H3 Hummer Marketing Plan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary.....................................................................................2

Current Marketing Situation...........................................................................3

History/Background............................................................................3

Purpose/Mission.................................................................................4

Products Offered................................................................................5

Financial Performance.........................................................................5

Threats & Opportunity Analysis.......................................................................6

Demographic Forces...........................................................................6

Economic Forces...............................................................................8

Natural Forces..................................................................................8

Technological Forces.........................................................................10

Political Forces................................................................................11

Cultural Forces.................................................................................12

Competitive Forces...........................................................................12

Marketing Strategy.....................................................................................13

Target Market..................................................................................13

Product..........................................................................................14

Price.............................................................................................16

Promotion.......................................................................................17

Place.............................................................................................21

Recommendations and Conclusions..................................................................23

Conclusion.......................................................................................24

Works Cited..............................................................................................26

I. Executive Summary

The following material is based on research done on the General Motors Corporation and its specific new model of Hummer--the H3. This report gives a brief overview of the history of General Motors, its current mission, and its financial situation, and then narrows in on analysis of the Hummer H3. This report pinpoints the environmental, political, cultural, demographic, technological, and natural forces that operate in the macroenvironment that influences the H3s sales success. Attention is paid to H3's competitive market, and analysis about the threats and opportunities that exists in this market are specifically addressed. The specifics of the product, its base and upgraded pricing, and the promotional strategies H3 marketers have taken to offer the unique mid-size SUV to the public are also key features of this report and are addressed in a section on marketing strategies. Specific advertising strategies and promotional incentives are also addressed in this portion of the report.

As a means of looking to the future of the H3, this report addresses GMs current strategies for taking this brand of SUV to a global market. In order to do this, however, it is obvious that the threats operating in the macroenvironement and within the GM Corporation have to be readily addressed. It is for this reason that this report also offers a "Recommendations and Conclusions" portion where thought is given to how best GM and Hummer might proceed for a successful future.

II. Current Marketing Situation

History/Background

General Motor's history dates back to 1897, when Olds Motor Vehicle and Olds Motor Gasoline merged to form Olds Motor Works. This company, which would grow and merge with other automobile companies over the course of the twentieth century to form what is now GM, has boasted some of the great automotive achievements of recent times. The curved-dash Oldsmobile, for example, became the first American car to be manufactured in quantity in 1901. At roughly the same time, Cadillac (not yet related to Old Motor Works or GM) was awing consumers with single-cylinder engines and closed car designs. In 1907, Henry M. Leland even established the Cadillac School of Applied Mechanics, the first school to train machine technicians and toolmakers.

When, under Billy Durant's leadership, General Motors was organized in 1908, Buick, Oldsmobile (the new name for the Olds Motor Works company that joined GM), and Pontiac were the early foundation for the newly developed company. The purchase of Cadillac in 1909, however, was a $5.5 million dollar investment that allowed GM to become one of the most recognized automobile manufacturers in the world. Cadillac models were the first to offer closed bodies as standard equipment, and the electric self-starter, incorporated in 1912, won the Deward Trophy as the most important automotive contribution of the year. Cadillac was also the first manufacturer in the U.S. to produce a V-type, water-cooled, eight-cylinder engine, and the first to use a thermostat control cooling system (1914). As if this were not enough, GM consolidated all GM truck production (GMC) in Pontiac, Michigan (1915), and purchased Chevrolet Motor Company only five years later.

The buying of automobile companies in GM's early days would soon expand to include more GM purchases and agreements, new lines of parts and gear, and an unprecedented move, on the part of GM executives, to become some of the biggest stockholders in the company. Aligning