The passenger vehicle (PV) business of Tata Motors is well-poised for a resurrection, backed by product offensive strategy, network expansion and complete overhaul of service quality. It has just come out with Nano’s facelift GenX Nano, which is reported to be the lowest-priced AMT (automated manual transmission) car in the world. Mayank Pareek , President – Passenger Vehicle Business Unit of Tata Motors, spoke to The Hindu about Tata’s come back journey. Excerpts.
Last year, you launched Bolt and Zest and now GenX Nano. Have the new models given the start you expected to regain momentum in the market place?Yes, indeed. Bold and Zest were the first two all-new cars. Few interesting things have happened. Firstly, these new launches happened after a gap of 4-5 years. We were predominantly a diesel player. We launched petrol cars with a new revotron engine. We were discussing how customers would react. But, the models were well-received from the start. Our petrol engine also got very good reviews. After a 19 per cent degrowth, H1 of 2014-15, we reported 15 per cent growth in H2, while the industry’s growth was just five per cent. In April, we recorded the highest growth. You will see Tata showing growth every month over the next 18-month period. For this fiscal, we will have 4-5 launches that may include GenX Nano (just launched), Strome, an all-new SUV and another model, among others.
How has been the customer response and what kind of buyers do you attract now?We were selling mostly to fleet customers earlier and hence individual customers were rather less. Now, we don’t encourage sale of Bolt and Zest in fleet or taxi. Thus, almost 100 per cent customers are individuals for these two new cars. For the first time, we are also seeing a new type of customers entering our dealerships – they are young buyers in the age group of 30-35 years. It is a new experience for Tata Motors. Of course, we anticipated this and created a separate team of people at dealerships. We recruited more than 1200 people for this and provided training on soft skills to provide customers a good experience. Also, continuous training, improvements of systems at dealerships and renovation of dealerships and customer amenities also helped. This was a process of discovery for Tata Motors, and of course, a successful one. So, the response has been good and we are excited.
Tata is a well-established brand in small towns and rural areas and you have a passion for rural markets. How are you strengthening the rural story?Tata name is very positive and people trust Tata brand. But we need to go to them and that I am building this big time. I will continue the mission what I used to do in identifying the niche rural customers having the potential to buy cars. We need to be very close to the customers. India has got 3,854 taluks. Some of the taluks are bigger than the size some European countries. So you can’t ignore that and your footprint should be across India. We are present may be in about 250 of them. We should cover at least 60-70 per cent of them. So, our spread is very less and that we want to correct. So, our intent is to increase the spread to 1,500 locations over the next 4-5 years from about 400 now. This year alone we will add 200 new locations.
How are you infusing energy and confidence into your dealer network?It was unfortunate that there weren’t products to excite them in the past. We have communicated that we are with them. We are talking about future and tell our dealers about what is in store for Tata brand in the PV market. Last month, I took a group of dealers to our design centre in London to show them the new products. We were showing them the future of Tata brand. You can’t infuse confidence just by giving lectures or through emails saying be confident or be positive. Actions are must and you should walk the talk. Hungry army can’t fight. Also, at a time of distress, you should communicate often. Silence can’t help. Within four weeks of joining, I met 100 per cent of the dealers. I travelled across the country. Some dealers were saying, we are meeting some one after many years. They have understood and they know what directions we can take to improve. We are working on improving the process and business and I have a lot of experience in doing this in the past. So, everyone is geared up.
What are other initiatives coming along to support your growth plans?Nothing happens with just good products. Many car companies in India have all the products -- 10 products or more. But their sales are nothing. Actually, it is not the best product that sells it is the best-prepared company that sells. It means that a company that understands consumers do well. I want to make Tata Motors the most customer-centric company. I am not even mentioning about quality, which is a hygiene that everyone has to adhere. So, customer service is another area I want to focus strongly. This J D Power survey is important recognition, we used to be in 6th or 7thposition earlier. Last year, we moved up to 4th position. From 6th position to 4this a very big achievement in one year. We are targeting to be among the top three.
Are you confident of regaining Number.3 position in the Indian PV market?I am not obsessed with the number honestly. Our data says that any customer who wants to buy a car considers 2.6 cars. My dream is that at least one of them should be Tata brand. So, if anybody is buying a car anywhere in India – be it in Kanyakumari or Kashmir – he or she has a made a basket of 2-3 cars and one car should be Tata car. The numbers or positions could come automatically. Why should it be third, it could be any number. That’s how I work. Number is a consequence of good work you establish. We have to go to the minds of the customers. My actually aim is to enter the shopping list of buyers.
Has the demand come back in PV market? What are your views?Yes, the market was recovering. But after the withdrawal of excise duty benefits in December 2014, recovery process was hit and the first time buyers again went into shell. Actually, it is challenging to bring the first time buyers into the market. He is very defensive buyer and if goes back, it will be even more difficult to bring him back. So, that has actually slowed down the momentum. But, we at Tata Motors hope to do well. I tell my people that let us not look at what is happening on the economic front. Because, logic is very simple. In India, only 18 people out of 1000 have cars. So, our job is to target those 982 people. Of course, income is not going up. But, has it come down? No. Earlier people use to get 15 per cent increments and now may be 10 per cent. As a marketer, I think positive. For negatives, we can talk of so many things. But we look at positives and we will grow double digit this year certainly.
