The Nano marks not only a high point in the business life of industrialist Ratan Tata and his company Tata Motors, but is also generally hailed as a watershed in the history of the Indian transportation sector. The much vaunted ?people?s car? is expected to liberate the masses much like Volkswagen did in Germany and the Fiat 500 in Italy. So bye-bye to jerking around on rickety scooters.
The feat was surely not something that Tata and his company chanced upon. It meant a radical shift in the mindset at Tata Motors, erstwhile Telco, founded in 1945 to manufacture locomotives, a company which became synonymous with commercial vehicles over a period of time. It also meant swimming against a tide of popular criticism and shareholder angst.
For an astute businessman, the hurdles could barely conceal the opportunities an affordable small car offered. Tata said, ?As urbanisation gathers pace, personal transport has become a big issue, especially since mass transport is often not available or is of poor quality.?
Interestingly, Ratan Tata?s first doodle, according to Tata himself, was to rebuild cars around the scooter to make them safer. He is said to have got in touch with an industry association and suggested that they join forces and produce what, at that point, he called an Asian car?with large volumes, probably with different countries producing different sets of parts. His idea, unfortunately, wasn?t taken up seriously. Tata remembers that something similar had happened when his company embarked on the Indica project. He proposed a partnership with an industry body to create a car that was designed, developed and produced in India. It seems everybody scoffed at the concept. ?My confidence got a boost when we finally succeeded with the Indica,? he has been quoted in an interview on the Tata group website tata.com. ?Willy-nilly, we decided to look at the low-cost car project within Tata Motors,? he said.
Now the Nano, the world?s cheapest car from the Tata stable, has kicked up as much media attention post launch as the amount of cynicism and apprehension before it was actually unveiled for public scrutiny. At the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi, the car drew a never-ending stream of visitors, who stood in long queues to catch a glimpse of the car. Stall managers had to make announcements every few minutes asking people to move on. International media hawks were seen confirming the price tag over and over again with their Indian counterparts. The company is thrilled. ?We are probably, a full-fledged four-wheeler Indian company with a presence across segments,? says Ravi Pisharody, vice-president, sales and marketing, commercial vehicles, Tata Motors.
Now that the vehicle has raked up a storm, BrandWagon invited four industry experts to examine the marketing mix through Philip Kotler?s 4Ps framework?namely, the Product, its Price, the Promotion and Place.