U Drive Transport
Environmental scan for expansion in the United Kingdom
With the car sharing industry vastly expanding throughout the world now is a perfect time for U Drive Transport to expand internationally. Expanding to the United Kingdom, with the first expansion based in London can have great opportunities to expand to new clientele. One reason why London is the perfect start for expanding is the ability to standardize global marketing. U Drive Transport can offer similar services both to new members in the UK as well as current members traveling to the country for tourism (Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, pg 63, 2014).
The United States and the United Kingdom share the world’s largest bilateral foreign direct investment partnerships, which leads to travel between the nations for business purposes (Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 2013). By offering clients a membership to U Drive Transport, the ability to have access to a vehicle will benefit on these business trips. Promotional adaptations can be utilized, offering promotional rates for corporations frequently traveling between the two nations. U Drive Transport vehicles will be available at a cheaper rate for frequent customers, and be utilized in both countries (Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, pg 76, 2014).
Another benefit to begin globalizing in the United Kingdom is the lack of a language barrier. The systems that are in place and employees trained to work in the United States will be able to easily operate in London. Upon researching Zipcar, a competitor to U Drive Transport, it was determined that vehicles are different as well as the amount of travel allotted per day (Zipcar, 2014). Insurance is still provided as one of these membership perks; however it will vary from that of the United States. This could prove problematic if U Drive Transport were not to offer similar perks to its members.
Insurance as well as the ability to drive into neighboring countries will need to undergo rigorous inspection with the legal department prior to expanding into London. Zipcar offers a “vehicle on hire certificate” that allows the driver to cross the border, however these must be ordered in advance (Zipcar, 2014).
One of the technological benefits of Zipcar is that the membership card acts as a key to unlock the vehicles (Zipcar, 2014). This is not the case however in the United Kingdom. By overcoming these technological factors and providing a simpler option to customers, U Drive Transport can compete in the international market. Targeting business members and current members with the international travelers’ membership can be very lucrative for U Drive Transport.
Now is a very wise time to begin looking into global expansion. London is just the beginning. Once U Drive Transport is efficiently running in London, expansion can move throughout the United Kingdom. Continuing to attract new customers with the promotional adaptations may prove to be one of the differences that sets U Drive Transport apart from the rest of the competition.
References
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. (2013). U.S. Relations With the United Kingdom. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3846.htm
Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2014). MKTG7. Mason, OH: Cengage.
Zipcar. (2014). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from http://www.zipcar.com/how#faqs-category-driving-abroad
