Quite a hustle and bustle in Auto sector with new launches and marketing strategies

Quite a hustle and bustle in Auto sector with new launches and marketing strategies

There has been quite a hustle and bustle in Auto sector with new launches and marketing strategies. More so it is going to continue for next few days further as J D Power 2018 US Initial Quality Study results have been published. New models have being launched in both 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler segment. Many new launches have happened in the past week itself and some players have become busy formulating marketing plans for their launches post the monsoon season.

In the 2-wheeler segment, Italian super bike maker Ducati launched the Multistrada 1260 at Rs 15.99 lakh whereas Japanese two-wheeler giant Kawasaki introduced the model year 2019 Ninja 1000 at Rs 9.99 lakh.

In the 4-wheeler segment, Japanese automaker Mitsubishi quietly relaunched the Outlander in India at a price of Rs 31.54 lakh, making it the company’s first car launch in six years. Mahindra & Mahindra launched the nine-seater version of the TUV300 having the additional moniker of Plus with price ranging in three trims starting at Rs 9.47 lakh. Skoda Auto confirmed that it will use one of Volkswagen’s platforms for a revival plan in India that will see the Czech automaker launch new products starting 2020.

Meanwhile, Korean car brand Hyundai made a very important decision for the Indian market. It has decided to chose India as its base for a regional headquarters – one of only three globally across their global presence. India’s growing importance in the global automotive market where Hyundai has steadfastly held on to the rank of being the country’s second largest for many years has also helped the company prefer India over China for its new headquarters. The other two such headquarters are based in North America and Europe. Hyundai’s affiliate brand Kia, which will start building and selling cars in India from the second half of 2019, will also report to the India headquarters. This is part of a global business reorganization plan, which will be effective from July 2 and will be complete by 2019. The move also marks Hyundai’s 20 years anniversary of first stepping foot on Indian soil.

“As the business environments for carmakers are rapidly changing and automakers now face fiercer competition, Hyundai and Kia have decided to allow the regional operations centers to make quick changes to reflect vehicle demand and make timely sales-related decisions in the major markets,” Hyundai said in the statement.

Though Hyundai Motor India has a full-fledged product development center in the country the company relies on its headquarters in Seoul for formulating its strategies which often costs time. Other decisions such as production capacity, formulating sales and marketing plans, product positioning in the segment, sourcing of components have to be taken in joint consultation with the Seoul headquarters. “Under the regional headquarters arrangement, the companies will establish supplementary divisions in charge of planning, finance, products and customer services”, said the company in a statement. With the establishment of its India headquarters, senior managers of the Korean brands will be able to take decisions faster and efficiently to meet local demands. This means the India outfit won’t have to go back to Korea to seek plan approvals.

With sales of just 5.2 percent last financial year, Hyundai notched up sales of 5.36 lakh as against 5.09 lakh sold in 2016-17, as per data shared by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Much of that growth came from just three models, Creta, Grand i10 and Elite i20. Hyundai’s growth was lower compared to the industry which grew by 8 percent. This led to a small correction in its market share which fell to 16.3 percent from 16.7 in 2016-17. Maruti Suzuki’s sales grew by 14 percent to 1.65 million units last year closing the year with a market share of 50 percent.