Avishek SIngh
The automobile sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. With the huge manufacturing and the presence of various brands comes the need to position these vehicles in the market, based on the different needs of the consumer. A similar study was conducted for our client, a leading passenger vehicle manufacturer, who wanted to assess the new model acceptance in 4 different segments including features, concept evaluation, and recommend go/ no-go for each. And, help its R&D team understand the market acceptance of four new models in various segments (Compact, Hatchback, Sedan, and SUV).
The concept design involved preparing a detailed customer profiling based on demographics, generation gaps, lifestyle, usage pattern, future requirements etc. Also, in-depth interviews with selected car owners, industry experts/ lifestyle bloggers were conducted to understand the changing consumer preference. Along with this, 20+ focus group discussions were conducted for different segments to evaluate the concept acceptance along with price vs features matrix.
As society progresses, certain changes in its lifestyles are reflected by the products and the services it uses. Similar is the concept for automobiles. Tapping this changing need in case of automobiles requires detailed customer profiling based on his demographics, generation gaps, lifestyle, usage pattern, future requirements etc. This would give a projection of the different changes that need to be made in the automobile model. Benchmarking and baselining based on the strength and weakness of the client and the competitors had to be done. The R&D team of the client would be incorporating changes based on needs and requirements of the customers.
Including an interface friendly experience is imperative for the success of the particular model of the automobile leading to increase in the sales. This would be a stepping stone for the marketing strategy that would be developed once the project is brought out in the market. The four segments in which the client wanted the study to be done needed clear precision as each segment had different target audiences and requirements. Also, abiding by the government norms for safety and road laws is important. The market acceptance for the client would be based on the clear strategy build, based on the detailed customer profiling. The feature versus price matrix gives a projection as to what would be the range of the automobile allocating for which target audience.
The competitive landscape study was done to identify what could be the differentiators in the manufacturing of the models in each segment such that it is affordable to the cost and at same time feature savvy, a combination that is a winning recipe in the Indian market. The research methodology implemented by us helped the client come up with a successful market concept design and they were able to incorporate for all upcoming models.
The findings and recommendation from the engagement were used by the client to evaluate the concept design and acceptance in the Indian market for all 4 segments.
