NPD for Eberspacher Parking Heater With Remote Control

NPD New Product Development at the Eberspacher Group The Ebersp cher Group as a company splits its current research and development funds between three divisions that of exhaust engineering, vehicle heaters and glazing construction. The company is based in Germany, and targets a mainly German automotive market. (The Company, 2004) Its most recent and promising development in terms of its vehicle-heating department is its parking heater with a remote control. "Say goodbye to misty windows," proclaims the website regarding Ebersp cher pre-heaters. Now consumers can start their cars from far away.

The product notes that the heater can even "work independent of the engine." The driver can program when the car should start heating "via a timer or remote control unit. So your vehicle is cozy and warm when you open the door. No misted up windows. The engine is ready to go.

Making driving more comfortable, safer and healthier in winter." (Pre-Heater, 2004) Thus, the market segments of the population that are obviously most promising for the product's potential target market are drivers who live in cold climates, probably those who have to get up early for long commutes during the dark hours of winter. The kinds of behavior these drivers show are not necessarily the most car-conscious drivers, it should be noted.

The stress of the product's design and marketing is not in the improvement of the car, but of the car driver's lifestyle. Still, the investment required in the car shows that the car is an important part of the driver's daily requirements for his or her work and comfort, if not necessarily part of a chosen 'car lifestyle' in terms of a car model's sexiness or forwardness in design.

Although the company website also advertises an upgrade kit for the heater, this might not be the wisest aspect to stress regarding the pre-heater, not because the upgrade kit is not technologically valuable, but the likely purchasers may not necessarily care about having the most up-to-date model, so long as the product is functional and reasonably priced.

However, since such a heater is a luxury, rather than a necessity, the likely target market is probably more affluent rather than poor or even initially, in the first innovative segment of the target market, of the so-called middle class.

Remember, "Market segmentation is the selection of groups of people who will be most receptive to a product." ("Products Positioning and Marketing Segmentation, "Thorson, 1989) Often, this means targeting an initial innovator section of the market, then further segmenting the market, as the product grows more acceptable across a wider swath of the population.

(PDMA, 2004) "The most frequent methods of segmenting include demographic variables such as age, sex, race, income, occupation, education, household status, and geographic location; psychographics variables such as life-style, activities, interests, and opinions; product use patterns; and product benefits." ("Products Positioning and Marketing Segmentation, "Thorson, 1989) The typical first consumer of this product is likely to be middle-aged and could be of either sex. Albeit if the consumer female, she likely to be according to stereotype, to be married with a husband capable of installing the device.

Also, he or she is likely to German, and not possess a garage, which is less common among the affluent than in the United States. He or she is also likely to be high-income, white collar and thus educated, and someone who sees themselves as busy and deserving of comfort in their product choices and desired automotive benefits.

Although the affluence of the consumer may be seen as a positive, in fact, in the words of one essay, "Fragmentation Enriches Problems in Reaching the Affluent." (Thornson, 1989) Although the affluent individuals' buying power makes him or her obviously important to many product categories, affluent individuals tend to be alike in only income, compared with other demographic groups.

They are likely at different stages of life, have different attitudes toward materialism, depending on how their wealth was 'won' and they often shop at a variety of high and low price outlets, depending upon what goods they value most. These variations make reaching the affluent a difficult media challenge. TV and newspapers difficult, particularly a product targeted at the working affluent.

("Fragmentation Enriches Problems in Reaching the Affluent," Thorson, 1989) However, the Internet has made such market segmenting easier -- but since the consumer of these heaters are likely to be older, a potential problem remains. The best way to target consumers of these pre-heaters may be through advertisements in magazines aimed at the middle-aged, such as news magazines, and financial papers for the working affluent.

After perfecting the technology the stages of New Product Development for the pre-heater the company would need to progress through would be to refine the product's consumer base so members of the potential market base could move from.