Maserati Ghibli Launch

Maserati Ghibli Launch

Name

Institution

Maserati Ghibli Launch

Company Description

        The Maserati car company has a long history of car manufacturing, especially sport cars. The company’s official distributor is the Naza Italia. Naza Italia initiated the official launch of the Maserati Ghibli in 2014 in Malaysia. From the 1940s, the Maserati car models have been manufactured in Viale Ciro Menotti, Italy. Maserati contracts different distributors in different car markets as part of its outsourcing strategy that aims to tap the high end market. The modern Maserati models are: the Quattroporte sedan and Gran Turismo. The later is sportier than the former. In 1997, Maserati Company was experiencing financial problems that needed an immediate buy-out to save the company from filing for bankruptcy. Consequently, Ferrari and Fiat joined in and bought fifty percent stake each. In 1999, Ferrari bought the entire share and took control of the entire company with a new management. Maserati is not yet as profitable as expected but its fortunes are gradually improving.  In 2005, Ferrari resold Maserati to Fiat S.p.A, giving Fiat and large stake in the company.

Products

        Maserati specializes in luxury cars. Luxury cars are capturing the high-end market such as sport cars and executive saloons of different models. The most prominent models currently being manufactured by Maserati are: Quattroporte, Ghibli, The Alfieri, and the Levante. The Gran Turismo model is also underway to increase the number of model affiliates for the company.  The Quattroporte is a four wheel drive sport car with high performance horse power. The Ghibli belongs to the executive saloon category launched to meet the company’s ambitious plan achieving the highest car sales in years to come while competing favorably with other luxury car manufacturers. The GranTursimo is in the grand tourer category both with sport and MC features. The Levante model is an all-wheel drive cross over SUV for executive use. Finally the Alfieri is a V-6 or V-8 engine model. All these models are the current motor vehicle products of the company that target the luxury car market.

Industry

        Luxury cars such as the Maserati Ghibli 2014 account for 11% of the total car sales.  They also account for 185 of the total spending on new cars.  However, the Maserati models are not the mainstream because there are other popular giants such as the Acura, Porsche, BMW, Volvo, Lincoln, The Lexus, The Audi, and Mercedes-Benz. Thus, the Maserati needed to use penetrative strategies that would motivate customer indifference over other luxury cars.

Competitors        

Maserati car face competition from other car manufacturers. Specifically the Ghibli faces competition from other top-ranging cars such as the BMW 5 series, the Marcedez-benz E-Class (Kapferer, 2012). The competition possibly emanates from the higher price of the Ghibli. It is more than the BMW 5series, which is currently performing well on the international market. The Maserati Ghibli is also more expensive than the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Currently, the E-400 series is trending that price meaning that the company has to employ smart marketing to penetrate this market. However, the Jaguar XFS 3.0 V6 is the stronger competitor than the BMW X5 and Marcedez-benz E class because it is priced almost the same level as the Maserati Ghibli with a slight difference.

The Company’s Strategy when Launching the Product

        Maserati used the social media strategy to launch the Ghibli luxury car.  Social media platforms through blog sites and other social media channels ensured that fans have access to the brand identity of the company. In fact one of the main goals of the using fan web communication as a launching was to enable potential buyers, car enthusiasts, owners, and opinion leaders to interact and share more about the Ghibli car model, while keeping the company style in line with the marketing objectives of Maserati. Maserati used an integrated system of web communication, the press, and marketing processes so that a large number potential buyers of the market is reached.  On the fan page, there were presentations of different car models presented with different interactive tabs on which individual fans made their contributions on the improvements and the strengths that the Ghibli has over previous models. After the web interactions, the discussion set the stage for public exhibitions where the fans were allowed t physical see the new model. For instance, the Ghibli Digital Launch website had live streaming pictures of the car that could be accessed by any interested buyer worldwide. The live streaming pictures are still on the website (http://www.aicod.com/case_history/automotive_1/maserati.aspx) from the time of the launch.