Landrover

The goal of LRNA is to achieve 40,000 units of sale by 1998. They are currently at 4503 units in the first 2 quarters of 1994. Land Rover has plenty of history & experience in designing 4X4 & receives an inflow of $110 million by BMW. The Brand image is one of Marques Values & the Discovery product is state of the art with plenty of luxury features as well as excellent safety features embedded in the base model & good options available as add-ons. Previous marketing efforts have been able to capture a niche sophisticated segment. With a multiproduct line & good reception to the Discovery they are at the right foundation to achieve their goals.

Amongst its fellow competitors in the compact SUV segment, the Discovery is the most expensive (Exhibit 9). It also has very low brand awareness & Ad Recall (Exhibit 10) & lags behind its major competitors, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee & Toyota 4Runner in the customers overall opinion & buying consideration (Exhibit 11). Jeep also has very affordable models & is the veteran company in the American market with a proud history. Ford also has an excellent product in the Explorer with a big advertising budget. The Discovery ranks very high in Comfort/Convenience but trails behind in Economics, MPG, Price & Value for Money. It is for this reason & because of the previously failed LR Hunter model that was cheap & affordable; I would not recommend Mr. Hughes to go for the Affordable RR positioning.

Using the Evolved LR theme, LRNA would be able to target both the segment of young, affluent, childless adults as well as the conservative & family consumers. From Exhibits 8, 13 & 14, LR Discovery ranks highest in customer perceptions of Quality, Safety, Off-Road Capability & Status/Image. Expert