Google Self-driving Cars

The Google self-driving car is a project by Google that involves developing technology for driverless cars. The project is currently being led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View. Thrun\u27s team at Stanford created the robotic vehicle Stanley which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and its US$2 million prize from the United States Department of Defense. The team developing the system consisted of 15 engineers working for Google, including Chris Urmson, Mike Montemerlo, and Anthony Levandowski who had worked on the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges [1-2, 8, 10]. The Google self-driving car is equipped with an autopilot system, and capable of driving from one point to another without aid from an operator [3-4]. Our focus in this marketing plan will be on enterprise businesses, rather than only solutions for individual end users. Google is already in the enterprise market. Our marketing plan starts with the product itself and product analysis. And then, a Technology Assessment is discussed and the product propose, components, features, and values provided to enterprise customers are explored. The market analysis shows potential customer segmentations. The decision of choosing targeted early adapters and early majority is explained, and the technology’s adoption lifecycle curve and crossing the chasm are illustrated. In the customer analysis section, the targeted customers in depth by giving a definition and exploring their activities are explained. The role of self-driving technology in the work process is shown, and the customer perceptions are investigated. The competitor analysis section gives a competitive landscape to map Google’s competitors by giving an in-depth elaboration on every competitor’s pros and cons and their place in the landscape position and uses the SWOT analysis to show Google’s points of strengths, weaknesses; current and potential opportunities and source of threats. The market strategy talks about positioning, promotion, and distribution. The finance section illustrates the product pricing, costs, revenues, revenue allocation estimates, expenses budget, and customer value pricing