Tata Nano — what did we learn?
Remember the late 90’s where cars like Hyundai Santro and Maruti Suzuki’s Alto were a massive hit in the Indian markets ? After successfully launching the low cost Tata Ace truck in 2005, Tata Motors began development of an affordable car that would appeal to the many Indians who ride motorcycles. The Nano was the dream project of Chairman Ratan Tata, who is said to have thought up the idea of an affordable 4 wheeler upon noticing the common sight of an Indian family consisting of a husband, wife and 2 kids who all travel on a single motorcycle. The Tata Nano was a compact city car manufactured and marketed by Indian automaker Tata Motors over a single generation, primarily in India, as an inexpensive rear-engined hatchback intended to appeal to current riders of motorcycles and scooters — with a launch price of one lakh rupees or US$2500 in the year 2008.
The introduction of the Nano received much media attention due to its low price of 1 lakh rupees. The Nano, the ‘People’s Car’ conceived by Ratan Tata over a decade ago and launched in 2009, is as good as dead but it remains in production. A total of 156 Nano’s have been produced and sold in the domestic market during the first half of 2018–19. Due to the low sales of the model (only one Nano assembled in June 2018 against the 275 assembled in June 2017) Tata Motors announced the end of production without any direct successor.
Marketing strategy :
1. Tata Nano was launched in the segment of being a cost leader in the broad market to attract maximum number of lower middle class and upper lower middle class population.
2. Tata Motors positioned the car as per the following catch lines and slogans:
“ Cars are not for the rich , but everyone “ , “ Get your dreams fulfilled in 1 lac”.
3. The Nano received a mixed reception from Indian consumers, reasons given included that it is still too expensive compared to a motorcycle, and the extended waiting time for delivery (a few months). Although it is identified as the most affordable car, a secondhand car that was more expensive when it was new gives more social status; the Nano is considered a “poor man’s” vehicle, turning some people away. The fires and other safety issues have also been a concern. The Nano has never really been appreciated by the public and sales have always been lower than expected.
Inspite of all this , a small demand for the country’s cheapest car still exists .There are still a few buyers in Kerala and hilly states like Himachal Pradesh , people here find value in this car due to the narrow roads and easy mobility.
So what are the lessons learnt from this brand ?
a) Tata Nano was a beautiful concept implemented with the perfect touch of engineering , however there was a huge marketing failure .
b) The marketing failure was not in terms of budget but the strategy , they invested heavily in their ad and marketing campaigns however they failed to identify that Indians do not like to be associated with something that is highlighted as ‘cheap’ in the market.
c) Negative publicity and bad PR management were other reasons that added fuel to its burning image , a lot could be done when Nano was facing hurdles in terms of after sales and rumours of the car catching fire at locations across the country.
