Current Electric Vehicles

Business

Plan

Index

3 – Executive Summary

5 – Step One

9 – Step Two

11 – Step Three

12 - References

Executive Summary

A. Mission Statement

Current’s mission is to transition the world to sustainable energy quickly by providing cutting edge technology at an increasingly affordable price point. Their ability to manufacture their own batteries and engineer their own technologies has not only created a more attractive price point, but has created thousands of jobs and accelerated the world’s access to more sustainable travel mediums and energy. Innovation is at the center of culture, and employees all keep their eyes on the ultimate goal of efficient and effective sustainability.

B. Company Summary

Founded in 2022, Current is an electric vehicle company with approximately 5,000 employees across 3 manufacturing plants spanning the US and Germany. Current, Incorporated is a publicly traded company, and as such, their key stakeholders include its investors, directors, employees, suppliers, shareholders, partners, the government, financial institutes, and the public. The management team at Current was hand-picked by the founders, and are some of the most brilliant minds in engineering, design, and economics.

C. Products/Services

Current sells luxury electric vehicles. They currently offer 3 different models, each with a wide range of customizable options including color, charge capacity, and technology compatibility. The cars have a variable charge range that can take drivers up to 400 miles. Additionally, they have optional self-driving features. They offer products that are of the highest quality in terms of technological advancement and premium materials, and can be purchased from anywhere and shipped to you. Current also offers a 4 year vehicle warranty, and an 8 year battery warranty. They are soon expanding into the production of solar panels.

D. Market Assessment

The market for Current is shifting, but currently still sits in the “high end automobile” market. This means that the target market segment for Current is affluent home owners, people who are looking for the next status symbol, and/or people who care (or at least want the appearance of caring) about environmentalism. Current are far from a commodity – they have become the standard for EV (electric vehicles). The appeal is unilateral, and they have seen incredibly high interest in their upcoming model with a $25,000 price point. Currently there aren’t really any active companies that are solely EV manufacturers.

E. Strategic Implementation

Currents are currently produced at their plants (2 are currently fully operational). The competitive advantage is Current’s ability to maintain exclusivity with many of their component suppliers, and produce many of the components in-house, while offering the best single-charge driving radius of any EV on the market. The skills needed are primarily engineering skills – much of the manufacturing is done by robots. The current marketing strategy for Current is essentially word of mouth. There is little need for an aggressive marketing plan now that the company and its products have become a status symbol.

F. Expected Outcomes

Their debt and equity position/ratio was sitting at 1.63 as of March 2022, and 2022 FQ2 has seen that improve to 0.38. Current is expecting to hit their 50% increase in sales each year for the next 5 years, with a tentatively projected increase to 65% from 2023 to 2025 as a result of their most affordable model’s release. Current predicts they will be able to deliver 200,000 vehicles in 2022 to maintain a steady increase in production.

Step One

Vision/Mission Statement and Goals

A. Vision Statement

Current’s mission is to transition the world to sustainable energy quickly by providing cutting edge technology at an increasingly affordable price point. They currently offer 3 different models, each with a wide range of customizable options including color, charge capacity, and technology compatibility. Their initial offerings were marketed towards high-income demographics, and priced as such. As they have slowly developed ways to manufacture and engineer technologies and physical components of their cars in-house, they have been able to provide more affordable pricing, which has enabled them to widen their range of target market segments while increasing overall sales and profitability.

Their ability to manufacture their own batteries and engineer their own technologies has not only created a more attractive price point, but has created thousands of jobs and accelerated the world’s access to more sustainable travel mediums and energy. The overall business culture of Current centers around encouraging employees to innovate at every level of conception, engineering, and production to keep everyone’s eyes on the ultimate goal of efficient and effective sustainability. This innovation-centric culture is intended to drive continuous improvement of not only the products produced, but the business itself.

B. Goals and Objectives

The ultimate goal of Current is to drive the transition to use of sustainable energy for personal transportation. The most recent earnings report for Current revealed a profit of $721 million on $31.5 billion in sales. Their current delivery target for 2022 is between 840,000 and 1,000,000 vehicles. They aim to increase vehicle sales by 50% annually for the next 5 years, and are anticipating a larger annual increase the last 2 years of that plan once they release their first $25,000 vehicle (which is slated to be released in 2023).

Currently the biggest risk factors lie with their competitors, the biggest of which are Tesla, Ford and GM, all of which are pushing large-scale transitions toward electric vehicles, including the introduction of the electric version of the Ford F-150, whose gas-guzzling counterpart has been the top selling truck in the country for over a decade. Other risk factors involve safely resuming full-capacity manufacturing plants, overcoming the current chip shortage – both ripple effects of the pandemic. Another obstacle that threatens to derail their current mid-term goals is the recent rift with the Chinese government involving privacy concerns with the “smart” features on the cars. Their focus on innovation does put them at a disadvantage, having to pioneer the new technologies they develop while allowing their competitors to learn from their mistakes and missteps.

Current is expecting to hit their 50% increase in sales each year for the next 5 years, with a tentatively projected increase to 65% from 2023 to 2025 as a result of their most affordable model’s release. Their overall goal of making electric vehicles the standard mode of personal transportation has been predicted by their founder and CEO. He has gone on record both on social media and on other mediums saying that he expects 50% of all vehicles to be electric by 2027, and is aiming for 75% of those vehicles to be Current’s. The company’s goal is not only to dominate the EV industry, but to push their competitors to transition to electric vehicles more rapidly. The more attractive Current can make their cars (both physically and economically), the more pressure it will put on their competitors to follow suit.

C. Keys to Success

In order to succeed, Current needs to maintain the steady increase of self-sufficiency that they have been slowly developing. Keeping manufacturing of nearly all vehicle components in-house, and continuous improvement of their product will help them sustain their place as the premier electric vehicle company in the world. Their focus on innovation will continue to drive their growth, and their increasing profitability will allow them more control over things like installing their own charging stations throughout the country – which they intend to use in order to profit off their competitors vehicles. As the pandemic has revealed, controlling their own means of end-to-end production is crucial to avoiding inefficiencies created by supply chain issues outside of their control.

Another key to success for Current will lie it their ability to avoid negative stigmas becoming associated with their products. Currently, there are pending investigations involving fatalities that have been attributed to the self-driving feature of certain Current models. They will need to avoid incidents like that becoming the focus of the public perception of their company. In order to continue the company’s financial growth and stability, they will need to appease stock holders, which involves staying on the up and up in terms of safety protocol and overall brand image.

Company Summary

A. Company Background

Current was founded in 2022, and is an electric vehicle manufacturer. They were founded by Matthew Bellock. In January 2022, Current revealed their debut EV with cutting-edge electric battery technology and electric powertrain. They then released the Fossil model – which is still considered their flagship vehicle.

These releases solidified them as the premier electric vehicle company, and led to their IPO in June 2022. Going public while riding high as a wildly popular company provided them the resources they needed to ramp up production and marketing, and expand their footprint in the auto industry worldwide.

B. Resources, Facilities and Equipment

With their windshields being supplied by AGC Automotive, brakes by Brembo, battery chiller by Modine Manufacturing Co., and power steering system by ZF Lenksysteme, among dozens of other suppliers for small electrical and mechanical components, the list of resources available to Current is vast, but a large effort has been made to keep them under wraps for fear of competitors using the same suppliers and cutting into the volume available to them.

Current has approximately 5,000 employees across 4 manufacturing plants spanning the US and Germany. They employ a total of 8,000 people company-wide. In FQ1 2022, their total operating expense was $2.54 billion. Their employees are provided with excellent wages and employee benefits, giving them a 4-star score on Glassdoor.com. The resource providers for electrical and mechanical components are rewarded with consistent, steadily increasing large volume purchases along with the bragging rights of being a supplier for Current – as they are a coveted name not only in the EV industry, but a culturally iconic brand worldwide.

C. Marketing Methods

While Current’s marketing methods are primarily word-of-mouth, they have the added benefit of their co-founder and CEO being a vocal social activist. As a public figure, the CEO is essentially the whole of their marketing. As the face of the company, he has millions of followers across social media platforms, and is a celebrity in both the tech and financial worlds.

Current works in exclusivity with several of their suppliers to not only increase the reliability of supply, but to exclude competitors from having access to key vehicle components. Contracting is limited to supply of electrical and mechanical components, as Current strives to keep as many of their resources in-house as they possibly can to continue increasing profitability and control over resources and quality of products.

D. Management and Organization

Current’s founders operate as their management team, with a management structure that tiers down from them. The most dominant figure on the team is their founder, who is the CEO, spokesperson, and ultimate decision maker for the company. His reputation is that of a maverick, and an incredibly savvy businessman. His goal is to constantly be innovating, but not at the cost of company (and personal) morals. He treats employees with dignity and respect, and expects all levels of the business to cultivate that same cultural standard.

The management team at Current was hand-picked by their founder, and are some of the most brilliant minds in engineering, design, and economics.

E. Ownership Structure

Current, Incorporated is a publicly traded company, and as such, their key stakeholders include its investors, directors, employees, suppliers, shareholders, partners, the government, financial institutes, and the public. Top shareholders include Kimbal Musk, Zachary Kirkhorn, Jerome M. Guillen, and the CEO himself. Some of their top investors are Susquehanna Securities and Capital World Investors. There are a plethora of legal permits, inspections, and compliance laws for auto industry companies, all of which Current abides by and is in regular compliance with.

F. Social Responsibility

Current is an electric vehicle company, and is the new standard for environmentalism in the auto industry. They strive to make personal transportation as environmentally friendly as possible, creating minimal waste and pollution from production to end-user emissions. Handling chemicals for batteries and mechanical lubrication follows stringent federal and state guidelines.

Philanthropy is a large part of Current’s founder’s persona, and Current as a company. The CEO himself has donated $100 million to carbon capture programs, furthering his commitment to perpetuating a clean, sustainable way to travel, and clean the earth’s atmosphere in the process.

G. Internal Analysis

Current’s strengths lie in their commitment to creating a healthier planet – it is a culturally relevant goal, and one that has gained the support of billions of people worldwide. It’s marketing fuel and a great look in a PR sense. They also have brilliant deals with manufacturers for electrical and mechanical components that allow them ease of access to countless resources that are essentially exclusively available to them. Current has a great strength in the fact that their manufacturing plants are efficient and continue to gain the capability of producing more and more components in-house, controlling their overhead.

The founder’s public image is the biggest thing that they could build on. The company is essentially him – at least as far as the public is concerned – so when his image is tainted, so is the company’s. He could be a little more grounded as an understanding, down to earth individual if they are going to appeal to their new target market segment that includes the working class – which have traditionally been very difficult to sell on the idea of electric vehicles (at least in the US).

Step Two

Products/Services

Current sells luxury electric vehicles, specifically automobiles. They are unique in many ways, ranging from functionality to efficiency. The vehicles do not require routine fluid changes or annual maintenance. The cars have a variable charge range that can take drivers up to 400 miles. Additionally, they have optional self-driving features. Socially, they have become something of a status symbol. Current’s are far from a commodity – they have become the standard for EV (electric vehicles). They offer products that are of the highest quality in terms of technological advancement and premium materials, and can be purchased from anywhere and shipped to you. I have personally never ridden in one, but there used to be a Current “storefront” in a mall I live near, and I have poked around in there, sat inside of the floor model, and done a lot of digging on how I would ever be able to afford one (they are releasing a $25,000 model in the very near future).

Market Assessment

A. Examining the General Market

· The market for Current is shifting, but currently still sits in the “high end automobile” market. This means that the target market segment for Current is affluent home owners, people who are looking for the next status symbol, and/or people who care (or at least want the appearance of caring) about environmentalism. Currently, Current is at the forefront of companies employing cutting-edge technology and aggressive environmentalism. The only thing that Current has not been able to cater to thus far is the safety standards that people tend to look for with high end vehicles. That being said, those safety standards are primarily missing the mark when the vehicles are using the self-driving features. The opportunities are limitless, especially when you consider that Current is installing their own charging stations all over the country, with the intention of commodifying those for the use of other EV’s for additional fees. They are also in the process of producing more affordable models, which would open up their target market segment to basically anyone with access to a charging station. They are creating and driving the trend towards electric vehicles, riding on the wave of environmentalism sparked by increasing effects of climate change. The biggest legal issues that Current faces right now are pending regulatory changes regarding their self-driving features.

B. Customer Analysis

· Current customers are typically affluent, home owning professionals with an affinity for either status symbolism or environmentalism. Each customer is not only being sold a car with a wide range of customizable options, but also a warranty, a status symbol, a beacon for attention, and peace of mind that you are damaging the environment just a little bit less than the other drivers on the road. Retaining customers has been easy thus far – it was ranked number 1 in customer loyalty by Forbes, who claimed that 70.7% of customers who “disposed” of their Current purchased another Current.

C. Industry Analysis

· Currently there aren’t really any active companies that are solely EV manufacturers other than Tesla and Rivian. Other large car makers like GM, Ford, and Volkswagen have vowed to become fully electric in the near future. Those companies are scrambling to produce efficient, price-friendly EV’s to snatch up the market segments that are vying for Current but currently cannot afford it. There seems to be somewhat of a race to capture the EV crowd before Current releases it’s more affordable models.

D. Strategic Alternatives

· Something Current isn’t doing now that could help to capture more of the EV market is offering discounts to people who trade in their vehicles for new ones, and then selling those used “high end” models to customers who are interested in the still unreleased “affordable” models. They could be drawing people into their company the way Apple does – create an experience so unique and so cultural that people end up only buying Currents, and take a lot of convincing to switch to a different company.

Strategic Implementation

A. Production

· Currents are currently produced at their plants (2 are currently fully operational). The value is created with the fact that these are electric vehicles – they are zero-emission, and incredibly stylish. There is no better way to market the product other than simply describing them. The competitive advantage is Current’s ability to maintain exclusivity with many of their component suppliers, and produce many of the components in-house, while offering the best single-charge driving radius of any EV on the market. The list of cutting edge technology is endless with these cars. There is an option for self-driving models. Enough said.

B. Resource Needs

· The skills needed are primarily engineering skills – much of the manufacturing is done by robots. The financial resources are currently generated by sales (outlined in Step 1 of this business plan). The physical resources are a combination of computer components and automobile components, many of which have been acquired through exclusive deals with both raw materials providers and businesses that offer premade components.

C. Marketing Strategy

· The current marketing strategy for Current is essentially word of mouth. There is little need for an aggressive marketing plan now that the company and its products have become a status symbol. Most, if not all sales are done online through the open market. The product is priced with generous warranty, free basic maintenance, and consultation built in to the price.

Step Three

A. Financial Projections

Current is primarily funded by sales income, stock offering, and bond sales. It was originally funded by several sources, including the CEO himself, who contributed $30 million of his own funds to the company’s initial startup funds. Their debt and equity position/ratio was sitting at 1.63 as of arch 2022, and FQ2 2022 has seen that improve to 0.38. Outside investors were part of the original funding for Current, but now they are able to rely solely on sales income, stocks, and bond sales.

Financial risk management is being handled through rapid product enhancement – the vehicles are engineered in a way that allows updates and improvements to be made on existing vehicles, similar to how updates and improvements can be made to phones and computers. They are in a unique situation in terms of managing business risk due to the fact that the CEO is a celebrity influencer both in social and financial fields. His decision to start accepting Bitcoin (among other cryptocurrencies) could very well act as a risk management tactic in its own right. Aside from that, Current has secured several patents and works hard to protect its image, which should help them keep their place as the industry leader for EV’s.

Current predicts they will be able to deliver 200,000 vehicles in 2022 to maintain their steady increase in production.

B. Contingency Plan

Having been around since early 2022, Current has already had to turn to their contingency plans on multiple occasions. One of their contingency plans for solidifying ROI for their investors was going public. They do not seem to have a plan for replacing their founder/CEO and his unique leadership should something happen to him or should he choose to step down as CEO, but they have strong leadership in multiple departments that have been publicly commended for their performance multiple times. One could only assume that their contingency plan for leadership changes would hinge on one of those proven leaders being able to step in.