Safari has got better and more powerful. Last month Tata Motors launched a new variant Tata Safari Dicor 2.2 with a price starting from Rs 7.33 lakhs. The new variant is more powerful than the existing Dicor machines. Tata has also incorporated many cosmetic changes in the new Avatar. The changes are both external and internal and includes :
New Front Grill with chrome
Bumper GrillSpare Wheel Cover
Two Tone beige Interiors
New Design leather seats
Wood Finish Control console etc etc
Safari has been struggling to carve out a space for itself in the highly dynamic SUV market in India. Tata Motors has been very patient with this brand and has been adding value to this product at frequent intervals. The new TVC is on air now and Safari retains the tagline " Reclaim your life ". One of the problem that old brands especially in the premium segment faces is that over a long period of time, the brand becomes dated. Customers are seeing this brand for a while and there is nothing new or exciting in that brand. Highly successful brands like Ford Ikon, Scorpio ,Accent and even Mercedes Benz face this issue of being perceived as dated. So marketers try to either change the look of the brand drastically or come out with a new brand and slowly phase off the existing variant. Safari has been trying to change itself in looks aswellas in positioning. There are rumors that Safari may be phased out in 2008/2009 and will be replaced by a new brand. Highly successful Scorpio is also feeling the pinch of being an old one and the new Ingenio is expected to take the center stage. This kind of issues become critical in the case of premium brands because Novelty and Exclusivity are serious attributes in the Product Choice.
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Tata Safari
well, i would rather say that over a period of time, there are more safaris on road than there ever were. but yes it has taken time to come out. Personally Safari is one of my dream cars and i would take a safari compared to scorpio any day. It basically is luxury to have an SUV fully loaded within 9-10 lkhs.
ReplyDeletealso a part of the off-late success or the revival of safari could be attributed to its product placement. There was this movie Road- by Ram gopal varma, which featured the car prominently throughout the movie- a story of a couple cruising along the road going through the dirt tracks, deserts and all the difficult terrains a car can possibly go. the movie didn't run much but yes Safari did derive a lot of mileage out of it. i don't know if tatas had paid for the product placement but yes it did revive some of the lost sheen of the brand