Business First Family Business, Accounting, Finance, Investing, Marketing And Management
When it comes to cars for business there’s a lot of factors that come into play. After decades of growth and development, there are still many great automotive business ideas out there. It needs to cut an impressive figure for that vital first impression, an engine powerful and reliable enough to always get you to the next meeting on time and the full suite of infotainment options so you’re always at the center of things.
Established Car Brands
If you think of cars that make you feel powerful and in control, the first brands that are likely to come to mind are the likes of Audi and BMW. With giants like them on the scene, there are some that won’t give cheaper, new automotive startups a second look. Due to the established brands, there is a legitimate question of whether any automotive start up can compete in that market.
Auto Industry Start Ups
Despite the established brands in the automotive industry, there continues to be a new wave of innovation within the industry. Many start ups are specializing in various parts of vehicles, including sensor hardware, cruise control automation and even vehicle cyber security. Of course, many people are also paying attention to self-driving capabilities that are showing up in the start up community.
Elio Motors
Elio Motors is a particularly exciting automotive start up to keep an eye on, much more exciting than learning what an ERP system is. The car production business is creating a fuel-efficient vehicle that will cost just under $7,000. What is perhaps most interesting about the cars Elio Motors manufactures is that they have just three wheels, which legally classifies the mode of transportation as a motorcycle. The car also seats just two people, one behind the other, making the car much narrower and, therefore, more aerodynamic and fuel efficient. The Elio car has expected mileage of 84 mpg, and Elio Motor sales are expected to start this year. This, like Tesla Motors, is definitely an automotive start up to pay close attention to.
A New Automotive Start Up
However, there is an automotive start up that is specifically pursuing the business cars market. The clearest evidence for this is the Skoda Superb Estate. Boasting no less than 118bhp and up to a mighty 276bhp, this beast of a machine is What Car?’s pick for the third best estate car of 2016 and it’s not hard to see why.
It cuts a neat, dignified figure, its ride is as smooth and comfortable as a new leather sofa, and it has a stylish interior that’s sure to impress clients and partners, complete with smartphone integration and SAT-NAV on the business SE configurations. All this for more than £10,000 cheaper than many of its direct competitors like the BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes Benz E-Class at £20,205. These prices are even better than prices Oracle Corp. charges for software.
The Superb isn’t even Skoda’s only business suitable offering. The cheaper Skoda Rapid goes for as little as £14,990 (that’s for the SE configuration, purpose built as a business car) and less than half that even lightly used, and it has similar lines to its big brother, while being a little more practical and compact. As well as being more stylish than other compact business cars like the Peugeot 208, the Rapid is built with a versatile dash and nearly limitless options including trip computers and climate control.
Compete On Value
Like most auto startups, this company is using innovation to compete on value. By adding another company to the business car market, it will take time for them to build up their brand. Of course, it won’t take long like the other automotive start ups to reach a mass scale level or get acquired by one of the competing car brands.
In short then, not only can Skoda compete in the business market, they are real contenders that both their competition and potential customers would be fools to overlook, unlike most startups in the food business.
