Tata Motors aims to have widest portfolio of SUV in domestic market




aims to have the widest portfolio of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the domestic market, a move aimed at helping the company muster greater market share in the passenger vehicle segment, according to a top company official.


The auto major, which currently sells models like Nexon and Harrier in the segment, is also looking to overhaul its entire sales, aftersales and service verticals to enhance the overall buying experience for customers.


“The move to shift to SUVs is very clear. There is a shift happening towards the segment not only in India but globally also. In 2015 the share of SUVs in the domestic market used to be only 15 per cent but this year it is around 30 per cent,” Passenger Vehicles Business Unit President Shailesh Chandra told PTI.


It is therefore imperative that whosoever has greater share of SUVs in the portfolio will have a greater pie, share of the market, he added.


“So we have taken note of that sometime back and accordingly targeted to have the widest portfolio,” Chandra said.


Both Nexon and Harrier were doing great in the market in terms of sales numbers, he noted.


“Harrier has seen a significant jump from what we were doing last year on the back of the new automatic version we have come out with. Nexon did its highest ever sales last month and I hope it continues to do well,” Chandra said.


The company is now gearing up to roll out two new models in the portfolio.


“Going forward two additional models are going to come- Gravitas and Hornbill (codenames). Gravitas will be a seven-seater SUV while Hornbill will be a sub compact SUV so we will have four SUVs in our portfolio which would be the widest portfolio,” Chandra said.


Hornbill with a very aggressive position at one end and Gravitas at the other end, the company with four products would be well poised to tap the growing trend towards SUVs, he noted.


“It would help strengthen our market position and sales in the coming years,” Chandra said.


The company plans to launch the Gravitas during the last quarter of this fiscal. It is yet to fix a date for the Hornbill introduction.


Chandra said the company is focusing a lot on improving the sales and aftersales experience for its customers.


“For us it is one of the key areas on our agenda to transform. A whole bit of work has started with focus on how we can enhance the whole experience. The employees are being imparted soft skills apart from technical training,” he noted.


The company is also focusing on the issues with its dealer partners including their financial health and profitability, Chandra said.


“There have been instances of too many channel partners in one territory. There have been issues, so we are comprehensively going territory wise and seeing the health of the network. The second focus is reach and penetration, whether it meets our growth aspirations which we have for that specific territory,” he noted.


The company has over 800 dealerships for its passenger vehicle portfolio across the country.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor





Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *