Page 247 - DMGT408DMGT203_Marketing Management

Marketing Management/Essentials of Marketing

Notes In January 2007, it was reported that Tata Motors Limited (Tata Motors) beat close rival
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) to capture the second position in the fast-growing
passenger car market in India, behind market leader Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL). In
December 2006, Tata Motors’ car sales stood at 12,665 units against HMIL’s 11,049 units.
The growth for Tata Motors came in the compact car segment, primarily driven by the
strong performance of the Tata Indica (Indica) range. In January 2007, the Indica reported its
highest ever monthly sales since launch, at 14,466 units, a growth of 14% over January 2006.
Industry analysts said that this growth was mainly due to the launch of the Indica V2 Xeta
(Xeta) in January 2006, and subsequently its revamped version in November 2006.
They also opined that through Xeta, Tata Motors intended to create a unique brand identity
in the mind of the customer for the petrol variant of Indica. The company intended to
make a major impact in the petrol driven compact car segment with the Xeta.
There was a strong feeling that the Xeta had the potential to change Indica’s image as a
diesel car brand. Xeta’s success coincided with the growing attractiveness of India as a
global hub for small cars.
This led to the entry of a number of domestic and foreign players into this segment, which
resulted in intense competition in the growing Indian automobile market. Some of the
companies which planned to launch small cars in India in and after 2007 were General
Motors India, Fiat, Toyota Motors, Honda Motor Co., Skoda India, and Renault.
The entry of MUL and HMIL in the diesel segment of the small car market was expected to
pose a strong challenge to Tata Motors which had the leadership position in this segment.

Questions
1. What is the strategy adopted by Tata Motors to sustain the Indica brand in the highly
competitive small car market in India?
2. What is the rationale behind the launch of Indica V2 Xeta as an extension of the
Indica umbrella brand?
3. Discuss the various marketing aspects that Tata Motors had to focus on in order to
establish the Xeta in the Indian small car market.

Source: www.icmrindia.org

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
9. The two main parties in a communication process are the sender and the encoder.
10. The message is a set of symbols for transmission.

11. Company’s sales force is an advocate channel used for transmission of messages.
12. Image is the set of beliefs, ideas and impressions that a person holds of an object.
13. After deciding the target audience, the marketer should start designing the message for
them.

10.4 Integrated Marketing Communications

Different marketing and communication functions are generally managed as totally separate
entities and such companies do not realise that marketing communication tools should be
coordinated for communication effectiveness and present a consistent image to target markets.

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