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"OEMs should themselves force to place greater emphasis on developing right product portfolio & solution rather than focusing on just how to sale vehicles", writes Atul Singh Chandel.

India is a becoming hot destination for foreign CV manufacture and it’s a new challenge for Indian OEM how to keep their market share in everyday changing business scenario. The basic concept how to define correct product portfolio and how to keep update and competitive portfolio without any damage of brand image & also keep market share. Triad players have normally shown much lower growth rates than their counterparts in India. The definition of best product in India is best suitable product at competitive price.

All OEM’s need to understanding of what the Indian markets look like today and in which direction it could move and where OEM’s are headed. First step should understand the application of vehicle here, based on application define segments and visualize how it is changing with the time. At the same time, customers in Indian markets are becoming increasingly sensitive to the total cost of ownership (TCO), which simply means all the costs of an investment over its entire product lifecycle.

In truck business this includes the initial investment plus the fuel cost, driver’s wages, taxes, repairs and maintenance etc. Another important factor is that trucks are becoming more and more interchangeable and, hence, customization process appears. When this happens, product differentiation and definition becomes more and more difficult. OEMs should themselves force to place greater emphasis on developing right solutions rather than focusing on just how to sale vehicles. After understanding the applications define drive.

How to define Product portfolio in India:

After defining product portfolio then go back to application through the same rout but check different applications also weather it is suitable or not. This process is a continue one.

After technical ground work finally it comes on commercial issues like TCO and street price, it should be suitable for industry and how fast vehicle can achieve Break even point. Finally we will have a product portfolio which will be best suited for India. With this product portfolio there is always a strong service, spare parts and maintenance & repair packages but customized. Foreign OEM’s should enter into India with completely built unit after deciding right product portfolio. If they enter into the market with CBU then there will be minor chances of having quality problems, parts availability, suitability, design, vendors and assembly etc.

By following this process, define a frame and give the best package (TCO, Service etc) is the most efficient way for product strategy. On some extent this process can be applied for many other countries where Indian OEM’s wants to enter into the market.

By having correct portfolio foreign OEM’s can increase market share easily but should decrease price also, both approach should comes together. For Indian OEM introduction of new or updated product and ensure quality standard with price in order to gain market share in low cost or budget segment.

 

Autobei Consulting Group

‘Autobei Consulting Group (ACG) ’ is a management consulting group which has leveraged on its expertise and proprietary databases to provide "Customized Solutions" in areas such ‘Sales Analysis’, ‘Business Planning’, ‘Market assessment’ and ‘Project Feasibility’ on Global Automotive Industry. Autobei Consulting Group (ACG) make use of the expertise and vast experience to deliver Cutting Edge Research Solutions.

9 Comments

  1. To simplify things, an OEM should offer a better customer value. This value can come from additional features/benefits (that the customer values) and at a marginal cost. This is a progressive and transistional way to move up the value chain.

    Dominic
    Head Marketing at Apollo Tyres Ltd.

      • What new entrants should appreciate is market is huge. One cant cater the entire market from day one.Based on product offerings, one should identify which segment and application (usage ie cement , perishables, containers) of the market is best ( better than any other competitor) addressed by their kind of products. They should channelize all their efforts in that category only. Once the product is established and appreciated among customers in that category, they should move to next best fit segment for their products.

  2. Dear Sir,

    I feel Bottom to top strategy is what OE’s should take, rather planning products by modifying or utilizing current capacity, OEM should focus on filling the gaps in market like Bajaj Auto is doing well but rural market is shifting towards small player like Atul Auto.

    AMW has snatched market share from Tata Motors in tipper segment due to many reasons.

    Thanks for your valuable inputs.

    Best Regards,
    Hemant

  3. Nice analysis. My additional thoughts. While TCO is a driving factor, operator does not look beyond 3 to 4 years of ownership. So price penalty for features should consider this. Another aspect is that higher revenue driven features would pull better than features that would lower the expenses. Market is slowly shifting away from product based comparison to total experience based comparison. Early H2 of the write up makes passing ref of this but product driven approach is dominant.

    J V Narasimha Rao
    Head Marketing
    TACO Hendrickson.

    • Dear Mr Rao,

      Thank you for your valuable feedback. I believe that penalty and total experience are depend on type of application & segment. Now I am doing model wise product analysis, In this research i will consider total experience of product also for define span of time and will draw conclusion. Thank you once again for your comment.

      Best Regards,
      Atul

  4. Dear Mr. Chandel

    This is a very informative article you have published. I think the approach OEMs should follow has to be more outside-in for designing products. For instance in SCV, the sub-one tonne segment is being supplied with Radial tyres (imported) which grossly does not suit the application (overload). Coming out with the right product based on application is what is more important.

    Regards
    Ayush Gupta
    Senior Executive
    Product Marketing – Apollo Tyres

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