After the success of last year's project concerning the French veterinary market, this year's project is a new product launch in the luxury car market. This project is an ideal follow up to the MSc marketing programme's module on Luxury Brands Management.

Dr. Campbell, visiting professor of Schulich School of Business, Canada outlined this year's project to the MSc marketing students during her recent visit to EDHEC and introduced them to Mr Théo Ehrhardt, who is the exclusive importer of the Carver car in France.

The students were clearly captivated by the Carver 1,  the futuristic, 3- wheel car that would become their "baby" for the next 6 months.  They watched in awe as the 37000€, two-seater car took corners like a motorbike, reaching speeds of up to 185km/h and providing the closest sensation to flying on the ground! And to better understand the unique engineering concept that allows this Dutch car to lean at 45°when turning, they listened to a presentation by Mr Ehrhardt and took part in an interactive discussion about the market and his plans for distribution.

Mr Ehrhardt, who had heard of EDHEC's reputation, was impressed by the class's pertinent questions and is convinced that the students will deliver interesting findings and offer useful recommendations.

Working in groups, the students will begin the term-long project of gathering and analyzing data and submitting their work to receive on-line feedback from Dr. Campbell in Canada.  Students have already submitted their initial reports for the first phase of this project and they will continue to develop their ideas throughout the semester before meeting Dr. Campbell again in May for the Marketing Planning module where they will develop the Marketing Plan for Carver 1. Mr Ehrhardt plans to return to EDHEC around Christmas to give students test drives to allow them to experience the unique sensation of this new car and to give them feedback on their initial research findings.

So what do the students think of this project?

Mirjana Otasevic of the Netherlands gave her point of view:

"This project will be highly challenging. It is a business simulation which will enable us to think and act in a real-life business situation. Carver is a Dutch company with plans to expand into the European market. We will be providing recommendations on the expansion into the French market. Our assignment is to design a marketing plan with this objective in mind and to offer a clear strategy.

From now until the end of the year we will have to finalise the Situational Analysis, which implies carrying out thorough Market Research and a Market Opportunity Analysis including an overview of the French market, competition, market segmentation and customer profile. The results will be exchanged with Prof. Campbell, who will coordinate all our further activities. The Plan is to be completed by spring. The real challenge will be to determine clear Marketing Objectives and design the Marketing Mix (product positioning, distribution strategy, price and the promotion strategy). I am very excited about this project and like everybody else, anticipate the final outcome."