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1. a. In April 2003, Toyota announced its plan to become a largest automobile manufacturer in the world. Part of this plan is the commitment that by 2012, all the vehicles produced in the U.S will have a hybrid - electric engine available. In 2004, Toyota Prius was introduced to market and became the first ever mass produced hybrids vehicle in the world.
Target market for the Toyota Prius is the private owners who have one of these characteristics
i. They are early adopters or technology pioneers. The hybrid electric is a very new technology and according to some analysis, it is a disruptive technology. As a disruptive technology, the Prius possesses the superior value in compared with the traditional technology such as the fuel efficiency and environmentally friendly technology. Though at the early stage of development, disruptive technology does not perform as good as the mainstream technology, it is predicted to outperform the current technology to become the dominant of the automobile industry. Foreseeing the potential and superiority of the hybrid technology, the innovators or the early adopters will be driven by the new ideas of the new technology and will willing to take the risk of driving the Prius. Moreover, although the innovators and the early adopters account for the minority of the customers, they possess the important trait as the bridge for Toyota to emerge from a niche market into the mainstream one.
ii. They have environmentally friendly consciousness. As the global warming become more and more serious, people become more and more aware of how to reduce emission to the atmosphere and finding the cheap alternatives for petrole ...