Executive Summary

The projects basic objective is analysis of a product that failed to make an impact in the market,It also includes the analysis of the reasons of why did the product failed to make an impact in the minds of the consumers. The failed product for our project is Kinetic BLAZE which was the 1st product from the much publicised seven vehicle Italiano series from KINETIC MOTORS portfolio. The project covers a brief study of Kinetic Motors, its partnership with other automobile giants.It also covers an in depth study of Kinetic Blaze and its competition from rivals in the same segment in terms of its features, performance and its market positioning etc.It also covers various problems encountered in the initial market positioning of Blaze and the reasons for the failure of the product. The project helped us in understanding the various concepts of Consumer Behavior in Marketing, The analysis helped us in drawing insights from every situation and learning to tackle problems as they arise. The concepts of product launch, segmentation, targeting, positioning, etc were put into regular use.

INTRODUCTION

Kinetic Engineering also known as Kinetic Motors Ltd , founded in the year 1972 by Mr. HK Firodia, known as the doyen of the Indian Automobile Industry.It was credited with bringing in India the concept of personalized transport. It was a part of the Firodia Group of companies, one of the pioneering groups in automobiles sector in India, In 1972 Kinetic launched the Luna moped which had become an iconic brand in India . In 1984, the company entered into a Joint Venture with Honda Motors of Japan, to produce advanced scooters in India. Both the companies introduced in collaboration a gearless scooter with advanced features like TLAD suspension, auto choke and auto fuel cork. In 1998, Kinetic bought the controlling stakes from Honda becoming the first Indian JV partner to buy out the foreign majority shareholder and the company continued to sell scooters under the brand name Kinetic and start producing vehicle itself.

In 2005, The company acquired Italiano series of scooters from Italjet Moto. The acquisition involved all global distribution rights as well as relocation of total production lines to India. In 2008, it stopped selling two-wheelers after entering into a joint venture with Mahindra Automobiles, where Mahindra held the major(80%) stakes and purchased the company for Rs110 crore

Kinetic had a strong dealership network of more than 400 dealers and authorized service centers across the country. It was a leading exporter of vehicles across the globe with thousands of vehicles exported to the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Australia. It had bagged the Exports Excellence award for nine consecutive years. Kinetic produces a complete two-wheeler portfolio which ranges from mopeds, scooters and bikes. Kinetic scooters were known for their stylish looks, on the other hand kinetic bikes were excellent in performance and had amazing suspensions.

About Kinetic Blaze Kinetic Blaze was launched in India in 2006, Blaze was the 1st product from the much publicised seven vehicle Italiano series. These designs were bought from the world famous Italjet Moto and was done personally by Leopoldo Tartarini, the head of Italjet Moto. It was Indias first powerful automatic scooter with a 165cc, 4-valve engine that outputs nearly 12 BHP power. The scooter was huge with the size of Pulsar and had a wheel base of a Bullet and weighed about 135 kg. Blaze offered several features such as front telescopic socks for extra stability (first time in India), 12 tyres (first time in India), Protective front shield (visor), comprehensive instrumentation, split seat with large under seat storage space and twin lamps each of 35 / 35 W in a single housing. It showed off its Italian design legacy in its attention-grabbing styling and majestic road presence.

MARKET ANALYSIS OF KINETIC TARGET CUSTOMERS:

Kinetic being non-gear vehicle especially targeted the following kinds of customers women's especially girls and working ladies . old aged persons handicapped person or person suffering from injury customers who had difficulty in driving geared vehicle.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF KINETIC STRENGTHS

Different indicators and fuel meter , durable and light weight. Good luggage carrying capacity. more comfortable and easy to ride. first self start ignition system introduced in two wheelers

WEAKNESS
Low Mileage Poor after Sales & Service High Cost of Spare Parts

OPPORTUNITIES
Kinetic,being the first non-gear self start motor scooter in India could have done a better such if it followed criteria's: Upgradation in technology used, designing and price of the vehicle. Increase in advertisement and marketing of vehicle. Increase in color variants of vehicle as it can attract teenagers and style conscious customers. Relaunch of vehicle with more powerful engine, fuel efficiency and updated accessories .

THREATS
Major threat to the product was from other substitute which were available in market with more advance features like colours,powerful engines, fuel efficiency, advance and accessories. Company also faced threat from new entrants in the market who were more customer oriented rather then product oriented. The new entrants already knew the drawback

of kinetic vehicles and they come up with more advance features that too at much lower prices and offers .E.g.- Honda Activa, Tvs Scooty Pep Honda deo etc

Failures Of Kinetic
Kinetic ,the brand which was once synonymous with Luna and gearless scooters is now no more present in the Indian Scooter Market,Kinetic as a corporate brand is still present as Kinetic Engineering but Kinetic as a scooter brand has been laid to rest in 2008 after the take over by Mahindra & Mahindra. Kinetic, despite the high prices and bad mileage was loved by people especially women because it was ungeared and had an electric start. But Somewhere down the lane, things went wrong for Kinetic. Kinetic was limited by their JV Partner Honda to focus only on Mopeds and Scooters. Since Honda had another JV with the Hero Group ( Hero Honda), Kinetic could not enter these markets. At one stage the competition became intense in the moped and scooter segment. TVS with their Scooty carved as significant chunk of Kinetic's market share. The joint-venture between Kinetic and Honda ended during 1998 which was a huge blow for the brand, but the issue with Kinetic scooters was more than the Joint venture. The brand had its issues with Product , Price and Promotions.Regarding the ungeared scooter segment, Kinetic was never successful with its new products or upgradings. The brand was not myopic or complacent. The brand worket on new products but somehow the products was not successful in the market. In 1996-97, the company launched its scootterette Kinetic Pride but was withdrawn because the pillion ride was not comfortable. In 1997, the company launched a powerful scooter Marvel but the product failed in the market. In 1998, Kinetic launched its Y2K version of Kinetic Honda. In 2002, the company launched Kinetic Nova and Kinetic Zing but both were not big hits After the split up with Honda, Kinetic ventured into motorcylce manufacturing and launched Kinetic Challenger in 2002. In 2003, the company stunned the auto world by launching 4 models at one go. Kinetic launched Kinetic Boss, GF170, City and Kinetic Velocity. In 2003, Kinetic launched India's most expensive bike Aquila priced at Rs 1.15 lakh. The brand was launched in collaboration with Hyosang Motors. Aquila was well received by Indian consumers. But Kinetic was complacent in projecting Aquila as its flagship offering. Rather it played cold to the demand from the market and did not pursue the opportunity. During late 2000, the brand tried to make a come back by launching designer scooters under Italliano range. But the brand faltered in delivering world class product.