Hayes Enjoys a Well-Established Position as a Supplier to the Automobile

question 34

Essay

Hayes enjoys a well-established position as a supplier to the automobile industry. The firm supplied wheels to the Model T Ford. Today, Hayes is betting on a new product, fabricated aluminum wheels, which weigh up to 20 percent less than cast aluminum wheels and 40 percent less than steel ones. Hayes has signed contracts worth $50 million for the new wheels-mostly for use in spare tires-with DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, and BMW. Drawing on the industrial goods classification scheme, how would you classify the aluminum wheels? Sketch out the critical buying motives that organizations like DaimlerChrysler would emphasize in evaluating the wheels and explore Hayes' associated marketing strategy implications.

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Definitions:

Total Utility

Total utility is the total satisfaction or pleasure a person derives from consuming a particular quantity of goods and services.

Marginal Utility

The change in satisfaction or utility that an individual gains from consuming an additional unit of a good or service.

Marginal Utility

The extra pleasure or benefit gained by a consumer from consuming one more unit of a product or service.

Utility Maximizing Rule

A principle in economics stating that to maximize satisfaction or utility, consumers allocate their expenditures so that the last unit of currency spent on each product provides the same level of marginal utility.