Maruti has been trying to position omni as a multi-purpose vehicle for some time now – perhaps it’s time to dedicate the product purely to the commercial segment
For generations, Maruti Suzuki has been the vehicular lifeline for millions of middle class families in India. Two cars, namely India’s first hatchback Maruti 800 and the multi-utility vehicle Maruti Suzuki Omni from the 80s, have been the longest running models on the Indian roads. But the days have changed, and the automaker has shifted from a virtually no competition scenario to a market marked by cut-throat competition put forward by a number of global brands like Volkswagen, Honda, Chevrolet and Toyota. But a product like Omni is still the most viable value for money buying proposition, leave the Nano. But is it now time perhaps to question the way Omni is being positioned – as both a family vehicle and as a business vehicle? Is Maruti Suzuki really reaping the benefits of such a positioning?
The current Omni TVC (see some of the TV grabs given above, where the positioning is clearly an attempt to make Omni be viewed as a family car than as a pure and proper business vehicle) perhaps personifies this change, which attempts to position Omni as a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) that can be used as a commercial vehicle as well as a passenger vehicle (Maruti Suzuki still addresses the Omni as a ‘van’). For that matter, a look at the past few Omni campaigns reveal that Maruti Suzuki has been trying to play on the emotional quotient associated with Omni for the Indian consumers. How successful has been Maruti till now in its Omni battle?
Well, going by data available with SIAM, while total units sold by Maruti Suzuki in its multi purpose vehicles category (Omni, Eeco) in August 2010 were 14,157, the same in August 2011 stood at 12,500, down by nearly 12%. Of course, one could mention here that the industry in itself has been slowing down due to the general rise in interest rates and drop in consumer savings. Add to that the plant lockdown that have occurred due to worker unrest at Maruti. But despite that, if one were to look at the aggregate sales of Maruti Suzuki from April 2011 to August 2011 under the concerned segment, the figure actually went up by 8.7% year-on-year to 66,628 units from 61,295 units in the same period in 2010. A detailed view at monthly sales indicates that it was the month of May when Maruti sold the most number of cars in this segment, 15,545.
For generations, Maruti Suzuki has been the vehicular lifeline for millions of middle class families in India. Two cars, namely India’s first hatchback Maruti 800 and the multi-utility vehicle Maruti Suzuki Omni from the 80s, have been the longest running models on the Indian roads. But the days have changed, and the automaker has shifted from a virtually no competition scenario to a market marked by cut-throat competition put forward by a number of global brands like Volkswagen, Honda, Chevrolet and Toyota. But a product like Omni is still the most viable value for money buying proposition, leave the Nano. But is it now time perhaps to question the way Omni is being positioned – as both a family vehicle and as a business vehicle? Is Maruti Suzuki really reaping the benefits of such a positioning?
The current Omni TVC (see some of the TV grabs given above, where the positioning is clearly an attempt to make Omni be viewed as a family car than as a pure and proper business vehicle) perhaps personifies this change, which attempts to position Omni as a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) that can be used as a commercial vehicle as well as a passenger vehicle (Maruti Suzuki still addresses the Omni as a ‘van’). For that matter, a look at the past few Omni campaigns reveal that Maruti Suzuki has been trying to play on the emotional quotient associated with Omni for the Indian consumers. How successful has been Maruti till now in its Omni battle?
Well, going by data available with SIAM, while total units sold by Maruti Suzuki in its multi purpose vehicles category (Omni, Eeco) in August 2010 were 14,157, the same in August 2011 stood at 12,500, down by nearly 12%. Of course, one could mention here that the industry in itself has been slowing down due to the general rise in interest rates and drop in consumer savings. Add to that the plant lockdown that have occurred due to worker unrest at Maruti. But despite that, if one were to look at the aggregate sales of Maruti Suzuki from April 2011 to August 2011 under the concerned segment, the figure actually went up by 8.7% year-on-year to 66,628 units from 61,295 units in the same period in 2010. A detailed view at monthly sales indicates that it was the month of May when Maruti sold the most number of cars in this segment, 15,545.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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