential audience and help them in understanding that our company vehicles are the best scooters and better than petrol running scooters. We need to change the perception of electric scooter and we can get the end number of customers for our products.

d. Discuss the government to provide subsidies: There are so many advantages with our electric scooters that help in reducing pollution, lower cost and better life of batteries. Because of these USPs customers would be interested in buying our products. My company should approach the government to provide better subsidies and low-interest loans so that more and more customers could buy electric scooters. This will benefit the country in the long run as it helps in reducing dependence on fossil fuels and these scooters could be charged from solar energy. The government should put charging stations for electric vehicles to improve the industry of electric vehicles. Our company can tie-up with the government to set up charging stations at different locations. This will help company to improve its product line and revenue.