Alexandre BÉE Academic year: 2016 – 2017 Academic Supervisor: Mr. Damien JUSTEAU Internship Report Marketing tasks th nd From 19 April to 2 August 2017 Company: Sin Cars International LTD Non-privacy Visa: Address: Blvd. Tretimart 56  Non-private This report is: 7000 Ruse  Private BULGARIA Standard: +359 897 011 115 Signatory’s name: Mentor: Rosen DASKALOV Date: Position: CEO of Sin Cars International LTD 1 Signature and stamp: E-mail: [email protected] I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) Summary 1- Thanks 3 ................................................................................................................. 2- Introduction 4 .................................................................................................. 3- Presentation of the company 5 ........................................... 3-1 General presentation 5 ................................................................................. 3-2 Activities 5 .............................................................................................................. 3-3 SWOT Analysis 9 .............................................................................................. 4- Automotive activities 10 ......................................................................... 4-1 Comprehension of the company 10 ..................................................... 4-2 Participation in a race 14 .............................................................................. 5- Marketing activities 17 ............................................................................. 5-1 Website 17 ............................................................................................................. 5-2 School research 24 .......................................................................................... 5-3 Improvement of the customer relationship 26 .............................. 5-4 Dealership prospection 28 .......................................................................... 6- Conclusion 37 ....................................................................................................... 7- Directories 38 ...................................................................................................... 7-1 Table of figures 38 ........................................................................................... 7-2 Glossary 39 ........................................................................................................... 7-3 Index 39 ................................................................................................................... 7-4 Table of annexes 40 ....................................................................................... 7-5 Links 40 .................................................................................................................... The words followed by an asterisk are listed in the glossary. The italicized words are listed in the index. Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 2 I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) 1- Thanks First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Rosen Daskalov, CEO of Sin Cars international LTD who allowed me to carry out my internship in his company. Thanks to him, I was able to apply my new skills, discover the running of a road and racing car manufacturer and refine my professional project. As a company tutor, he gave some parts of his time and knew how to guide me and make me discover new things while trusting me. I also thank Mr. Kamen Uzonov, engineer as well as Marina Stoyanova and Emanoela Petrova who work in the marketing department who answered my questions, helped me to do some tasks and entrusted me with essential resources and documents for the realization of this internship. I would also like to thank Mr. Yordan Yordanov (my roommate) and Mr. Miro Torniov, who work in the workshop and in the carbon fibre department of the Sin Cars Company. They welcomed me and made me discover some aspects of Bulgaria. It was thanks to them that my life outside the company was very appreciable. My thanks also go to all the staff of Sin Cars Ruse (Bulgaria) who have welcomed and helped me during my internship. They have made of this internship a very profitable and beneficial experience. I also express my thanks to Mr. Damien Justeau, the internship manager and teacher at the I.S.I.A.L.M, as well as Mr. Gareth Scarborough, Mrs. Anne Thimon-Martin teachers at the I.S.I.A.L.M, and Mrs Sylvie FOUCHE secretary at the I.S.I.A.L.M who followed and helped me for some administrative aspects during my internship. Finally, I would like to thank all the people who supported me during this internship and helped me on this report. Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 3 I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) 2- Introduction Nowadays, the internship is a way of implementing new knowledges acquired during the training of a student. It is also, for some students, a way to discover different trades and sectors of activity. The internship achievement is therefore beneficial for each student in order to discover a new company, refine his personal project and apply his skills. Sin Cars international LTD is a company which manufactures sports cars and racing cars. Because I would like to become a key account and project manager in the automotive area, I have seen in Sin Cars, the perfect company to discovering from inside this closed area. As part of my training, I completed a three-and-a-half-month internship (from April 19th 2017 to August 2nd 2017) in the Design Department of Sin Cars Ruse (Bulgaria). The missions entrusted to me were some automotive and marketing activities aiming to help the company in some manual tasks, having more customers and being more known. The interest of such tasks is to improve the car, develop the company business, create a network and improve the cars selling. To carry out these missions, it is necessary to start with a presentation of the company in order to better understand the context of the internship. Then, the second step is to approach the automotive tasks in order to better understand the car and the motorsport area and then, the third step is to approach the marketing tasks developing the problematic of how to improve the business of a new Supercar* and racing cars manufacturer. Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 4 I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) 3- Presentation of the company 3-1 General presentation The Sin Cars Company is a supercar and race car manufacturer. In 2012, Mr. Rosen Daskalov, engineer, go-kart and motorsport driver, decide to create his own car after a lot of unsuccessful research of the perfect supercar. This is how, in 2013, the first prototype* of the Sin R1 was built in England. On the basis of this prototype, the race car, Sin R1 GT was built for the official racing team of Sin Cars: Sofia Car Motorsport. Engaged in the British GT Cup, the results and the data collected have permitted to improve the race car and the prototype. Thanks to these improvements, in 2015, the company start the production of the Sin R1 supercar and moved its headquarters to Ruse in Bulgaria. The detailed historic is available in annex 1. This path is different from the others automobile brand. Indeed, at first, the others brands product the road car and build the race car with the basis of the road car. Sin Cars do the opposite and choose as motto: “From racing to the road”. Currently, in 2017, 5 years after his creation, the company hire 20 people and propose 6 different models. 3 can be used on roads and tracks (Sin R1, Sin R1 RS and Sin R1 550) and 3 can be used only on tracks (Sin R1 GT4, Sin R1 VTX and Sin R1 GT). 3-2 Activities To understand well in which market the Sin Cars Company is, it is important to perfectly understand its activities. We know that the Sin Cars Company builds supercars and racing cars. 3-2-1 Supercars Since 1997, the European Commission sort the road cars by segment to differentiate them. Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 5 I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) Since 2010 an update permit to take in accounts more models in more segments. Here are the 10 segments: - B0: Micro cars - E: Medium sedans and Vans - A: Small city cars - F: Luxury sedans - B: City cars - J: SUV, Pickups and off-road - C: Compact cars - M: Minivans - D: Little sedans - S: Sports cars Sin Cars are considered as sports cars* thanks to their performances and sportive design. Unfortunately this segment is not precise. The sports cars segment includes a lot of cars which don’t have the same characteristics. To be more precise we can defined Sin Cars as Supercars* thanks to their performance. In a more common language, these kinds of cars are also called “luxury cars” but it is a misnomer. Currently there are 3 road cars models: Sin R1, Sin R1 RS and Sin R1 550. For more details please look the annex 2. Here is the Sin R1. It is the basis of all the Sin Cars models. Available in different motorisations, transmissions, colours and with several options, the car is fully customizable by the future owner. The body is made of carbon fibre like a racing car and the performances have nothing to envy to the world recognize brands of supercars manufacturers. Figure 1: Yellow Sin R1 On the market, the competitors of the Sin Cars supercars are all the supercars manufacturers. We can name; Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, McLaren, Aston Martin, Bentley, Lotus or Porsche for example. Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 6 I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) 3-2-2 Racing Cars We can sort the racing cars per categories of championships: - Open wheel Racing - Rallying - Karting - Sport Prototypes - Touring Car racing - Drag racing - Grand Touring - Off road racing - Stock Car racing - Historical racing All these categories are composed by other categories with their own rules. The racing cars of Sin Cars are Grand Touring cars from the beginning. First in British GT Cup with the Sin R1 GT and now in Northern European GT4 Series with the Sin R1 GT4. All the Racing Sin Cars can be bought. Currently there are 3 models: Sin R1 GT, Sin R1 GT4 and Sin R1 VTX. For more details please look the annex 2. Sin Cars is currently engaged in Northern GT4 European Championship with the official team of the company: Sofia Cars Motorsport. Here is the Sin R1 GT4 engaged by Sofia Car Motorsport in the GT4 Championship. The car is homologated by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) to take part in the Championship. On the track, Sofia car Motorsport and the Sin R1 GT4 can consider all the others team as competitors for win the different races. F igure 2: Sin R1 GT4 Sofia Car Motorsport For the Sin Cars Company the real competitors are not the teams but the manufacturers. KTM, BMW, Porsche, Ginetta, Aston Martin or the others brands which have GT4 racing cars are the real competitors because they sell racing cars as Sin Cars also homologated for GT4 races. Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 7 I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) 3-2-3 Partners Because the company is young there is no Sin Cars dealership. Currently there are 4 ways to see, test or buy a Sin Cars. - The first solution is in USA. The team “Racers Edge Motorsport” engaged 2 Sin R1 GT4 in the Pirelli World Challenge USA. Figure 4: Black Sin R1 GT4 Racers Edge Motorsport Figure 3: Red Sin R1 GT4 Racers Edge Motorsport In more of this, the team is official Sin Cars distributor in USA. It means that they are able to promote Sin Cars, make some tests drive, converse with potential customers and delivery the cars. - In France, Thierry Amart is the representative of the brand. He has his own orange Sin R1 and make the promotion of Sin Cars in going to some supercars events some tests drive with potential customers and converse with their. Figure 5: Orange Sin R1 - In United Kingdom, and Germany there is a Sin Cars entity where the cars can be delivered. It also permits to Sin Cars to realize some test drive in these countries. - In Bulgaria there is the workshop. Thanks to it, it is possible to promote Sin Cars, make some tests drive in Romania, converse with potential customers and delivery the cars. Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 8 I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) 3-3 SWOT analysis Making a SWOT analysis on company and its market permit to take a step back and quickly identify the obstacles that can be encountered and how they could be overcome. 3-3-1 Company About the company we can talk about Strengths and Weaknesses. Strengths Why strength? Weaknesses Why weakness? Young company Innovation synonym Young company No good reputation Can be assimilate to bad Ex-driver Owner Know what to do for win Bulgarian Company quality Noble materials Synonym of quality Not known Difficult to find customers Handmade Synonym of quality No dealerships Difficult to find customers Few subcontractors Control of quality Long to build a car Customers can be dissatisfied From racing to the Atypical path, Generally Racing team Expensive road opposite path Racing team Promote Sin Cars F igure 6: SWOT: Strengths and Weaknesses 3-3-2 Market About the market we can talk about Opportunities and Threats. Opportunities Why opportunity? Threats Why threat? Electric or ecologic Few quantity of 1 % of the automotive Few developed cars supercars sold market Several famous +10 brands ever present on Automobile market More cars sold, more other brands this market increasment in 2017 luxury cars sold Famous other Excellent reputation of these brands brands Lot of luxury cars on the Repositioning in Others little brands Less brands on the luxury market premium for certain market Few quantity of Around 20 teams per brands. racing cars sold championships Lot of racing Lot of championships for Market very Sometimes, expensive Championships build and sell cars. regulate regulations No other brands. Only one Economic crisis and supercar manufacturer for Costs of import/export can Only one brand from political situation Bulgarian market. Can increase. Bulgaria of countries make an expansion on the eastern Europe Figure 7: SWOT: Opportunities and Threats Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 9 I.S.I.A.L.M (Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans) 4- Automotive activities 4-1 Comprehension of the company During the first week the first task was to understand the functioning of the company. The comprehension of the company is considering as a task because helping the company in some marketing task require to perfectly understanding the process and the products of the company. To understand the company, I was included in 3 departments: The marketing department, the carbon fibre department and the design department. 4-1-1 Marketing department My first day was in the marketing department. 3 people work here and one of their works is to be intermediary between the company and outside. For example, customers and suppliers are canvassed or greeted by this department. During this first day, Marina (worker in the marketing department) showed me the different departments of the company. There are 8 departments: the marketing department, the design department, 2 workshops, the chassis department, the machining department, the carbon fibre department, the engine department and the painting department. A description of these areas is available in Annex 3. During this first day, in order to understand the products of the company, I have checked the website and spoke with some workers of the company. At the end of the day I was able to say that 6 cars models are producing by Sin Cars (Annex 2) and to say the different activities of the company (Road cars, Race in northern GT4 European championship, partnership with Racers Edge Motorsport, annual events). 4-1-2 Carbon fibre department During two days, I was in the carbon fibre department in the aim to understand the carbon fibre process* and to reply potential customers who can asks some questions about it. In this department are build the carbon fibre parts of all the racing and road cars. The carbon fibre process is hard to understand because, in function of the shape and the useful of the part, the processes can change. Alexandre BÉE Sin Cars / Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans Page : 10