Positioning: Move to the Upper Right

This and the next two sections examine ways that the auto industry uses the user-entered iNPD process to create products that target different user groups and to identify those groups. The complexity of the design of a vehicle, as just discussed, makes one appreciate the enormous commitment necessary to pursue product differentiation. Consumers, however, are demanding and more and more they expect products designed to serve their needs. Companies vying for each customer’s business respond through product line creation, feature packages, and customization.

The Move of SUVs

During the last decade, the SUV has become one of the hottest vehicle categories in the auto industry. While once considered a subset of the small truck industry, the category has split from trucks and developed into its own separate area. SUVs now range from smaller “compact models” like the high-cost Lexus or the lower-cost Toyota RAV4 up to the larger options like the Hummer, Ford Excursion, and the newer hybrids combining SUVs and pick-up trucks being sold by Ford and GM. Current SUVs must have the interior comfort of a car, the storage capacity and height of a small truck, and the off-road all-weather features of a four-wheel drive military vehicle. The early evolution of this line of vehicle can be traced back to station wagons, small trucks (1935 GMC Suburban), and the 1940’s Willy’s Jeep developed for the U.S. military for WWII. In 1946, Jeep introduced the first Jeep Wagon. At the same time Land Rover established itself as one the first off-road vehicles for sport use and was often featured in Safari movies. See the Positioning Map in Figure 9.4.