Tata Motors wants to win customers from all market segments and is looking at tapping into the rural market which has huge growth potential. The company might also utilise its commercial vehicle distribution network.
Tata Motors has lost a lot of market share in the Indian sub-continent as the auto maker had few new products on offer over the past few years. It’s hard to believe that Tata Motors which was the number two in sales among car manufactures in the country, has dropped down to sixth. Obviously the company is to blame as the last big launch (prior to the Zest) was the Aria in 2010. The sub 4-metre sedan from the company has taken a long time to come and in spite of getting things right with the Tata Zest, the delays in delivery is further hitting the company’s growth prospects.
Tata Motors now plans to focus on the rural market to boost sales volume. Currently the Indica maker has a mere 16% of its sales coming from the rural segment, with coverage being just 30%. The company’s recently appointed President, Mr. Mayank Pareek comes from Maruti Suzuki, a manufacturer whose focus has been to reach every possible village to increase sales, and India’s largest car maker has very well succeeded in that too. Cars like the Zest have huge potential in the rural market and that’s where the Maruti DZire does most of its numbers.
Tata Motors has delivered 10,000 units of the Zest since launch and the car maker has quite the backlog as its vendors aren’t able to keep up with demand. The AMT model has the highest waiting period, extending up to six months. The automaker is also considering tapping its commercial distribution network to sell its cars as it looks to capture new customers. The next launch from Tata Motors is the Bolt hatchback which will be launched in January 2015. It will be priced aggressively and will come loaded with a ton of features, rivalling the Maruti Swift, Hyundai Grand i10 and Honda Brio.
