Group 6

CASE STUDIES REVIEW

Tesla attacks to Singapore

I. Market entry
Country: Singapore – the Republic of Singapore
Area: 725.7 km2
Population: 5,703,600 (115th, 2019)
GDP: $615.698 billion (36th, 2020)
Pros
 Incentives: 407
Incentives to prod more drivers towards vehicles operating on cleaner energy have
been announced by the government, including extension of the Vehicular Emissions
Scheme (VES) to light commercial vehicles, rebates for early adoption and the
revision of road taxes for qualifying vehicles.
 Public Charging stations (gg maps)
A nationwide electric vehicle (EV) charging standard TR25:2016 has been established
for the EV charging system in Singapore. 
 Electric public transportation
Enhancing and electrifying the public transport system to nudge more consumers to
use public transport will have a significant impact on lowering the dependency on
private transport and our overall carbon emission footprint.
Cons
 Price 
Price is always a problem when comparing between ICE vehicles and Electric
vehicles. If you would prefer to own your own electric car, they cost between
S$100,000 and S$160,000 for mass market models.
Higher-end models may cost up to S$500,000, but at that price range, you may well
look at petroleum supercars instead
 Singaporean’s perspectives toward EV
The study was commissioned by Shell to pair with the launch of its new EV charging
network, named Shell Recharge, has pointed out that 50 percent of Singaporeans think
EV ownership is impossible if one lives in high-rise residential buildings such as a
condominium, HDB flat, or apartment. 
The top three perceived concerns against EV buying/ownership are: 
Not enough charging stations (55%)
High maintenance cost (53%) 
Range anxiety, or running out of power while driving (53%). 
2 out of 3 are inaccurate, which means Singaporeans are lacking understanding about
EV.
 Problems in national charging infrastructure
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat has set forth an
audacious goal of creating 28,000 charging points, a significant infrastructure surge
 from the 1,600. Even over ten years, this is a demanding project timeline. But the
Government cannot do this alone and must work with private sector incumbents like
SP Group, BlueSG, Shell-Greenlots, Red Dot Power, in partnership with car park
owners and operators including Wilson, Metro and building owners. Although many
private companies are on their way to complete charging locations in Singapore, the
charging demand of too many cars at the same time is still a big problem. 
Moreover, EV owners need to install their own charging points (beside public
charging stations) if they live in landed properties. However, most Singaporeans do
not live in houses with garages where they can plug in their cars overnight. If they
live in a condominium estate, they have to get their condominium management to set
up charging stations, which can be an obstacle for Singaporeans.  
 Singapore government attitude toward Tesla:
"What Elon Musk wants to produce is a lifestyle," said Masagos Zulkifli, Singapore's
minister for environment and water resources, when asked by Bloomberg about
Musk's comments. "We are not interested in a lifestyle. We are interested in proper
solutions that will address climate problems."

II. Building global customer-based for Tesla

1. Brand salience

2. Brand meaning
Brand imagery
 User profiles
The target customers are successful business executives and entrepreneurs, they are
tech savvy and environmentally conscious. These are wealthy and early adopters
whose income levels put them in the upper-middle class segment. 
 Purchase and usage situations
 Unlike traditional dealerships, Tesla sells its cars to consumers directly instead of
licensing its cars through independent dealerships.
The customer can also purchase the vehicle from Tesla’s website in the comfort of
their own home.
People want to drive in an environmentally friendly vehicle that can bring the user
self-expressive benefit.
 Personality and values
Excitement: On their Facebook page, instagram account … Tesla often shares the
moments of experiencing the cars and also the superior features.
Sophistication: Tesla is a software company as much as it is a hardware company. It’s
cars are updated and upgraded continuously since they receive the free software
updates through a wireless link embedded in the cars.
 History, heritage and experiences
Tesla has always been at the forefront of the electric car trend since it was founded
with the vision “create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by
driving the world's transition to electric vehicles”.
Tesla was named after Nikola Tesla (1856-1943). He was an inventor and engineer,
whose work on electricity and magnetism formed the basis for modern AC
(alternating current) motors.

Brand performance
 Product attributes:
Tesla is a pioneer in EV market, with the most unique and innovative features
Autopilot is pretty much the closest thing to full-autonomous tech in consumer road
cars today.
Battery - the most important thing when comparing electric vehicles, is Tesla main
competitive advantage.
 Style & Design
Thanks to the designer of Tesla - Franz von Helzhausen, Tesla’s cars are said to be
one of the most model and elegant cars
Tesla’s cars have a charming outlook. It is said to be like coming from a sci-fi movie
The insides bring a high-tech and professional image to the customers with a big
screen at the middle of the car
“Design of the future”
 Reliability & Durability
The most-selling electric car in the market
Strongest battery duration
The warranty policy is considered to be quite good: Tesla's car will be covered by an
8-year warranty and unlimited mileage
 Price:
Wide range of price
Tesla Mod 3 is a bomb in middle-price EV market
3. Brand response
Current situation :
Customer judgement :
 A potential climate-change solution
 Luxury
 Premium
 Innovation
Customer feelings
 Excitement
 Anxiety of the inconvenience
 Vagueness of the effectiveness and quality of products

=> Marketing strategy that build trust and connect emotionally with the audience
 Ad campaign using advantage of the premium and friendly-environmental image of
Tesla
 To build the security and trustworthiness in the customer by developing campaign of 
real experiences from KOLs
 SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Singapore has a message for Elon Musk: Taking
mass transit is a better climate-change solution than tooling around in one of his Tesla
electric vehicles (EVs).

Mr Musk has criticised the country for being slow to adopt EVs and said in a January tweet
that the Government "has been unwelcome". (2018)
"What Elon Musk wants to produce is a lifestyle," Mr Masagos said on Wednesday when
asked about the entrepreneur's comments. "We are not interested in a lifestyle. We are
interested in proper solutions that will address climate problems."

 But the newly-minted vision is certainly one that has gotten many climate change
watchers excited. "This is the first time that EVs have been given so much air-time
during a Budget Speech, and we take that as a positive sign that the government is
aware of the potential for e-mobility in Singapore," Terence Siew, president of the
Electric Vehicle Association of Singapore (EVAS), tells The Business Times.
Dr Sanjay Kuttan, who chairs the sustainable infrastructure committee under the
Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore, agrees. He believes the motivations
around climate change, decarbonisation and better air quality at this point in time are
now providing "the right motivational levers" for EV adoption to take off in
Singapore.

 A customer who tried to import his Tesla Model S to Singapore (2016) was surprised
when the idiosyncratic city-state slapped him with a tax of around $11,000, rather
than a tax rebate of around the same amount. The reason was even more surprising:
because it polluted too much.
Singapore taxes cars based on how much they pollute, including pollution created
generating the electricity used by electric cars. The taxes are designed to promote EV
use, and explains why the Tesla owner thought he would get a rebate, as the Model S
is considered part of the cleanest class of cars available in Singapore. However, when
Singapore's Land Transport Authority tested the Model S, it found that the car was
consuming 444 Wh/km, far above the 181 Wh/km that Tesla claims it consumes.
4. Brand resonance
Situation: 
 Low customer awareness about the brand in Singapore 
 Singaporeans “LOVE” eco - friendly products but because of a number of reasons
such as price, charging stations, and infrastructure problems, they seem not to totally
open to EVs and Tesla 
Singaporeans: 
 High income (statistic)
  Love and support eco-friendly products and lifestyle 
 High social network users penetration (statistic) 

Strategies: 
 Buiding premium and luxury image for Tesla in Singapore 
 Referral program: word of mouth (emphasize Singaporean’s need and want from EVs
in general and from Tesla in specific) 
=> Build customer loyalty and active engagement  

III. Standadized versus customized basis

4P Model
1. Price => Standardise
2. Place: 
 Online 
 Tesla stores
=> Standardise
3.Promotion
 Tesla current marketing strategies:
 0$ marketing strategies based on social medias and the influence of Elon Musk
 The company seems to apply standardized strategies currently because:
o It sells the same model in different markets
o The social media marketing strategies spread freely worldwide
 Singapore market:
o English-speaking market
o Singapore has set a date to phase out petrol vehicles – 2040
(Link)
                  => Potential market for EV
o A ready infrastructure for EV
o Brand awareness of Tesla is good in Singapore (Link)
=> Tesla should apply standardized strategies in promotion in Singapore
4.Product: 
 Singapore has some Automobile norms:
o Driver is on the right side
o 6 Airbags
o A comprehensive warranty
 Singaporean preference:
o Smart Parking Assist System (SPAS) => parking is a challenge in
Singapore
o Maximum seating flexibility => folded third-row for seven-seater
o Smart power tailgate with memory function
o An automatic transmission with at least eight-speeds
 Climate customisation:
o Ventilated seats => fight the humidity in Singapore
o Dual-zone automatic climate control => sophisticated system but
should be customised to fit Singapore climate
o Rear air ventilation => Singapore is hot => cooler
=> Some customizations in products are suggested to serve the market better

 Another customization trend in production that the company has already

applied in other markets (Link?) and should consider using in Singapore:
o Customisation and personalisation is now a priority =>
automobile firms incline more to customisation to stay
competitive (Link) and heading towards mass customization.
 Types:
o Make-to-stock: This enabled large volumes of cars to be
manufactured and sold with good profit margins => requires an
accurate forecast of demand in order to determine how much
stock is needed for production
o Make-to-custom: MTO manufacturing only begins with the
customer order => the shop floor needs speed, flexibility and
reliability to quickly produce to satisfy demand
o Engineer-to-order: engineering is required for the entire design
and production process
=> Take this trend into consideration and observe the Singaporean market to evaluate
the demand of customers towards the customisation services.
REFERENCES
https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/11/11205996/tesla-singapore-co2-emissions

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/singapore-says-musks-electric-cars-are-about-
lifestyle-not-climate

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/brunch/charged-up-singapores-journey-to-the-future-of-
cars-begins-now

https://www.carbuyer.com.sg/singapore-shell-2019-study-electric-vehicles-evs-perceptions/?
fbclid=IwAR3U8NJecOgFjWZfwTEKkuouE-
NGmsBMF7i8D_hlUbvWbM9E3RzLIQbY0sc

https://vulcanpost.com/709309/electric-cars-are-here-to-stay-singapore/?
fbclid=IwAR2jRor928y_DVTeQ9Qz4JUAi39M6pWIlC3I2akGZoFRipIDUtqjWwCrSjc

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/singapore-budget-2020-electric-
vehicles-ice-ves-hybrid-car-2040-12457240?
fbclid=IwAR1MRwpbf809K6QrwYjG3q2XavGf33O7tVLCt_L1u-TU7UXTFXZ22joU2qU