I ended up selecting Ford for my company since I currently work in the automotive industry and they are a well known American auto manufacturer. Ford is primarily known for their trucks like the f-150 or other cars like the mustang, but ford also offers hybrids and full electric vehicles like the Mustang Mach-E, and F-150 Lightning. I think the experience ford has in developing these hybrids and EV’s could give them a good foundation to produce a smaller sized hybrid car for use in crowded cities with limited parking (Reuters, 2026). Customers would be expecting a high level of quality and safety, as well as the technical features that have become common in most cars. Having a reliable service system would also be important. Researching if there is a desire for a car like this from a brand that’s mostly known for making big, gas powered trucks, especially considering they have discontinued producing the F-150 lightning.
My proposal for a product would be the Ford Fiesta Hybrid. The ford fiesta is the best selling car that ford produced worldwide, despite it being less popular in the United States (Owen, 2023). This car would be a standard hybrid but could also be offered as a plug in hybrid as well if the research shows that there would be enough interest in that. It would be compact, powerful, all expected technological features, and would have the benefit of being smaller and more maneuverable than Fords other offerings while still having a good amount of space, as well as saving money on fuel. I would recommend a starting price point of somewhere around $25,000 for a base model, but research into costs would have to be done before concluding the price. The target demographic for this car would be the age bracket between 25-45, who do not necessarily have access to home charging for their car.
My research objectives would be to estimate the potential number of customers whose problems with their current car could be addressed by the hybrid fiesta, figure out which price they would be willing to pay, and understand if the perception of ford as mainly being known for trucks would make this small size hybrid viable in the market. A comparable vehicle from competition that could be researched is the Toyota Corolla hybrid, which would offer a similar, albeit slightly larger vehicle. Comparing the warranties they offer on the hybrid Corolla, the features, the price, and other aspects would give us some helpful insights.
The research design would combine qualitative and quantitative methods. Researching the existing industry data and doing our own research with customers via focus groups would give a clear picture of the demand and the opportunities we would have with the hybrid fiesta. Doing research into the sentiments of customers on things like fuel prices, and environmental impact of only combustion engine cars, as well as any concerns about hybrid powertrains would give even more insight and help Ford decide if launching a hybrid version of the Fiesta would be beneficial to the company, of if they should reject it.
Reuters Staff. (2026, January 6). Ford’s annual US auto sales rise 6% on demand for hybrids, affordable pickup truck. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/fords-annual-us-auto-sales-rise-6-demand-hybrids-affordable-pickup-truck-2026-01-06/
Owen, J. (2023, December 2). Ford’s 10 best-selling vehicles of all time. SlashGear. https://www.slashgear.com/1457294/ford-best-selling-vehicles-all-time-ranked/
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