Old Habits, Die Hard...

2 years back, when i asked my father 'should we buy a car?', he said yes

When I was listing down the models that fitted my preference, his choice was an Ambassador. According to him, this is one car, which is rugged for Indian roads, offers huge space for 5 or even 6, good mileage and more importantly rooftop loading in addition to the huge boot.

Though I laughed at his choice at that moment, none of these were nonsense till mid 90s. Till the Sumos and Scorpios came, Amby was the vehicle from politicians to celebrities & heros to villains.

Though there were technical updates, the brand failed to update itself according to the changing needs and demands of a car buyer. But how did the customer get these needs all of a sudden? The industry opened up and better cars from Japan, America and Europe gave Amby a tough battle. So did it loose the battle?

I would say NO.

But how?

The company had an approx market share of 0.77% in FY 2009 selling around 11,000 units. With Indian Auto sector at its highest growth rate, is this a great number? It is not.

For a car, whose production started a huge 52 years back, no major changes done other than engine updates and few cosmetic changes, still selling 11,000 units is not a bad deal. But the major buyers are some people like my father, who still relish the brand and some institutions through special orders and prices.

All of a sudden, there is a buzz in market and social networks, that HM is planning to revive the brand. Though no great design or technical updates are expected, I would still like to see the brand along with the likes of Germans, Americans and Japanese.

Will there be a sunrise for Mitsubishi?

After Suzuki's venture in India, it was Mitsubishi to make a big investment from Japan. This story is more than a decade old now. After a tie-up with the legendry Hindustan Motors, they set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility near chennai and rolled out the Lancer. Lancer was a decent performer when there was competition only from Honda City in the executive sedan segment. Pajero was also available as a premium range UV. The company capitalised on the sales and distribution network of HM along with the service backup.

Then the market started attracting many other car makers and the brand lost its plot. Mitsubishi failed to do what Maruti Suzuki did. Lancer was not attractive anymore after Vernas, Corrolas, Octavias and Citys. Cedia, which the company thought will be a revival, also failed to deliver. Even in the UV segment Mitsubishi launched the Outlander recently. Its the same segment in which Toyota Fortuner is operating with similar offerings and price. When Fortuner was able to attract the expected sales of six months in the first month, Outlander is still considered to be a back runner in the race.

Where did Mitsubishi miss the game? After setting a strong foot in terms of infrastructure and the right product, the company failed to understand the changing consumer needs. The company failed to create the share of mind resulting in the loss of wallet share. Strategically the company could have come out of the tie-up after the initial success where the brand would have been perceived better altogether. As the saying goes "Its better late than never", Mitsubishi should revive the brand and re-position itself to get into the consideration set.