Prepare an Assessment for Lotus Rental Car's Cfo

Alternative Fuel Vehicles to the Fleet

Implementation Plan for Alternative Fuel Rental Lotus Car

Our team will be making the case to Lotus for a hybrid "production car" that can be justified for the rental market. It is important to note that Lotus is considered a very low volume manufacturer. This means that the ROI on this project is absolutely critical and variable costs are an issue our team will have to keep this consideration.

The section criteria we used to pull our resources from include Lotus Engineering, Group Lotus, California Energy Commissions, and Best Hybrid Mileage for Alternative Vehicles. Alternative fuel vehicles have become extremely popular to the consumer, due in part to the sky rocketing fuel costs at the pump. Fuel economy is the number one consideration for consumers looking to purchase, lease, or rent vehicles. With the addition of alternative fuel vehicles to the Lotus Rental Car Fleet, our research shows that an investment now will pay huge dividends later.

Lotus Engineering is unique, offering a blend of technical excellence, passion and performance that is unrivalled in the automotive industry. Group Lotus is made up of Lotus Cars, and Lotus Engineering. One advantage is that Lotus over the past 6-7 years have publicly adopted an environmentally friendly philosophy with regards to its manufacturing policies.

"This is a very exciting and dynamic time for Lotus Cars worldwide," said Braner, "both the Elise and Exige have already made a huge impact in the USA with their sensational driving and ownership experience. (Braner, 2006)

Alternative Fuel Vehicles

The automotive industry is aware that the use of petroleum to fuel our transportation requirements will eventually come to an end. Lotus Rental Car must take the leap towards the future and embrace this new technology, in order to remain not only competitive, but a leader. Several automotive manufactures have developed superior alternative fuel vehicles. They continue to invest in research, to improve upon their vehicles performance. The United States Department of Energy, list the following vehicles with the best mileage per gallon as the Toyota Prius, with estimated miles per gallon of 51 city, 48 highway, the Honda Civic Hybird, 48 city, 44 highway, and finally, the Honda Civic Sedan, with 44 city, and 44 highway. These vehicles in particular, have a tremendous advantage over their competition in mileage.

Research on states with highest sales of Alternative Fuel Vehicles Effective placement of our vehicles is a very key element in this proposal. We must put a sizable amount of our inventory and marketing within the following states: Oklahoma, District of Columbia, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and finally California. Each of these states is ranked within the top twenty of most alternative vehicles sold and they possess a very high market for sports car sales.

Implementation from State to State

This is the time to implement this car with the recent spike in car sales this year. We would be remiss if we did not jump on launching this program when all the major states have seen a 12.7% increase from March alone.

The major markets mentioned above already have a stable base of over 500 websites dedicated to luxury and performance car rentals in their major cities. These markets know our product and have a large base of advocates for a stronger environmentally conscience approach.

Of course the sales price to the rental company would be at a discount but due to the limited production availability of Lotus cars the deprecation factor would be very small and provide a dynamic secondary market for Lotus via a buyback arrangement with the rental company when the vehicle is removed from service. These cars can be reconditioned and sold on a wholesale basis to the retail dealers filling a demand for used Lotus vehicles.

Our team will also discuss the alternate gas prices. The price of an alternative fuel vehicle is higher than a gas vehicle. To assist in this transition, there are state and federal tax credits available. The California Energy Commission recently stated that the fuel efficiency for the vehicles previously mentioned is over twice the national average.

When the price of gas rises, people's thoughts naturally jump to alternative fuel sources. Petroleum will not drop in price, nor will it remain abundant. Lotus has the window of opportunity to set the standard with a fleet of alternative fuel vehicles, to meet consumer demand. Consumers will have choices that compete with diesel and gasoline, and Lotus will have the edge on the competition by offering these vehicles to the consumer, and by setting the standard that Lotus not only keeps up with technology, but leads with innovation.

Comparison of Vehicles

Alternative fuel vehicles have become extremely popular to the consumer, due in part to the sky rocketing fuel costs at the pump. Fuel economy is the number one consideration for consumers looking to purchase, lease, or rent vehicles. With the addition of alternative fuel vehicles to the Lotus Rental Car Fleet, research shows that an investment made will pay dividends later.

The automotive industry is aware that the use of petroleum to fuel transportation

Requirements eventually will end. Lotus Rental Car must take the leap toward the future and

embrace this new technology, to remain not only competitive but also a leader. Several

automotive manufacturers have developed superior alternative fuel vehicles. They continue to