Trends in Suv Market

1. Select a product category in the Indian context. Identify the companies and their products/brands in the product category. What are the latest trends in this product category? Select a product/brand of a company for further analyses. The rest of the issues should be studied with reference to the selected product/brand.

We have selected SUV segment of the Passenger Vehicle category. Below is the list of companies that provide SUVs in India. For further analyses, we have selected Mahindra XUV 500.

TRENDS IN SUV MARKET

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2.) Identify the consumers for that category. You may refer to magazine and journal articles or interact with the dealers and consumers to develop a profile of the consumers.

Q2: Identify the consumers for that category. You may refer to magazine and journal articles or interact with the dealers and consumers to develop a profile of the consumers.

 Conceptualised with the new generation in mind and its requirements and aspirations to go off-road with world class features at an affordable price, the XUV500 is targeted at the generation X. The latest TVC released in May 2015 focusses on the various new premium features required by the new era and next generation customers. The deadly combination of power, style and affordability is expected to draw in sensible, questioning and utility oriented buyers. Given the ubiquitous service network of Mahindra and Mahindra, the target segment includes customers looking for peace of mind. The XUV500 focuses on the generation X which typically likes to have new experiences in their lifetime rather than hoarding pricey possessions.

The rural targets include large families looking towards the established brand of Mahindra, who are heavily influenced by the opinion of neighbours and family friends. They do not research much. At the same time their urban target market includes the latest generation who require all the latest features and most affordable of prices deriving maximum utility in the process. This segment does heavy research before taking any purchase decisions.

3.) Understand the consumer behavior on the relevant dimensions. How is it evolving/likely to evolve?

With the primary research done among the students of IIM Raipur, it is evident that SUVs are clearly the first choice among consumers when compared to MUV or Hatchback, though Sedan is very close to SUVs in terms of preference.[pic 2]

When we asked about the preference of specific cars in SUV segment out of the five cars- (Mahindra XUV 500, Maruti Suzuki Vitara, Brezza, Renault Duster, Toyota Fortuner, and Hyundai Creta), Renault Duster (32.1%), Mahindra XUV 500 (28.6%), Toyota Fortuner (25%) were the clear winners in terms of preference among SUV cars.

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We take it forward by discussing the consumer buying behaviour for Mahindra XUV 500. With the primary research done, we asked why you would buy Mahindra XUV 500 and the dominant responses were Performance, Reliability and conformance. So somewhere the brand Mahindra associated with XUV 500 makes it more preferable to buy a durable, utility vehicle.

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UNDERSTANDING THE INDIAN MARKET

When we talk of Indian market for cars, the more appropriate way for understanding the market would be to broadly classify the market into two categories- Rural and Urban Market.

RURAL CONSUMER AND THEIR BUYING BEHAVIOUR

The rural consumers are not much educated, restricting them to analyzing the technicalities aspects of the car. The average age of the customer in this segment is from 35 to 45, meaning they have their businesses established or may or may not require financing. The consumers have strong social groups and their decision is heavily influenced by their advice. The best attribute about the consumers here is that they are impulsive buyers, if they like a single attribute of the car, they are most likely to buy it. They are brand loyal and Mahindra as a brand might have an upper hand, given Scorpio and Bolero are already popular. With their family size and geographic locations, they would prefer SUVs- more space for every road. They are highly dependent on word of mouth and do not research the other options in the market.

URBAN CONSUMER AND THEIR BUYING BEHAVIOUR

Urban consumers comprises of people from various professional backgrounds ranging from doctors, IT, consultants etc, looking for a bigger car offering them advanced features and better style. XUV 500 is perceived as a lifestyle car, with dual advantage of city driving and long road trips which is aspired by the consumer of this segment. Age of consumer is not a dominant determinant here though they are well informed about the product, do heavy research over the internet about the various products available in the internet, analyse the technical aspects and then make the decision. XUV 500 is feature packed SUV is available at a price which no other car manufacturer provides. Its competitors are Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour but XUV500 beats them due to the price advantage compared to its competitors. The major factors that influence buying behaviour including value for money are styling, advanced features and especially the brand awareness that Mahindra has in SUV segment. The target market of XUV500 generally uses segment C cars or medium size sedans. There is a common perception of not spending great amount of money for an Indian manufactured vehicle which is also evident from the fact that consumers having a budget of more than Rs. 15 lacs buy brands like Toyota and Ford. Here Mahindra XUV comes in handy for this section.

4.) Analyze the external environment ( PESTEL)with respect to the selected product category.

PESTEL Analysis

PESTLE (Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal and Environmental) Analysis is used to analyse the environment in which the offering operates. As such it helps marketers make informed decisions based on the summarized information about the external environment.

POLITICAL

India is seen to have a determined government with a mandate for change. Ease of doing business is expected to increase and growth is expected to increase due to political will. Some political moves that can impact the market are: