Why is Nano a failure? Why do I not see the clogged Indian urban arteries displaying vast numbers of the gleaming pea-shaped wonder car?I read the FT story which says Tata's success with Rover and everything else meant that they would defocus and demote the Nano. Some expert predicted way back that the Nano was "value-destructive".
We of course know of the expensive relocation of the plant from Bengal to Gujarat. But what really is the problem? When I asked my son, who's in the know about cars in general, he said Tata can only build trucks and not cars: their cars lack quality and style.
I got a demo of the Nano seven months ago as we were hoping to get inspired by the Nano for our own internal Super-Value medical device. The demo was pathetic, as the car had a cluncky, dirty and tacky look and feel. The salesman was so inept that he did not know how many Nanos had been sold by the dealer in Bangalore. He was also quick to tell us that one could spend more and get the A/C Premium Deluxe version for well over USD 5K and he wouldn't recommend the basic config. All in all a bad impression.
Today I read another article: Tata Nano Failure
I personally think we have a few reasons for the failure of Nano to take off.
1. Indians want cheap, but at the same time intuit that cheap=poor quality.
2. The car is an Indian middle-class aspiration. The word cheap is not in any aspiration vocabulary.
3. No one, not even Ratan Tata, told the story of the Nano as a wonder car. It was always dubbed a cheap car. Add to that Tata's image of poor quality cars, and you have a killer combo.
4. When Hyundai came in with their ugly cars a decade back, they used SRK to call it a "Tall Boy". SRK being himself of modest altitude, there was a beautiful Indian aspiration built into the theme of a "Tall Boy". All the buttons that would start off a dream for the middle-class. Today there are many small cars costing not too much more than the Nano, coming from famous brands, and having mega ad budgets.
5. Finally, in a cruel irony, Tata themselves advertise a fancier and better car all the time, by using words which pretty much say, "Why settle for less? Go for more!"
How can Tata and India promote the Nano to be the global super brand? I think they need to do some basic marketing stuff here:
1. Promote Nano as the SMART way to drive, not a cheap car.
2. Make it high quality.
3. Avoid feature creep and price upward creep... keep it as a DISTINCT 2.5K$ car.
4. Rope in some smart scientists and techies to advertise.... why it is more intelligent to drive the home-grown Nano and not some far import of technology. which leads to
5. Appeal to the national pride in the famous small car Nano, born in India.
