MRKT20052 Marketing Plan: Thor Trucks' Australian Launch Strategy

This report details a comprehensive marketing plan for Thor Trucks, focusing on its potential entry into the Australian market. It begins with an executive summary and table of contents, followed by an introduction that highlights the importance of the automotive industry and the innovative nature of Thor Trucks' electric UPS trucks. The report then delves into a situation analysis, including a PESTEL analysis to assess political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors affecting Thor Trucks. A competitor analysis identifies key rivals like Tesla, Iveco, and Mercedes, while a SWOT analysis evaluates the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Customer analysis includes segmentation and targeting strategies. The report identifies key problems, sets marketing objectives, and outlines a marketing mix strategy, including product and pricing considerations. Finally, it includes budget allocation and conclusions. The report is based on the provided assignment brief and adheres to APA referencing style.

Marketing Plan
Name of the Student
Name of the University

Executive Summary
This report has been based on the marketing strategies introduced by the Thor Trucks. PESTEL
analysis will be conducted ion the Thor trucks. There has been analysis of customer including
targeting and positioning approach has been mentioned in the report. This report has also focused
on the issues that will be faced when introduced in Australian market in 2020. There has been
SMART objectives has been set for the marketing purposes. The budget allocation has been
predicted in the report.

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Situation Analysis............................................................................................................................4
PESTEL analysis.........................................................................................................................4
Competitor Analysis....................................................................................................................5
SWOT analysis................................................................................................................................6
Customer Analysis...........................................................................................................................6
Segmentations..............................................................................................................................6
Targeting......................................................................................................................................7
Problem Statement...........................................................................................................................7
Objectives........................................................................................................................................8
Marketing Mix strategy...................................................................................................................8
Campaign evaluation.......................................................................................................................9
Budget Allocation..........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
The automotive industry has been highly meaningful for the development of a country in
economical booming period. There has been a number of innovations done in the automobile
industry. This report aims at marketing plan of a new product from Thor trucks. Thor Trucks has
developed Electric UPS Trucks in the market for enhancing sustainable development of the
industry. This report has focused on PESTEL analysis, a competitor analysis and SWOT
analysis. There has been analysis of customer including targeting and positioning approach has
been mentioned in the report. This report has also focused on the issues that will be faced when
introduced in Australian market in 2020. There has been SMART objectives set based on
problem statement, situation and customer analysis. Marketing strategy has been prepared for the
better positioning of the product in the market. Proper budget allocation have been mentioned.
The overall report has been based on the comparison of Thor and Tesla, as both of the companies
are in same field of interest.
Situation Analysis
PESTEL analysis
Political
The political factors have been affecting profitability of survival chances of Thor in the
market. These risks varies from sudden changes in the political scenario of the country. Various
political factors including level of political stability in Australia in recent years, integrity of
politicians and their acts of corruptions, laws and regulations regulated by the country and trade
barriers (Paley, 2017). However, the Australian government has been favorable for businesses to
grow in the market. There has been good political stability in Australia. This might help Thor
Trucks to positively introduce their UPS trucks in the market.
Economic
Australia has been a growing economy in last five years. Therefore, many industries
have been opened in the country which has been showing positive response in the market. The
economic conditions of the country has been positive in ratios. Therefore, Thor trucks might get
difficulties in opening their product in the market. However, there has been difficulties in the

taxation system of Australia. Tax rates are higher in Australia up to 30 percent (Ohanwe, 2018).
Therefore, Thor trucks need a high investment for opening their product in Australia.
Social
The population of Australia has been low than other countries. However, social diversity
in Australia has been high. Therefore, Thor need to target their customers properly for getting
success in the market. Thor industries need to be careful during connecting with the target
market and their interest and priorities (Koivusalo, 2018).
Technological
Technology has been rapidly increasing in the market in recent times. It has been creating
competitive landscape for various industry within a short period of time. Thor trucks have
developed their technology to build UPS trucks runs on electricity. The market of electric trucks
have been below average in Australia. Therefore, there has been a great chance for capturing the
market in the Australia. However, Tesla has been a competitor for Thor Trucks in Australia.
Thor needs to be technically more enhance than that of Tesla (Kivikangas, 018).
Environmental
Different industry have been holding standards for environmental protection. The
environmental condition include current weather conditions, climatic changes and affecting other
environmental conditions. Thor trucks need to focus on their braking system and sustainable
development of their products (Ohnsman, 2018).
Legal
The government institution and frameworks have been focused on their laws and political
substances in the country. Thor needs to focus on legal factors implemented in Australia for in
implementing their products in the market (Harjunpää, 2019). Traffic laws and rules need to be
followed ion the design of the truck. Proper road tax need to be provided by Thor for running
their trucks ion Australian roads.
Competitor Analysis
Thor trucks has been a luxury brand in the automobile industry. However, there has been
some competitors of the company in the market. Tesla has been one of the biggest competitors in

the market. Tesla has been a giant in making electric cars and vehicles. Tesla has been focused
on sustainable development in the automobile industry. Other company’s including Iveco,
Mercedes, Freightliner Trucks and DAF Trucks have been competitors of Thor trucks. However,
these companies make petrol and diesel trucks unlikely to electric vehicles. Tesla has been
constantly a giant in the electric motor vehicles (Koney, 2019). These competitors have been
convenience of a string customer base from which they gather more new customers. Therefore, it
can become difficult for Thor trucks to gather customers in Australia. A proper market research
and product positioning is required for developing company in the market. Tesla has been
continuously looking for developing their technological instance in their vehicles. However,
Thor has been able to make batteries trucks which might an edge to the company in the market
(Chaffey & Smith , 2017).
SWOT analysis
Strengths:
Heavy duty axles
Motor supplies from TM4
Own battery packs
22 inch touchscreen on dashboard
Skilled engineers
Weaknesses:
High competition
Absence of external funding
Only 18 employees
Incapable of mass production
Inconsistency in production details.
Opportunities:
Fleet companies have been preferring electric
semi-trucks over normal ones
Capable of providing adequate competition to
other competitors
Flawless and appealing design
Threats:
High competition from Tesla, Toyota and
other automobile companies
Lack of experience in industry
Increased costs
Customer Analysis
Segmentations
Segmentation of customers in the market has been an important approach to be followed
by any company in the market for success. Thor industry need top segment their customer’s base

properly for gaining success in the market. Thor Trucks need to focus on fleet companies as they
prefer electric vehicles than normal ones. Thor has been targeting fleet operators which need
short haul and day use trucks. The company has been utilizing latest technology of UPS which
has been creating a great opportunity in the market for the company (Lidstone & MacLennan,
2017). The fleet companies have been looking for trucks for their transportation frequently.
Therefore, Thor can look up for daily transportation of and gather feedbacks from these fleet
companies in the market. An analysis on these feedbacks might help in understanding the
position of the company in the market.
Targeting
Targeting customers helps in breaking a market into segments and focusing on marketing
efforts made by the company. The target marketing has been based on several attributes
including promotion, pricing and distribution of products. Thor need to perform a proper market
analysis for product positioning in the market. The UPS trucks has been based on batteries as
fuel which has been a new technology in the market. Therefore, the company need to focus on
fleet companies which require trucks for transportation (Kumar & Maqbool, 2018). Thor need to
attract customers by providing small trips of transportation at low cost. This will help in
gathering attraction of customers in the market. The product has been innovative and provide 50
miles of distance per charge. This has been a great achievement for a startup to build up in the
market. Australia has been looking for low pollution vehicles and Thor rucks have been a perfect
example for meeting up requirements of Australian government (Falát & Holubčík, 2017).
Problem Statement
There can be several issues occur during introducing Thor trucks in Australian market in
2020. One of the major problem that Thor will face is the acceptance of these trucks by
customers. The company need to analyze that whether there is a need of electric vehicles in
Australian market. The situation of market in Australia has been saturated and looking for more
opportunities in the automobile industry. Another problem that might come will be unable to do
mass production. Thor has been a startup company with 18 employees (Ebrahimi & Banaeifard,
2018). Therefore, they will not be able to provide mass production of trucks if demand comes.
The company will not be able to deliver products on time which other competitors are already
doing. Tesla and Lexus motors have been providing a satisfied transport services to their

customers. The customer acquisition will be a huge problem for Thor in the new market of
Australia. The traditional trucks have been capitalizing the market of transportation in Australia
(Rajavi, Kushwaha & Steenkamp, 2019). Therefore, customer acceptance of electric trucks will
be a great issue for the Thor trucks. Customers are unaware of this new technology and
capability of these trucks. Therefore, they will not be going for electric trucks for instance.
Therefore, lack of knowledge among customers will be a problem for Thor trucks. The company
need to provide training and knowledge about their products and share benefits of using this
truck. The budget of the company will be another issue for the company. The company need to
set the price of the truck at affordable price so that customers can switch to electric truck services
provided by Thor.
Objectives
Following are the marketing objectives:
S: To position the new electric truck in the Australian market
M: To raise awareness and educate customers on the electric truck by Thor
A: To have new buyers as a significant portion of the customer base
R: To adopt strategies for promotion their products in the market properly
T: To research market based on their needs and competition in the market
Marketing Mix strategy
Product
Thor Trucks has been a Los Angeles startup which began showing off its battery-
powered Class-8 commercial rig during the time of Elon Musk’s Tesla. Thor has been intending
to enter into the market by 2019 with the ET One, a battery classic 8 day cab which has 100 mile
range and cost $ 150,000. Another Class 8 costing $250,000 with a 300 mile range has been
planned as part of Thor’s strategy of relying on the contract manufacturing. When comparing
with Tesla’s electric semi-truck that has been offering 300 mile version for $150,000 and 500
mile version at $180,000. Tesla has been offering leasing facility for both trucks (Stead &
Hastings, 2018). Therefore, the cost of Thor trucks has been more than that of Tesla trucks. The
design of the Thor trucks has been an expansive, curved metal front panel that slants down the
grille. This shows the logo of Thor’s hammer influenced logo. The trucks will utilize battery

packs and installed into changed aluminum chassis sourced from delivery van manufacturer
Morgan Olson.
Pricing
The company has been looking for gaining profit in the market with their new model of
trucks by utilizing a valuable pricing strategy. Thor electric trucks have been available in two
version including 100 mile range and 300 mile range. The company has made base price of $
150,000 for 100 mile range and $250,000 for 300 mile range. The Company is planning to
launch these two variations by 2020 in Australian market. Thor has been testing these two
models in the market with fleet companies in the market. As Thor is a startup company, it has a
very less employee strength and unable for mass production in the market (Datta, Ailawadi &
Van Heerde, 2017). Therefore, the company has maintained a high price for trucks in the market
for gaining profit from there. However, Tesla has been capitalizing market and providing trucks
at low cost. Thor needs to offer some other discounts in order to maintain strategic approach in
the pricing strategy.
Promotion
Thor need to promote its product over the Australian market to increase the sales in the
market. Various marketing campaigns need to be started by the company in various places of
Australia so that maximum number of people and individual came to know about the product.
The promotion strategy include two integral parts:
 The strategic placing of ads in magazines and newspapers for targeting specific market.
 Social media marketing and promotion over several social media platforms including
Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. This will help to reach put maximum number
of individuals within small amount of time (Ramani & Srinivasan, 2019).
Place and Distribution
Thor has been looking for introducing their electric trucks in Australian market by 2020.
The sales department of the company has been looking for trial test of these trucks in the fleet
companies of Australia. The targeted customers for the companies have been fleet companies in
the market for daily use of trucks in transportation. Thor is looking for utilizing Direct, Push and
Pull strategy to sell its products. Mostly pull strategy will be used for selling the two variants of
trucks (Išoraitė, 2016).

Campaign evaluation
The marketing campaign need to be evaluated for proper monitoring of the promotion.
Thor has aimed to launch their two versions of electric trucks in Australian market by 2020. Thor
needs to analyze their social media handles properly about their advertisement. Social media
analytics will help in analyzing the reach of posts and advertisements. Various campaigns will be
posted over the social media that will attract customers towards the brand. Various social media
platform s including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram need to be analyzed properly. Followers
of Thor over these social media platforms have been increasing ion daily basis (Rajavi,
Kushwaha & Steenkamp, 2019). This has been a positive sign for the development if the
company in the market. The use of social media analytics has been helping in developing a
strategy for enhancing number of customers in the market. Various videos of the truck need to be
uploaded over the YouTube that will help in gaining subscribers and customer engagement.
Budget Allocation
The marketing budget of the Thor trucks need to be approximately $10,000 in initial
phase. The next phase of marketing and promotion based on the customer feedbacks might
increase up to $20,000 based on market response. Word of mouth and media coverage has been
the main marketing outlets for Thor. Therefore, awareness about the electric trucks needs some
budget for campaigns at several places. Ads will be placed on online journals, social media and
magazines that will cost around $2000 during initial phase of promotion.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that Thor trucks will face certain issues in the implementation of the
trucks in the market. Certain issues have been discussed in the report. The low number of
employees have been the main issue faced by Thor trucks in the market. They are not able to
produce mass production of trucks in the market. The competitor analysis has helped in
identifying competitors of the Thor trucks in the market. Tesla has been one of the biggest
competitor of the Thor trucks in the market. The 4Ps of marketing mix has been analyzed in the
report that has helped in understanding the marketing strategies for the Thor Trucks. The
marketing objectives has been mentioned in the research. Proper measurement of campaigns has

been mentioned in the report. The estimated budget for marketing has been mentioned in the
report.

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