Electric Vehicles - Product life cycle

This article discusses the product life cycle of electric vehicles in the UK market. It covers the introduction, growth, maturity, and decline stages of EVs, along with examples and forecasts for the future.

Electric Vehicles - Product life
cycle

Contents
Task.............................................................................................................................................................3
References...................................................................................................................................................5

Task
Product life cycle is referred to series of steps which are passed by a product. The series
begins with introduction of the product to the market then growth and further maturity and lastly
decline (Hedberg Jr, and et al., 2017). For this project we are taking into Electric Vehicles for the
market of United Kingdom. Below is the description of crucial stages in covered under this
theoretical model.
Introduction Stage:
This is initial stage where a firm tries to inform people about existence of such product
and tries to build a suitable market for the product. Tesla motors which is leaders in terms of
Electric Vehicles first launched their product in the year 2008 and named it as Tesla Roadster. It
was the first commercial EV that had exceptional range and sports car capabilities. It was first
major and commercial introduction of EV and this business was able to form a niche market for
themselves.
Growth Stage:
This is referred to be one of the most crucial stage in a life cycle as the product gains
tremendous rise in the overall sales and there is a frequent addition of features to the product
(He, Pan and Deng, 2018). Considering the market for electric vehicles, it has been predicted that
there will be a rise of sales in EV vehicles from 3.4% for the year 2019 to 5.5 in coming year of
2020. It can be said that Electric Vehicles are rising and their sales have been forecasted at
131,000 in 2020. The popular elective vehicles in the country are Tesla Model S, BMW i3,
Volkswagen e-golf and Renault Zoe.

Figure 1 Electric vehicles Registration UK.
(Source: Electric car market statistics, 2020)
Interpretation: It can be easily interpreted from the above illustration that there is a tremendous increase
in the registration for electric vehicles in the country. From April 18% there were near about 4000
registrations which has gone up to 18512 in March 2020. This is a staggering rise of 32% in the
registration which states its growth in the market.
Maturity Stage
This is referred to one of the stage where sales of a particular product tend to achieve stagnancy
and faces a decline in the sales volume. One such example of decline in the sales volume can be Toyota
Prius. It is one of the best-selling hybrid vehicle in the automotive industry. The main reason behind the
same is that there is a presence of such good competition from Volkswagen and General Motors which
are attempting to eliminate use of gas for the vehicle completely.
For electric vehicle industry scenario is completely different as by 2025 as it has been forecasted that
there will be an approximately 1 million EV in the United Kingdom itself which will be multiplied
tremendously and will reach 11 million by 2040 (11 million electric vehicles forecast to hit UK roads by
2040 creating a £150 billion opportunity for utilities, Accenture finds, 2020).
Decline Stage
This is the final stage in which the product usually sees a steep decline in the sales of a product.
The company is left with numerous options either to upgrade the model or discontinue the same. One
such example of product is Tesla Roadster which was discontinued in 2014 as there were better
competition in the market and business wanted to focus on its upcoming products.

References
Books and Journal
He, B., Pan, Q. and Deng, Z., 2018. Product carbon footprint for product life cycle under
uncertainty. Journal of cleaner production, 187, pp.459-472.
Hedberg Jr, T.D. and et al., 2017. Identified research directions for using manufacturing knowledge
earlier in the product life cycle. International journal of production research, 55(3), pp.819-827.
Online
Electric car market statistics. 2020. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.nextgreencar.com/electric-
cars/statistics/>.
11 million electric vehicles forecast to hit UK roads by 2040 creating a £150 billion opportunity for
utilities, Accenture finds, 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.accenture.com/gb-en/company-news-release-electric-vehicles-hit-uk-2040>.