Not VOLVO- others who goofed it
While Volvo stayed focussed on their intent of making a mark in Indian market, a number of big international names bruised themselves with clumsy moves and underestimating Indian customers.
The company which tops my list of goofers is FIAT for the simple reason that they had a tie up with Premier Automobiles for a long time and would have had hands on experience unlike others like Ford and Daewoo who hit the ground as freshers with inputs from know it all "consultants" armed with their field study feedback.First lemon from FIAT in nineties was 118NE.It was launched around the time Zen was launched by Maruti.Zen was a rocker of a model to hit Indian roads with its jelly bean design and 118NE was a expressionless metal box with wheels compared to Zen. 118NE was a brother of Ambassador in terms of construction and looks and pretty dodgy as far as electricals was concerned.It died a miserable death which was warranted. Then came the next lemon from FIAT in the form of UNO. UNO is a reliable vehicle but was pitched against Esteem and priced higher than Zen. With poor styling and boxy features, UNO also floundered. FIAT seems to a taken a position that Indian customers only deserved such boxy vehicles. FIAT got blown out of the market. Next in line was Palio with Sachin as brand ambassador. It also sank without a trace.
Ford came into market with ESCORT. It was a terrible looking vehicle with underpowered engine which was a gas guzzler. The car looked right out of the cheap western movies where gangsters roam around in non descript large boxy cars shooting and looting everything in sight. The fact that ESCORT was forced to rub shoulders with Maruti Esteem and Daewoo Cielo showed the poor understanding of the Indian customer by Ford India management. Their attitude seemed to be similar to FIAT's- Indian customers only deserved ESCORTS. Next came IKON which according to Ford officials was a vehicle specifically designed for India and took more than a couple of years to be created. The product proved to be poorly designed for Indian customers and roads and the styling was nothing to write home about. Ford has bounced along in the Indian market. They have no product to offer for mass market which is the typical weakness of American companies outside technology sector. General Motors also did not fare better than Ford in their market perception and they also had their share of lemons.
The company which had products for Indian market but priced them badly and lost their face among customers was Daewoo.CIELO looked distinctly different with a high boot but high price for the product ( the company just dropped the price by one lakh rupees overnight making the early buyers appear foolish and felt peeved ). Matiz was a good product but then again it was pitched against Esteem on pricing and cut a sorry figure in the market. When the sales for Matiz did not pick up even four months the launch, Daewoo once again did the unthinkable- they slashed the price drastically once again making the initial "premium" buyers of Matiz look foolish. Daewoo Motors thus earned the wrath of the Indian customers and rapidly slid into oblivion. This slide was hastened by the poor state of affairs at Daewoo in South Korea.
All these bring us to the most important aspect of management. Are all these western and Korean companies good at studying the market and introducing appropriate products with the value proposition in new territories ? My view is a firm no. They might do an excellent job in their backyard as they know the territory well but when it comes to virgin market, they do not seem to have a clue.The only new entrant who has not slipped and held their head high with their products in Indian market has been Toyota. But then Japanese automakers had burned their fingers in nineties by entering enmass in light commercial segment and beating a hasty retreat- Swaraj Mazda, Eicher Mitsubishi et al. So the new players like Honda and Toyota entered the car segment cautiously - once bitten twice shy.
The notable big name which is struggling in another product segment is Kellog's. For their decade long effort, they have only managed to catch the fancy of children of urban well to do. This shows that they do not have a product for mass market besides the fact that Indian eating habits are very different from those in western countries. The robust packing of products must be costing a fortune for the company as well as the consumers.
The company which tops my list of goofers is FIAT for the simple reason that they had a tie up with Premier Automobiles for a long time and would have had hands on experience unlike others like Ford and Daewoo who hit the ground as freshers with inputs from know it all "consultants" armed with their field study feedback.First lemon from FIAT in nineties was 118NE.It was launched around the time Zen was launched by Maruti.Zen was a rocker of a model to hit Indian roads with its jelly bean design and 118NE was a expressionless metal box with wheels compared to Zen. 118NE was a brother of Ambassador in terms of construction and looks and pretty dodgy as far as electricals was concerned.It died a miserable death which was warranted. Then came the next lemon from FIAT in the form of UNO. UNO is a reliable vehicle but was pitched against Esteem and priced higher than Zen. With poor styling and boxy features, UNO also floundered. FIAT seems to a taken a position that Indian customers only deserved such boxy vehicles. FIAT got blown out of the market. Next in line was Palio with Sachin as brand ambassador. It also sank without a trace.
Ford came into market with ESCORT. It was a terrible looking vehicle with underpowered engine which was a gas guzzler. The car looked right out of the cheap western movies where gangsters roam around in non descript large boxy cars shooting and looting everything in sight. The fact that ESCORT was forced to rub shoulders with Maruti Esteem and Daewoo Cielo showed the poor understanding of the Indian customer by Ford India management. Their attitude seemed to be similar to FIAT's- Indian customers only deserved ESCORTS. Next came IKON which according to Ford officials was a vehicle specifically designed for India and took more than a couple of years to be created. The product proved to be poorly designed for Indian customers and roads and the styling was nothing to write home about. Ford has bounced along in the Indian market. They have no product to offer for mass market which is the typical weakness of American companies outside technology sector. General Motors also did not fare better than Ford in their market perception and they also had their share of lemons.
The company which had products for Indian market but priced them badly and lost their face among customers was Daewoo.CIELO looked distinctly different with a high boot but high price for the product ( the company just dropped the price by one lakh rupees overnight making the early buyers appear foolish and felt peeved ). Matiz was a good product but then again it was pitched against Esteem on pricing and cut a sorry figure in the market. When the sales for Matiz did not pick up even four months the launch, Daewoo once again did the unthinkable- they slashed the price drastically once again making the initial "premium" buyers of Matiz look foolish. Daewoo Motors thus earned the wrath of the Indian customers and rapidly slid into oblivion. This slide was hastened by the poor state of affairs at Daewoo in South Korea.
All these bring us to the most important aspect of management. Are all these western and Korean companies good at studying the market and introducing appropriate products with the value proposition in new territories ? My view is a firm no. They might do an excellent job in their backyard as they know the territory well but when it comes to virgin market, they do not seem to have a clue.The only new entrant who has not slipped and held their head high with their products in Indian market has been Toyota. But then Japanese automakers had burned their fingers in nineties by entering enmass in light commercial segment and beating a hasty retreat- Swaraj Mazda, Eicher Mitsubishi et al. So the new players like Honda and Toyota entered the car segment cautiously - once bitten twice shy.
The notable big name which is struggling in another product segment is Kellog's. For their decade long effort, they have only managed to catch the fancy of children of urban well to do. This shows that they do not have a product for mass market besides the fact that Indian eating habits are very different from those in western countries. The robust packing of products must be costing a fortune for the company as well as the consumers.
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