Unit 3. Urgent Problems of Marketing

1. Read the extract from the CNN Money website and complete it with the expressions listed.

net pricing              retail sales              planszero-interest production

target              outpacing              cautious note              sales pace

fleet              cash or reduced              salesdemandincentives

GM Leads Strong April Sales

New York (CNN/Money) — General Motors Corp.

Chrysler Group posted a 3 percent gain in US sales, while Ford Motor Co. said weak ... (2) dragged overall U.S. sales down 7.4 percent, although its ... (3) to consumers were about equal to year-earlier levels.

While final figures from all automakers are not yet in, GM estimated that total industry sales would be up about 2.5 percent in the month, giving the industry an annual ... (4) of between 17.5 million to 18 million vehicles in April, far stronger than originally estimated, putting the industry on pace for one of the best US sales years in its history.

GM announced it would raise its ... (5) for the second quarter due to continued strong consumer ... (6) and the moderate recovery in purchases by car rental companies. The company said it now ... (7) to build 1.53 million vehicles, up slightly from its earlier guidance of greater than 1.5 million vehicles, and up 12 percent from the 1.36 million vehicles it built in the year-earlier period.

The only ... (8) from GM is that pricing remains very competitive. The company issued new guidance saying that ... (9), which reflects the sales price less the cost of marketing and ... (10), will be off between 1.4 and 1.6 percent in the second quarter compared to a year ago.

GM has been a leader in most incentives for the last eight months, sparking a round of...

2. After filling in the gaps read the extract once more and decide which of the statements are True and which are False and write T for True and F for False.

1. GM outpaced its competitors because consumer demand for autos went up.
2. Approximate total industry sales would be about 2.5 percent in the month.
3. GM decided to leave its production target without changes.
4. The fact that pricing remains very competitive concerns GM.
5. Cash or reduced interest rates kept demand for vehicles strong.

3. Give English equivalents and make up your own sentences:

• товар, продаваемый по сниженной цене для привлечения покупателей;
• продукт, пользующийся спросом;
• осведомленность о торговой марке;
• рынок товаров массового производства;
• «макулатурная» почта (реклама и т. п.).

4. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. Year-to-date fleet sales are off 25 percent at GM due to the strong drop in demand from car rental companies in the first quarter.
2. GM was mostly lifted by a 24 percent gain in sales of light trucks.
3. “Underlying demand remains very strong,” said Paul Ballew, GM’s executive director for market and industry analysis.
4. The marketing director’s brief was to increase coverage by at least 10 percent.
5. The product has lost market share and is a likely candidate for deletion.

5. Render the extract from the article using the active vocabulary.

He так уж требовали потребители, чтобы им сделали новую «Колу», но именно ее они получат во вторник, когда компания PepsiCo сообщит о новом варианте знаменитого напитка.

Pepsi сообщит свои новости за день до того, как Coca-Cola представит новую Vanilla Coke — утром в Vanilla Bean Cafe города Пофрет, Коннектикут, и вечером — в одном клубе Манхэттена.

Гиганты прохладительных напитков отчаянно стремятся вытеснить с полок магазинов новые имена. В 2001 г. объемы продаж безалкогольных напитков выросли всего на 0,6 %. Объемы продаж ведущих брендов — Coca-Cola Classic и Pepsi-Cola — снизились. Компании ищут возможности для роста.

Обе фирмы разработали успешные стратегии продажи напитков и соков, но их последние инициативы, а также такие нововведения, как лимонные колы, появившиеся в прошлом году, показывают, что они не намерены сдать без борьбы свою главную нишу — газированные воды.