The_Innovators_Dilemma__Clayton

nothing first-time bet, as Apple did with its Newton or Hewlett-Packard did with its Kittyhawk. I need
to conserve resources to get it right on the second or third try.
These three concepts would constitute the foundation of my marketing strategy.
Potential Markets: Some Speculation
What might emerge as the initial value network for electric vehicles? Again, though it is impossible to
predict, it almost surely will be one in which the weaknesses of the electric vehicle will be seen as
strengths. One of my students has suggested that the parents of high school students, who buy their
children cars for basic transportation to and from school, friends’ homes, and school events, might
constitute a fertile market for electric vehicles. 10 Given the option, these parents might see the product
simplicity, slow acceleration, and limited driving range of electric vehicles as very desirable attributes
for their teenagers’ cars—especially if they were styled with teenagers in mind. Given the right
marketing approach, who knows what might happen? An earlier generation met a lot of nice people on
their Hondas.
Another possible early market might be taxis or small-parcel delivery vehicles destined for the
growing, crowded, noisy, polluted cities of Southeast Asia. Vehicles can sit on Bangkok’s roads all
day, mostly idling in traffic jams and never accelerating above 30 miles per hour. Electric motors
would not need to run and hence would not drain the battery while idling. The maneuverability and
ease of parking of these small vehicles would be additional attractions.
These or similar market ideas, whether or not they ultimately prove viable, are at least consistent with
the way disruptive technologies develop and emerge.
How Are Today’s Automobile Companies Marketing Electric Vehicles?
The strategy proposed here for finding and defining the initial market for electric vehicles stands in
stark contrast to the marketing approaches being used by today’s major automakers, each of which is
struggling to sell electric vehicles into its mainstream market in the time-honored tradition of
established firms mishandling disruptive technologies. Consider this statement made in 1995 by
William Glaub, Chrysler general sales manager, discussing his company’s planned offering for 1998. 11
Chrysler Corporation is preparing to provide an electric powered version of our slick new minivan in
time for the 1998 model year. After an in-depth study of the option between a purpose-built vehicle and
modification of an existing platform, the choice of the minivan to use as an electric powered platform,
in retrospect, is an obvious best choice for us. Our experience shows that fleets will likely be the best
opportunity to move any number of these vehicles . . . . The problem that we face is not in creating an
attractive package. The new minivan is an attractive package. The problem is that sufficient energy
storage capacity is not available on board the vehicle. 12
To position its offering in the mainstream market, Chrysler has had to pack its minivan with 1,600
pounds of batteries. This, of course, makes its acceleration much slower, its driving range shorter, and
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