International Marketing Strategy Analysis

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Lifan Co. Going International:
International Marketing Strategy Analysis

Executive Summary
This report was commissioned to compare and contrast a group of countries that could
fulfill the role of host country for Lifan Co. internationalization operations and to provide
solutions to any barriers that could reduce the effectiveness of these operations. Given that Lifan
Co. has the intention of its main product being an affordable car; the research draws attention to
three countries in the Eastern European cluster which are Ukraine, Turkey, and Romania. Each
of these countries provided strong qualifications as a host country in different terms such as
political stability, economic development, and easy access to market. Even though a company
based of China has a different background than Eastern European countries, research reveals that
this region holds the optimal solution for Lifan Co. operations. This research suggest that Lifan
Co. should expand to Turkey as they hold many qualifications such as moderate GDP per capita,
easy market access, political stability, and economic growth. In this report it is further explained
why Turkey is the optimal candidate. 
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Introduction
The purpose of this report was to find the best candidate for Lifan Co.
Internationalization Operations. Our first task was to narrow down the search scope to a specific
geographical region. After detailed comparison we decided that Eastern Europe was the best
option, and from this region we chose Turkey as the first country. In the decision criteria we took
into consideration that Lifan Co. had the intention of entering the automobile market with its
Lifan 520 car model. The report includes what we forecasted to be the Lifan 520’s main
competitor, the Renault Symbol. Despite the weight of our competitor, our main focus relies on
different analysis that included the BERI Index and the Hoffstede Dimensions analysis tools.
Through these two main tools we were able to identify Turkey as the most attractive country for
Lifan Co. expansion operations. Turkey’s attractiveness mainly comes from its benefits
outnumbering its barriers and the potential Lifan Co has to exploit its competitive advantage.
After identifying the issues we might face in Turkey, we suggested possible alternatives and
solutions for these situations. As Lifan Co.’s first operations in Eastern Europe we have to be
careful with these recommendations and include cultural issues in the process. Only after careful
study of these two countries we were able to propose all of the alternatives that are suggested in
this report.
2.1 How to overcome cultural differences
Lifan Industry CO. is a Chinese company, and as such, it has its own cultural feature that
differences it from other companies around the world. The marketing plan propose to expand
Lifan’s market to Turkey, however these two countries present different backgrounds that need 
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to be addressed in order to internationalize with no major cultural clashes. The Geert Hofsetede’s
6-D model tool provided the team with enough resources to analyze the difference between both
countries. This analysis is going to focus on the least similar two dimensions: Uncertainty
avoidance and Pragmatism. Plus a special mention on the language barrier.
The major difference between China and Turkey lies in Uncertainty Avoidance. Turkey
has a high score on this dimension, meaning that people from this country relies heavily on
rituals (Hofstede, 2014). High religious societies, the Turkish are driven by many rituals and
religious expressions in their daily life. The Chinese, on the other side, have a quite low score in
this dimension. This means that Lifan will have to pay special attention to the management style
at the moment of making a
direct investment, and
focus on the importance
those religious affairs have
on the lifestyle of Turkish
people. As well,
advertisement and
communication strategies must also accommodate to the strong religious orientation of Turkey.
The second dimension that presents notorious differences between China and Turkey is
Pragmatism. Turkey’s 46 score in pragmatism settles it in the middle scale (Hofstede, 2014), but
still may present some problems such as cultural dominant preferences that might make Turkey a
country difficult to penetrate. Fortunately, China has a high degree on pragmatism meaning that
they have a good predisposition to change. Lifan’s culture is one of adaptation, which presents 
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a great advantage when sending expatriates to work in foreign firms. This way Lifan’s workforce
can become a strong asset and a trustworthy source when sending them to work in Turkey.
Turkish people love the way they do things. They love their culture and history. They are
appreciated when things are done by their way. In Turkey, Turkish language is spoken all over
the nation. They are really appreciated whe