Hyundai - i45

Are you Ready....to WAIT !!!

Last week I was back on my test drive spree after quite some time....this time inspired by some more new comers and many more face lifts.

While I was observing some fellow customers, along with the typical questions like mileage, boot space and power.... the delivery time has started to take an important place. It is also becoming to be a key influencer in the purchase decision. 

Right from Ambys and 800s till the Swifts of 2005, the options available for our customer were limited. This meant that customers were ready to wait for what they want. But todays crowd int he market place has led to less differentiation or pretty much similar USPs ( pardon me brand heads). This has led to features like colour and standard equipment take a strong convincing factor along with the delivery period.

Partly, the success of Hyundai against Maruti and Ford against Volkswagen can be attributed to the delivery period. Along with other issues, the de-growing sales of Nano is also due to the non availability of the product in the initial days. 

So manufacturers, better pull your pants up and ramp up your production. 

Along with Time and Tide, Customers wait for none.

Is this The Blue Oval's Blue Ocean Strategy ?

2010, has been a remarkable year in the history of Indian Automobile Industry. This is the year that witnessed many global giants setting up plants in India and launch India specific products and making India the export hub for these products. A couple of years back, if a customer wants to buy a hatchback, there were hardly a handful of brands dominated by Maruti, TATA and Hyundai. Today, we have Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Ford, Nissan, Toyota and many more to come all lined up with their offers. 

But how many of these manufacturers actually manage to capture a share of their pie. Clearly Ford with Figo is the only manufacturer to have done that in style. 

50,000 units between March 10 to October 10, 2nd fastest model to achieve 50,000 units in India, overtook Tata Indica to the 5th spot in vehicle sales during the month of October 10, 3 digit growth rates for Ford India.... These data should be sufficient to judge the success of Figo amongst the models that came in 2010. 

The major problem Ford earlier had was, the brand always had a perception of high ownership cost. Other than Ikon, to a considerable extent and Fiesta, to a small extent, Ford never tasted success in India. How did Figo manage to achieve this whilst competition? 

While many others did brand building exercises before their launch, Ford kept quiet and let their product speak. The product exactly was in line with the customer expectations from a hatch, thanks to the decade old presence in India. The car was fully loaded at a price which was at par with the base variants of other models.  In a market where Value for Money is top priority, this is the key factor that was addressed. Along with the already existing dealer network, Ford also added new dealers to strengthen the sales and service network. 

Rather than fighting with existing players and fellow new comers, Ford devised its own plan and created an own market for itself. This is evident as the market share or the sales figures of Maruti, Tata or Hyundai did not get affected. Eliminating its earlier problems with the brand, Figo gained confidence of the customers.

Going in-line with the Blue Ocean Strategy, though not complete, Ford had also made the competition irrelevant and had created value innovation with the Figo. 

The success of Figo has once again proved that, in India a failure once never means the brand can't bounce back to winning ways. Also Indians have a welcoming heart that actually means value for them.

More entrants in the Nano segment

The unofficial news for the launch of Maruti Suzuki's new Cervo, in the Rs 1.5 lakhs to 2 lakhs price segment is out. The car is equiped with a 660cc petrol engine producing close to 60 bhp. The car is expected to be a better option than Tata Nano, given Maruti's product reliability. Though the car doesn't support huge boot space and rear cabin space, the utility of the car is at this value is going to be really high. 

Hyundai is also expected to launch its new offer in the Nano segment soon. Code named H800, the car is expected to be powered by a 800cc petrol mill and cost around Rs 2 lakhs. 

After the small car segment boom, the market is now opening up for the nano segment boom. The customer will now have a range of options in this segment. Though Tata may have a first mover advantage, it may also be a disadvantage as other might learn from Tata's mistakes. Without the infrastructure to support these many cars on road and the market yet to get matured, only time can write the success stories.