Zipcar is a highly successful new company specializing in a brand-new model for automobile rental services, allowing their customers long-term and flexible access to shared vehicles on a daily or hourly basis. Zipcar’s innovative model allows those who sign up for their membership services to share cars with other members on a flexible basis, creating a cost effective alternative to car ownership. Since its founding in 2000, it has grown to become a major player in the U.S. automobile rental market and has expanded internationally to Canada, the U.K., Spain, and Austria, and offers rental services to almost 1 million customers.
Read the following two articles and do some of your own additional research on Zipcar:
Zipcar expands in Sacramento becoming 26th major metro market: Based on strong demand, Zipcar increases number of vehicles, will open office (Nov. 6, 2013) PR Newswire (available on ProQuest)
Esswein, P. M. (July, 2011). Zipcar: Robin Chase. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 65, 1 (available on ProQuest)
Zipcar, Inc.; Zipcar acquires leading car sharing service in Austria, CarSharing.at. (July 25, 2012). Mergers & Acquisitions Week , 196. (available on ProQuest)
Case Assignment
Now suppose you have been hired by Zipcar to come up with an international strategic plan. Write a 4- to 5-page strategic plan for Zipcar that addresses the following issues:
- What country or countries should Zipcar enter next beyond the five countries they already operate in? Explain your reasoning for this selection based on criteria from the background materials.
- What mode of entry should Zipcar use to enter the country or countries that you chose? For example, should it use a joint venture, franchising, a greenfield strategy, something else?
Assignment Expectations
- Answer the assignment questions directly.
- Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don’t go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to general background materials.
- List supporting references and cite sources in proper APA format.
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