15 October 2013

Dear Mr. Slym,

I recently heard that your newest car, the Nano, has not reached its projected success in India. Being that it’s a very reasonably priced car, it would have been anybody’s best guess that sales of the Nano would have been through the roof right from the start, especially since so many Indians are hoping to upgrade from their dangerous two-wheel vehicles. Unfortunately, this clearly was not the case. I truly respect what Tata Motors has tried to achieve with the Nano and commend Ratan Tata in his efforts to get poor families into safer cars. (dailymotion.com) I looked into what Tata has done in the past to promote and sell the Nano, and I have come up with some suggestions that I believe will boost sales of the Nano. In order to be more successful, Tata need to market the Nano in a way that doesn’t give it the reputation that it is “cheap” and gave it more features that are attractive to todays buyer. Tata You give a poor man some money and he will buy the latest technology. Poor people need to fill a void that they have and try to prove themselves to be just as good as a rich man. Therefore, when you advertise your car as “the cheapest car in the world,” that may send out the wrong message to people and they will be less willing to buy it. “In India of course, the bigger the car, the better it is. The people look upon you and respect you more for the big cars you have,” says Punnoose Tharyan from Motown Magazine. (dailymotion.com) Tharyan also claims that Nano is seen as a poor man’s car and that nobody wants to be seen in one. This is an easy fix. People are persuaded by marketing, and so far Tata has not done a good job in this department. You want use the fact that it is so cheap as a huge selling point, but you cannot forget that you also have to appeal to a buyers wants as well. “Those climbing into India’s middle class want cheap cars, but they don’t want cars that seem cheap.” People are even willing to pay a little extra to get a car that has a better image. (The Wall Street Journal) If nobody wants to be caught in this “poor man’s car,” you need to present them with reasons why it’s not for the poor man. Saying things like “The Nano has the agility and compactness of a motorbike, but offers the comfort and safety of a four-person car” or “The Nano is the new sporty town car with an economic price point” will attract a larger market and will appeal more to those who do not want to be seen as lower-class because they own a cheap car. Even raising the price slightly may be a good way to give it a more “high end” image. The Nano needs to be updated and equipped with new features that meet today’s buyers expectations. As I already mentioned, even though much of your market in India does not have a lot of disposable income, they are still willing to spend the extra dollar to purchase something that gives them some feeling of higher status. Marketing the Nano as a higher-quality