ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study that is based on a number of projects completed by graduate students on developing proposals for planning a target car for introduction into the US market as a 2021 vehicle. It discusses customer characteristics, customer needs, market segment, benchmarking of the vehicles, specification of the target vehicle, Pugh diagrams comparing the target vehicle characteristics with those of the reference and competitors’ vehicles. The chapter outlines a technological plan, including changes, design challenges, and key open issues in the proposed vehicle development plan, program timings and gateways, and sales forecasts and financial analysis. The primary changes in the target vehicle are in the areas of fuel efficiency, fuel capacity, rear passenger legroom, horsepower, weight, and electrical and safety features. The competitors’ vehicles were also late models of leading competitors in the same market segment as the reference vehicle.
