Recently a lot has been said and written about the Tata Nano-which has been projected as the people's car and mainly targetted at the masses
However,It seems that the sales of the Nanos have not been able to match
with the expected targets set by the producer.I would like to analyse the
product first.The Nano is mainly targetted at the rural masses and the
families who could not afford the standard car models.Priced at a
modest 1.5 lakhs,It has been targetted at the masses who could not
afford to look beyond the two wheeler.
However,The original People's car in India-The Maruti suzuki was targetted
at the middle classes and upper middle classes when the car was still a
premium product.It had a far more ambitious mandate.The maruti suzuki
was an ideal product and reached its targeted masses making it a
big hit.However the nano does not seem to have made such an impact
inspite of the pre-release hype.Whether it has been targetted at
the rural masses or the urban two-wheeler users as an alternate seems
unclear atleast as shown by the marketing campaigns.
A few mishaps happened in the middle like a product catching fire.
The product also seems a bit too sensitive for the bad rural roads
and the Indian potholes.So what needs to be done seems to be a
more renewed marketing campaign and a bit more of customer segmentation
and targetting of the desired market.
The original people's car-The Volkswagen Beetle was produced by Porsche
as per Hitler's desire to have a "people's car" for the masses.The simultaneous design of the Autobahns made the people's car the right product for the
highways for the upwardly mobile families.Thus it was a people's car that
met with success.
Thus the ultimate people's car would be a conveyance that can be used for transportation,leisure and enjoyment with safety without being a pain on the purse strings.The Maruti-Suzuki and beetle seem to have attained this to an extent.
A people's product can have great significance for the manufacturer and its success can propel the manufacturer to great heights.A bold innovation and attempt nevertheless by the Nano.
