The dismal performance of Tata motor’s dream project Nano has given a rude shock to the company, which has now opted for a TV commercial depicting Nano’s benefits and features. The company was averse to such marketing strategies as it believed that the Low-cost factor and Tata’s reliability to be a major draw for average Indian households.
This sudden turn around has been enticed by the poor sales mark of a paltry 509 units in November 2010, which has forced the company to have some introspection.
The Business line, a business daily in its report observed, the commercial, conceptualized by Rediffusion Y&R, has tried to position Nano as a sturdy and spacious car and shows that its performance is enviable for a two-wheeler owner.
Tata’s have made no secret of their intent in the past to position the Nano as a car for the common man and obviously two-wheeler owners’ falls under that category. Here they have tried to highlight the various propositions that may be appealing to the masses namely durability and reliability.
Tata Motors, which is known to have a very small marketing budget, sudden turn around signals a change in heart of it marketers. Earlier in its run-up to the give momentum to the sales and rebuild its bruised brand image, Tata motors have launched a huge media campaign after the famous harrowing photos of a Nano burning was splashed around all-newspapers across the country.
The legend goes something like this, the Sanand plant in Gujarat has the capacity to produce 1 Nano per minute or 20,000 cars per month, but then the company is only able to sell a poor figure of 4000 units per month.
Aggressive marketing which is the new trend nowadays, will find a new follower in the name of the Tata motors. Off-the-counter sales have already been announced by Tata for 13 states and notably the 1-1.5 percent rise in all the passenger car prices commencing January 1, Nano has been excluded to retain its charm.
The report further says that, Tata will have to sell 10,000 units per month within next ten years to just break even.