Mahindra e2o plus : Be City Smart

Brand: Mahindra e2o
Company: Mahindra Rise

Brand Analysis Count: # 576

After the buying the Reva company from Chetan Maini in 2010, Mahindra tried to infuse the much-needed expertise and capital into the electric car company.One of the first things that Mahindra did was to rebrand the Reva cars to e2o.

The first e20 was launched in 2013 replacing the two door Reva car. The auto world was looking for some kind of revolution in the electric car segment when Mahindra took over the Reva company. But alas the status quo remains even today.

In 2016, the company retired the two door e2o and launched the four-door hatch branded as e2o plus. The change reflected the lukewarm response to the two-door car.e2o plus is a standard electric hatchback which looks more like a normal car where the earlier Reva and e2o looked more like a toy car. The company feels that the changes will fuel more consumer interest and adoption.

But odds are stacked against the electric car as of now in India. Despite the higher fuel cost and increased emissions, the government has not looked at making the electric vehicle market - its priority. The infrastructure for EV like charging stations are not existing in India. However, the silver lining is the stated objective of the Indian government to have 100% EV nation by 2030. Moreover, the government also plan to fund 60% of R&D expenses in this field to reduce the cost of technology.

So in one way, the path looks bright but the current market and marketing condition for e2o plus looks bleak. The price is the villain. The brand is priced between 6.3 lakh to 10lakh and there is a huge replacement cost of around Rs 3 lakh for the battery in 5 years. Although the cost of running the car is dirt cheap, the cost of ownership together with the battery replacement cost makes the car unviable purchase for a normal buyer.
e2o Plus is positioned as a city car. The brand is banking on the low running cost, non-polluting nature as the USPs.


Even if a consumer is genuinely interested in buying this car, the economics never works out in favor. The only way forward is to hope that the government will lend a hand in helping to reduce the cost of the car. There are other innovative business models that have emerged around the EV ecosystem. Notable is the Bangalore-based Lithium Urban-Tech which provides EV based transporting solutions to companies which will help firms reduced their carbon footprints. There are also reports of Ola creating a fleet of EV taxis. These emerging models will probably act as critical lifeline support for this category as a whole.
However, a breakthrough in the battery technology is going to be the savior for EV's future globally.

Related Brand

Reva

Mahindra Gusto : Kisi Se Kam Nahi

Brand : Mahindra Gusto, Centuro
Company : Mahindra Two Wheelers

Brand Analysis Count  : # 559

I think, this is the first time I am writing on two brands in one post. Mahindra had launched its 110 cc scooter in 2014. The brand is going to compete with the likes of  Honda Activa, Access etc. Gusto is interesting brand because it calls itself as a car in two wheels ! 

Gusto is positioned on its car-like features. The brand pitches against the cars claiming that it has car-like features like height-adjustable seat, remote flip-key, LED pilot lamps, find-me lamps etc. The brand has based this theme on the insight that car-owners look down upon the two-wheeler riders ( source - afaqs). Hence the campaign of Gusto features car-owners mocking the Gusto rider and become surprised when they find that Gusto had car-like features. 

Gusto was initially launched with tagline " Break Free" and was positioned as a fun scooter. Now the brand has adopted the tagline " Kisi Se kam Nahi".

Another interesting fact is that Mahindra is promoting its motorcycle and scooter using the same concept. There is a common campaign for Gusto and Centuro and both these brands share the common tagline " Kisi Se Kam Nahi . 

Watch the ad here : Mahindra Two Wheeler ad

Along with this long ad, there are small ads featuring the various car-like features. 

The concept and the innovation creates a wow feeling. I think Mahindra two-wheelers has done well in identifying good differentiators. The brands can be proud of being pioneers in bringing in car-like features into two wheelers. 

Having said that, these features can be easily copied by the competitors and hence the extent of sustainability of this differentiation is limited. Since Mahindra Two-wheelers is trying to get a foothold in the market, these feature rich products will help the company very much; provided the brands succeed in the basic product functions like ridabililty , reliability , performance etc. 

Mahindra Stallio : RIP (2010-2011)

Brand : Stallio
Company : Mahindra 2 wheelers

Brand Analysis Count :  #513

Question : What else do you want for a  perfect product launch when there is a reputed Corporate Brand, Aamir Khan and a decent campaign ?

 Ans : A good product !

Mahindra Stallio is a sad story of a perfect plan foiled by a poorly built product. Mahindra Group was very vocal in its plan to enter into the Indian two wheeler market. It surprised the industry by acquiring the ailing Kinetic Motors' two wheeler division. The company  followed it up with the successful launch of automatic scooters Duro and Rodeo. Then came the much anticipated entry into the bike segment.

Rather than launching a macho, performance bike to impress the technological prowess of the company, Mahindra chose to enter the much crowded and highly competitive commuter bike segment. The first product in the bike segment was the 106 cc Mahindra Stallio. 

Stallio had a dream launch. The PR team of the company had built in enough suspense in the market. The entire automotive industry was looking for something similar to a Scorpio that will shake up the established brands like Splendor and Pulsar. Then Stallio happened. The brand instantly gained eyeballs through the endorsement of Aamir Khan. Aamir Khan's endorsement was a master marketing move. The actor had huge equity in the market and his endorsement of a two wheeler was something no one anticipated.

Stallio put on an aggressive face in the market with a cheeky campaign pitting against all those macho bike brands which advertised with more hyperbole than a Bollywood movie.
Watch the launch campaign : Mahindra Stallio1 
                                            Mahindra Stallio 2
Stallio was positioned as a commuter bike that combined style and performance. At a price around Rs 45000, the brand promised enough features and quality and was aiming to compete with the segment leader Hero Honda Spendour.

The brand sold more than 5000 units in two months time, then the problem started. The brand had serious issues in the clutch and gear box. Noticing this issue, the company stopped producing the product and the brand was withdrawn from the market. For a marketer, it is a nightmare come true. The issue was not a product recall but a complete withdrawal from the market. 

It has been more than 8 months since the product withdrawal and the company is still not able to relaunch the brand in the market. It is highly intriguing of the fact that a company like Mahindra would land in a product quality issue of this scale. 

As of now, Stallio is almost dead and it will be difficult for the company to revive the brand since it failed at the launch itself. Renewing the brand and regaining the lost trust will be Herculean task. Aamir Khan also lost his bike endorsing credibility and if he comes again to endorse Stallio, I wonder how the consumers will react. If Mahindra relaunches Stallio, it will be easy for the competitors to kill the brand by refreshing the past failure memories. How ever, Mahindra did  a good job in swiftly taking the brand out of the market thereby limiting the PR damage. Also the media has been benevolent about the failure with limited coverage on the debacle.

Mahindra XUV 500 : Inspired by Cheetah

Brand : Mahindra XUV 500
Company : Mahindra

Brand Analysis Count : # 508

Mahindra launched its first product from its first global SUV platform branded as XUV 500 in the Indian market. The launch was witnessed with great interest by motor enthusiasts since XUV 500 was perceived as a successor to the iconic Mahindra Scorpio. Mahindra virtually shook the SUV market in India when it launched its Scorpio brand in 2002. Auto enthusiasts were expecting something similar this time too.

And Mahindra did not disappoint at all.

XUV 500 excited the market with its bold masculine looks and a very aggressive pricing. The brand which priced itself at Rs 10.81 -12 Lakh for its two variants literally sent shock-waves to the  competitor landscape. The price was juicy for the C-segment car customers to think about XUV as an option. The company has rightly nailed both the product and the price.

According to the newsreports , through XUV 500, the company intends to create a category in the Rs 10-15 lakh segment. There is a gap that exists between Scorpio and the premium SUVs and this brand is expected to fill the gap.

Right from the brand's launch announcement, the company has been presenting the idea that XUV 500 was inspired by Cheetah. Cheetah which is known for its speed and agility was a perfect metaphor for the attributes that XUV wanted to project. 

The teaser ad for XUV launch was bang on with the idea of being Cheetah Inspired.

Watch the teaser ad : XUV Teaser

The idea of using the Cheetah as the metaphor is really smart because of the ease with which that convey's the brand's projected attributes. But all those build-up got wasted when I saw the launch campaign of this brand.

Watch the launch campaign : XUV ( I don't like Carrots)

This launch campaign would easily be one of the horrible ads in recent times. The client brief would be something like " Let us build a horrible ad and see whether a good product would sell despite bad advertising".

There is nothing much to talk about this launch campaign. The campaign neither has a big idea nor has some newness in execution. Jungle, hunk, scantily clad man-eating ladies and XUV... There is no trace of any logic or marketing thought behind the ad. To add to the insult, there are some phrases like " I hate Carrots " I am Hungry etc . May be the agency thought XUV 500 was a deo with some fruit and vegetable flavors ! What a waste !

Having said that, in the automotive market, it is the product that build brands and not the other way around. Despite this hopeless ad, consumers will buy this brand and may even evangelize it  if the product proves itself . Ads mainly play a supportive role in most cases. But there are brands which create an aura with smart advertising which later transforms the product dominated brand ( tangible attributes) to an intangible dominated brand. That is how iconic brands are created.  

XUV 500 wasted a terrific opportunity to build a brand using promotion. The brand was thinking about linking itself with adventure stories of its users but the execution killed that idea. There is no connection between Cheetah, the brand and the current advertising theme. Cheetahs are hunters but in the current ad, the brand user gets hunted.  Its just an ad but more than a poor ad, the brand lost a very crucial brand building opportunity. 

Brand Update : Grow Up to Verito

After the rebranding of Logan to Verito, Mahindra has undertaken the most difficult task of positioning the new brand Verito. The task is tough because the brand needs to distance itself from its earlier avataar - Logan ( atleast in the positioning). And the latest campaign was able to do justice to the task of creating a new platform for the brand. 

Watch the ad here : Mahindra Verito

The ad takes the brand out of the Logan's rational positioning and puts some personality  into the brand. This is very significant for the brand because Logan was positioned purely as a rational brand and Verito needs to create a distinct personality away from Logan. Mahindra thus chose to do that literally by bringing in a personality called the Verito Man. Verito Man although has some legacy qualities of Logan like rationality, the brand has become more human. The brand has a new tagline " Grow Upto Verito" asking the small car owners to move up to the brand. The brand now is talking to the owners of small cars who are contemplating to move to a bigger car.

For a start, the ad seems to be good.The idea of a Brand Man is nothing new and idea has been used many times by different brands.In the case of Verito , this concept of Verito Man can be used to create a brand personality which will be critical for the brand's future.

 Verito's prospective buyers anyway is not going to be allured by the ads but will be driven by the logic of buying a value for money sedan. But Verito Man will definitely bring the brand into their choice set.

Soon after the rebranding, lot of Verito is on the road and that is a good sign for the brand. 

Mahindra Voyager : RIP ( 1997-2000)

Brand : Mahindra Voyager

Company : Mahindra & Mahindra

Brand Analysis Count : #459

Voyager was an ambitious brand, aiming to create a new segment in the Indian automobile industry. But rather than creating a new category, the brand went down the history as a failed one.

Voyager was Mahindra's foray into the consumer vehicles segment. The brand was created in collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors .Voyager was launched in India in 1997 and lived a very short life of a little over two years.

Voyager was India's first and perhaps the last luxury Multi-Purpose family van. The brand was positioned as a luxury family carrier and Mahindra hoped that the association with Mitsubishi will give enough reason to charge a premium .

Voyager was based on Mitsubishi's 1968 L300 van. Although the L300 is still in the market, Voyager failed to survive.

The van (MPV) segment in India was and is still dominated by Maruti Omni. The segment was a stagnant one . Indian consumers were never thrilled by the concept of a family van. One of the reason was the poor marketing and product development in that segment. Although some families own Omni, the main users of the van was in the commercial segment. Compared to cars, the van seldom offered a comfortable ride and there were issues regarding A/C and safety. Many consumers buy van for the functional benefit .

Mahindra felt that there is an opportunity for a premium family van. And thus born Voyager.

To begin with, Voyager had the support of one of the leading global automobile brands of that time in Mitsubishi. Voyager had a powerful engine and large space . But Voyager put off the consumer in two aspects - Design and Price.

More than the design, it was the price that killed Voyager. The base version of the brand was priced at Rs 5.25 lakh which was more than the price of a decent sedan. The arrogant pricing virtually scared away the Indian consumers. The consumer was not willing to pay that much money for a non-A/c vehicle.

Second factor that put-off the consumer was the design. Voyager was too boxy and Indian consumers did not like that design. Having said that, we have seen vehicles like Qualis thriving in the market despite poor looks. But in the case of Voyager, it could not boast about the quality , value or brand name.

Another aspect was the service factor. Mahindra and Mitsubishi were brands that are new to consumer market and there was suspicion about the level of service and after-sales support for the product.

The brand campaign was also not able to impress the consumer.The campaigns of Voyager essentially talked about the space and luxury but couldn't find any meaningful differentiator that justified the premium pricing of the brand. Consumers viewed Voyager as a functional product and not as a luxury one and that prevented consumers from paying a premium .

Distressed by the response from the individuals, Voyager aggressively pursued the commercial segment and became popular ( to certain extent) as ambulance vehicle. That was a final nail in the coffin. Voyager suddenly was branded as an ambulance vehicle which further distanced the individuals from the brand.

Indian consumers only have one reference point for vans i.e Maruti Omni. Omni is a highly functional product and its pricing also reflects that aspect. Voyager failed because it could not break away from that functional association . Neither the product design nor the benefits forced the consumers to think differently about the product. Since Voyager looked and felt like a van, it should also be priced like the van ( Omni) could have been the justification of the consumer while rejecting the brand.

Brand Update : Logan Loves India

Automobile enthusiasts were curious about the future of Logan after the brand was taken over by Mahindra. The Renaulth - Mahindra JV was in trouble after Renault began to aggressively pursue multiple JV in the automobile market. The issue resolved after Mahindra buying out the JV. As of now Mahindra will be promoting the Logan brand.

The first move that Mahindra made after the buyout was to rationalize the price of Logan. The price of Logan was reduced by a massive Rs 60,000 and the brand is now retailing at Rs 5.35 lakhs . Logan was struggling to make decent numbers because even at Rs 6.5 lakhs, it was finding it difficult to convince the customers about the value proposition. The market is also witnessing a new consumer attention towards premium hatchbacks which is eating into many sedan's market share.

Once Logan got the attention of consumers with its attractive pricing, the brand moved into the next marketing step - communicating its new value proposition to the consumers. Logan is currently running a new campaign " Logan Loves India " ( which is also the new tagline). The new campaign is highly rational and talks about the brand's strong points like Space and Mileage. Although these attributes are talked about by every brand in the class, Logan is trying to project itself as a brand made for India.

Watch the campaign here : Logan Loves India

In the new campaign , the brand uses testimonials of customers to drive home the value proposition of the brand.

One of the burning issue between the Mahindras and Renault was over the product specifications. Mahindra wanted the size of the Logan to be trimmed to take advantage over the tax rules but Renault was cold on such a move. With Mahindra now in full charge of the brand, such a move can be seen in future.

Logan was always trying to position itself as a value brand and the latest commercial only refreshes the brand's core positioning. When the brand was launched , consumers were convinced about the brand's value but the brand messed it up. Now the onus is on Mahindra to bring back the trust factor in consumers. With Renault exiting from JV, there are serious doubts about the future of Logan. The task of the brand is to convey that trust to the consumers that Logan is here to stay. "Logan Loves India " campaign may be trying to do just that

Related Brand

Logan

Brand Update : Logan

It is sad to see a good product struggling in the market because of a messed up strategy by the brand owner. Logan is a brand which failed to realize its true potential because of a flawed strategy by Renault. Logan also is an example that shows how marketing is intimately blended with corporate strategy.

I was reading reviews about Logan in many magazines. All reviews unanimously praised the car on all parameters except the looks. At a price range of Rs 5,00,000 to Rs 7,00,000, the brand offered unmatched value for money for the consumers. But despite every thing going good for this brand, Logan is no where in the Indian market. Recently there were rumors about the brand being withdrawn .

What went wrong ?

The strategy ...

Renault bought this brand through a JV with Mahindra & Mahindra. JV is supposed to be the best market - entry strategy when entering into a new international market. The local partner is expected to give insights into the market and also the distribution reach. But history has shown that JVs in the Indian automobile industry has not always been successful ( Hero Honda being an exception). The success of JV is depended on the mutual trust, respect, clarity of roles of the partners etc.

Renault - Mahindra JV began to face issues within a short time mainly due to the policies adopted by Renault. Renault announced a series of JV with Bajaj f0r the small car and initiated talks with other players which upset M&M. Is it common sense to have different JVs with different players for different type of cars in the same industry/market ???

When you have a JV with a player who has similar product , can you be sure that your product will get the same level of attention ? Mahindra's focus will be towards Scorpio and Logan will always be get a step motherly treatment in the dealerships. That is happening with most of the such JVs including Tata Fiat JV. ( I am sorry to generalize but many of my friends talk about the lack of interest shown by the dealers in pushing such step son brands).

Renault did a big mistake in its blind pursuit of growth through multiple JVs in the same industry. If Renault was serious about Logan, it would have built its own network of dealers and service centers even though it would take a couple of years to create such a network. But Renault chose the easy way and it flopped. After three years, Logan is not a brand to reckon with but a brand whose future is a question mark ?

Renault should have learned a lesson from Skoda India. Skoda which is a highly successful brand in India took time to develop its own sales and service network in a slow and steady manner. It is now giving the brand unmatched reach and success in India market.

Logan also had a marketing issue. The brand was never promoted aggressively. There was little or no promotions except some bland discount ads by the local dealers. The brand was not built after the initial launch phase. The lack of customer- pull added by the lack of dealer-push made sure that Logan remained in the dealership rather than at the consumer's garage. The news about rocky JV also ensured that potential consumers steer clear of the brand because of worry about future service.


If Logan fails, it is going to be a sad story of a good product killed by a flawed corporate strategy.


Related Brand
Logan

Mahindra Gio : Potential Category Killer

Brand : Mahindra Gio

Company : Mahindra & Mahindra

Brand Analysis Count # 441

This is the decade of Mahindra Group. Ever since the success of Scorpio, Mahindra is on a roll. Lead by the dynamic Anand Mahindra, Mahindra group was quick to spot market opportunities and to tap them. The Satyam acquisition and Kinetic motors buy were all efforts to plug those gaps they found in the market.

Gio is one such initiative of M&M to cash in on a latent demand in the goods carrier market. Mahindra Gio is a 0.5 tonne four wheeler goods carrier. Infact Gio is India's first 0.5 tonne four wheeler goods carrier. This product is a classic case of a successful product development in the Indian context.

Gio is a potential category killer. This brand is going to burn the three wheeler goods carrier market . The three wheeler category will slowly shift to the new category since Gio is addressing a latent demand in the category for a better looking & comfortable goods carrier.

The 0.5 tonne goods carrier market is basically a three wheeler market dominated by Bajaj and Piaggio . The category is discarded by the players who focused only on volume and not on product development. The three wheelers lacked the comfort and was rustic. The brands competing in the segment was suffering from marketing myopia. They thought that the competition can come only from three wheelers. So we see the same type of noisy shaky rustic three wheeler goods carrier. Its time to change.

Gio is going to be a winner from the word Go ( Just like Maruti Eeco). The product is a four wheeler and that makes a big difference for the existing three wheeler users. One factor that is going to make Gio a winner is the price. Gio is priced at Rs 1,65,000 which means by paying a premium of Rs 20,000 , a potential three wheeler buyer can own a mini truck. Aspirationally, it is a big leap to the buyer.

Tata Ace is priced at around Rs 2,50,000 + and three wheeler goods carriers are priced at Rs 1,45,000. There is a significant price gap between these two product categories. Gio is aiming at filling this price gap. Also more than price gap, the brand is filling the need gap for a better goods carrier. Ace showed the need for a 1 tonne carrier and Gio took a lesson from Ace in this new segment.

According to the brand website, Gio name was derived from the Hindi word " Jeeyo" which means long and happy life. The brand is targeting the last-mile market where the intra-city transport of fmcg,durables, agriculture produce etc are involved.

Gio looks strikingly different from the existing vehicles that ply the Indian road. Gio has a peculiar look which looks little odd for a goods carrier. There is a reason for such a look.M&M wanted to make Gio look trendy and different which is another way of adding value to the product. The brand is breaking the myth that goods carriers should not be glamorous. Another vital marketing lesson from the brand. The brand sports an engine from the American Engine maker Kohler. The brand claims a mileage of 27 Kmpl which is equal to that of a three wheeler.

Another interesting fact is that M&M has developed a good website for Gio . It is unusual for such a goods carrier brand to have a significant presence in the web but Gio feels that there will be business owners who will look for information about the brand in the web. Another interesting move by the brand.

Gio has the looks and a mouth watering price that makes it a potential winner. A lot of marketing thought has gone into the making of this product. It is surprising to see that Tata was not able to identify this gap. Tata Ace is a highly successful product which virtually created the sub 1 tonne goods carrier market. I expected that Tata Motors would think about replicating the success of Ace in the three wheeler category. But instead of Tata, M&M grabbed the opportunity with Gio.So it is an opportunity lost for Tata Ace.

Kudos to Gio and M&M.

Related Brand
Tata Ace