Zipcar

Zipcar
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Institution: 
Introduction
As one of the most successful companies dealing in rental cars, Zipcar has unveiled their new model service that will allow their customers to have flexible long-term plans that gives them access to sharing vehicles hourly or on a daily basis. This can be done between the members who are registered with the company where they can share the vehicles. This will make the idea of car renting much more effective that ownership. Since it was founded back in the year 2000, the company has been in a position to expand outside the United States and move on to other countries such as the United Kingdom, Austria, Spain and Canada, amassing a clientele of more than one million customers.
Strengths
With growing geographical reach the company is controlling quite a sizable chunk of the market. With the operational structure that is global, Zipcarhas the advantage of competing at the international level where majority of the companies have not ventured yet.Expanding even further into the global market and seizing the opportunities that are presented at this level. Other than the increased market share there is also the ultimate prize of increased revenues to the company.
There is also the aspect of the unique customer services that the company is bringing to the new markets which will give the competitive advantage. By providing the customers with the ability to flexibly share the car on the hourly and daily basis, the customer are placed at a better place than car owners who have one chance at getting a car choice right. Many of the middle class families would want to own the car of their dreams but they have limiting funds and have to make do with the little they have to gamble and buy a car that fits all their needs. With the new model of flexible car renting, the families can enjoy their money’s worth without the hustles.
Weaknesses
The company has been operating with a thin margin given the fact that the operational cost for its cars shot up. Expanding to the new countries will also mean heavy expenditure an element that could be threating to the revenue margins (Sage, 2004).
Expansion opportunities
Currently there are lot of options for the company to choose from with respect to their expansion program. In Africa some of the countries that receive a lot of traffic with reference to tourism are South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. These countries present the right opportunities for the tourists who are torn between buying a car for their vacation and using taxis. With the high rates of the tourist pouring in from all over the world the clientele is large enough to support the model of flexible rentals. There also chances that lie with the locals as the economies of these countries are developing at a faster rate than the rest of the African nations. Tapping into these economies could see a great boost in the revenues for the company. There is also the idea of security in these countries, as they are safer than most of the other African nations.Countries likeFrance, Germany andChina are a good bet given their economic power. This means that most of the people in these countries have the ability to own cars and the model would help revolutionize the way the idle class spend on their desired cars.
After the 2008 economic recession, most of the countries around the world tough economic times and there was drastic decline in trading and economic activities. Revenues receded and the costs of operations shot up, leav...