Marketing Basics Case Study for SMP12

1. How should Mahindra position the Scorpio?
SMP12 Mumbai Borivali Team

2.  United States
◦ General Motors
◦ Ford Motors
◦ Daimler Chrysler Group
 Japanese
◦ Toyota
◦ Nissan
◦ Honda
 European Market
◦ Volkswagen
◦ Peugot

3.  Five Segments based on price ranges
◦ Two wheelers
◦ Micro hatchback cars
◦ Ultra hatchback cars
◦ Mid-sized cars
◦ Utility vehicles

4. Established and
assembled Willys Jeep
kits.
Listed on BSE 2 years
later
1945
1961
Started production of
light commercial
vehicles and tractors
Restructuring of
Mahindra forming in
the core activities of
Uvs, LCVs and tractors
in one group
1994
1997
Scorpio story began as
part of the
restructuring

5.  $120 million investment with 120 full
time team members making it the
largest initiation of the company
 19 cross functional teams looking after
various divisions including design,
manufacturing, testing etc. handled
very differently than industry
standards
 6 years for completion, 100%
indigenous
 Stylish and powerful, value for money,
some exciting taglines making it very
interesting

6.  Increased revenue of the
company in 2002-2003
 Changed the automotive
market and forced
competition relook at the UV
sector differently
 Market scenario in the 1990s
had forced Mahindra to
rethink strategy due to
players like Toyota, Telco, etc.

7.  Setup plant in Nashik to
manufacture Scorpio
 Integrated Design and
Manufacturing (IDMA)
◦ Multifunctional product design and
development team
◦ Quick decisions along with checks and
balances
◦ Flat hierarchy reporting into 1 head,
allowed for high performance
◦ Balancing of costs within departments
 Project scope changed from Rural
to Urban market

8.  Building of the brand considering
the Indian consumer in mind
 6 months of market research
holding product clinics with vehicle
owners, qualitative research
 Key highlights showed surprising
results
◦ Noise and vibration not a priority was
highlighted in the survey
◦ Consumer paying attention to minor
details
◦ Image conscious
◦ No one sees my house but my car, so I
need to make an impression

9.  Need to keep low costs, employed unique technique in auto
manufacturing – moved away from the conventional strategy
 Turned over significant part of process to suppliers
 All major systems designed and engineered by suppliers, also
carried out testing
 Allowed flexibility to suppliers by conveying requirements
◦ Temperature drop needed over time, rather than number of air vents
needed.
 Provided flexibility to suppliers to determine their own ways to
meet requirements

10.  Low cost investments for manufacturing
◦ $120 million against $280 million
 Flexibility in choosing partners, though unknown against
MNCs who had a preferred vendor list
 Fewer hires, low manpower costs for engineering
development in India
 Managed very low costs at the testing phase
◦ MNCs build 200 prototypes at 15-20 times cost of the vehicle
◦ M&M build 75 prototypes at 2-3 times cost of the vehicle

11.  Launch of Bolero used for various marketing activities including media,
brand development and planning of the launch
 What customers wanted was distinctly different than existing perception
of Mahindra
 Built brand identity prisms showed significant gap to be bridged
 Chose to position the Scorpio as a car, not a UV because of blurring
boundaries
 Advertising phrases of “Car Plus” and “Luxury of a Car, Thrill of a SUV”
was meant for those considering a car but wanting added SUV power
 Held press driven events to sell positives of the car to auto experts.
Provided publicity for functional elements

12.  Capitalized on existing dealers while differentiating Scorpio
from other products
 Dealers needed to have separate outlets for Bolero and
Scorpio, reinforcing the message that vehicles had distinct
identities
 Sales areas separated visually by using color scheme and
décor
 Upgrading of the outlets and staff with personnel to handle
queries of the urban market

13.  Core Product – Multi-utility
big car
 Embodied product – the
styling, seating, colors,
space, add on features,
power
 Augmented product – credit
and financing schemes,
delivery, service, guarantees,
perceptions
Embodied product
Augmented product

14.  Product classification
◦ Moving from a business to consumer product
◦ Moving from rural to urban brand
 Branding for the target audience: Male, Female, Young, Families
◦ Male: Sportiness in showrooms, technology innovation, urban feel, SUV
styling
◦ Female: comfort, show women drivers in ads, up-styling, luxury, market it
as a car and not SUV
◦ Young: Sportiness, technology innovation, urban, trendy
◦ Families: Safety, cost effective, reliable, high customer service, comfort
seating, user friendly features beyond the driving seat

15.  Using the target audience build a brand personality that
addresses the five dimensions of psychosocial meaning:
◦ Sincerity: down to earth
◦ Excitement: spirited, imaginative
◦ Competence: intelligent, successful
◦ Sophistication: urban, upper class
◦ Ruggedness: tough, solid, reliable
Brand
Person
ality
Sinceri
ty
Excite
ment
Comp
etence
Sophis
ticatio
n
Rugge
dness

16.  Deepak Bhandari
 Hema Wagh
 Shreepad Bhogaonkar
 Vipin Om Sharma
 Vivek Chandra
 Kosha Desai
 Shashank Shyam Abhyankar