Nano ideas to sell "Nano" !!! with Big impacts....

Tata Motors, who early captured the nerves of the price conscious Indian customers failed to capitalise on it. A market where 80% market share is of two wheelers and meagre 15% of Passenger Cars, there is huge opportunity at the bottom of the pyramid to upgrade these Two wheeler owners to Cars.

Nano is apt product to meet this requirement. But November'10 saw sales of 503 Cars against the expected sales of 10,000. Poor sales performance shows that  something is wrong at the strategy level. How Tata Motors should address this issue is not only  difficult task but also  " Strategic One" for the survival of the Organisation which has gone full throttle with this India's dream Car.

What Went Wrong ...and How to Fix it !!!


Demand vs Supply: Tata Nano as concept came into market in 2004 and it took 4 years to bring this product in "Product" and another one year to reach the customer (Tata Nano, when started selling, the waiting time was huge). Six years is huge time for an product and in these six years Indian automotive Industry has evolved a lot. Small car Market has seen some tremendous momentum. There are 32 Models available as compare to 14 that were there 5 years back. So huge competition not only bring the intensity in the market forces but also the quality level of the services provided and of the quality level of the product gone up as a whole in creating the competitive advantage among the customers.

How to Fix: 
1. Making the availability of the product at the dealer, and there should be enough scope in terms of the color, Features and variants of the car.
2. Demand can be pulled up with target Advertisement and Promotions.
3. Finance Options. ( Low Interest Rate and fast approval of the loans)

"Fire" in the Trust : In all there are 6 cases of accidents in Nano, which has made the perception of this car as real pain in the eyes of customers. There is fear attached with this car and product like Car sells more on the word of mouth and not actual product performance. A negative word of mouth about the safety of the products brought down the hoopla created around this product.

How to Fix: 
1. Introduce "Nano-Reliabilty" test and proposing the long term Warranty of the car. Experts can be pooled in which gives it Thumbs Up.
2. Address Customer feedback in prompt and positive manner
3. Improve Customer Engagement in the market and educating the first time customer and Dealers.


Its "no more 1 Lakh Car" : Tata Nano as car is no more 1 lakh car, It's basic model is 1.3 Lakhs and with model with minimum features is around 1.5 Lacs. So expectation of the customer naturally not met, as they approach TATA dealer keeping the 1 Lakh figure in mind. So every customer who went back is actually potential customer who is not well convinced.

How to Fix: 
1. Awareness about the "Cost and Price" structure of the product, A New marketing strategy.
2. Compare the NANO with the next car ( ALTO, SANTRO,SPARK) and sell the " GAP" and opportunity cost concept. Example: Customer can buy Maruti ALTO ( 3 lacs) or Tata Nano (1.5 lacs) , A Splendor (50 K), TV (20 K) , A Fridge (15 K), AC (30 K) and six month fees of the children (15K).


Rural Penetration & Education: One of the target market for this car is Rural areas, and un-availability of the cars at this end of value chain really marred the image in the minds of customer.Also the expectation of the customer to be set with this product. So customer education is equally important aspect.

How to Fix: 

1. Target " Gram Prachayt" as centre for promotions for the product. 

2. Make Ads covering the rural and semi rural landscape.

3. Tata Nano as " DOWRY" product, use this concept in the Rural back ground. (Advertisement )

Off late Tata has launched new Ad along with 4Years warranty scheme for Tata Nano, but al lot to be done to make the initial penetration of the product, because once it is accepeted Tata Nao would change the face of automotive industry in the years to come.