Developing Brand Identity

Scorpio
Marketing an Automobile Brand
By Group 4
Marketing
Jan 13-15
Abhinay Jain
Jayant Sharma
Sandya Kattimani
Monita Gupta
Ramakrishna Rao
Syed Mehboob
About Mahindra and Mahindra
Established in 1945
In 1948 became a public limited company
Manufacturing process started in 1954 with help of Willys Overland Corporation
1965, started production of LCVs
Manufacturing plants
Mumbai(UV)
Nasik (UV)
Igatpuri(Engines)
Zaheerabad (LCVs & 3wheelers) Andhra Pradesh
Maharashtra
1977, Company acquired International Tractor Company of India.
1992, Mahindra tractor brand came into existence.
1994, Mahindra & Mahindra businesses were under one company.
Operating Divisions
Automotive sector (UV, LCVs & 3 wheelers)
Farm Equipment Sector (Tractors & other farm implements)
2003, company NET WORTH Rs.15.7 billion
About Mahindra and Mahindra
Strengths
Business Conglomerate
in diversified businesses
Strong Brand Presence in
Hard top UV Market
Strong Automobile
Division Network
Weaknesses
Sharp Declination in
Market Share

Absence of UV in terms
of international
Standards






Opportunities
Expansion of Product
portfolio

Focus on the Urban
Market







Threats
Intensified Competition
in the UV Segment

Players like Telco &
Toyotas successful
Products
INTERNAL
EXTERNAL
M&Ms Analysis (Late 1990s) -> Evolution of
Project Scorpio in 1996

Outcomes of Market Analysis

Connecting Opportunities & Threats by Evaluating Competencies

PROBLEM DEFINITION
PROJECT SCORPIO
SUV with international Standards
Potential GAP
(SUV URBAN SEGMENT)
Strategic fit
Situation Analysis
In the year 1996, Project Scorpio was launched.

Mahindra & Mahindra setup an R&D department in Mumbai and appointed Pawan Goenka
(Ex Manager of General Motors) the head of the Project Scorpio plan.

Mahindra & Mahindra invested 6 billion Rupees for this gigantic project in the history of the
company.
For the Project Scorpio,M&M decided
to implement a new product
development technique called
Integrated Development and
Manufacturing (IDAM) in order to
allow M&M to develop an SUV with
the most exquisite design and latest
technology.
The main ideology behind this massive project was to reduce the
manufacturing cost and to bring in maximum resource utilization in order to
decrease the burden of thrusting the manufacturing cost upon consumers.

The Project Scorpio Team was divided into 19 cross functional teams to ease
the handling of various processes.
Operations Activities

Scorpio collaborated with AVL in Austria for
sourcing technology for its Diesel version.

M&M partnered with Kenwood for designing its
music interiors and Lear Corporation for Seating
Fabric and design.
M&M had setup a manufacturing plant in Nashik which had the world class production
technologies for Project Scorpio.

Scorpio underwent a collaboration with Renault in France for sourcing the spare parts
and technology for its Petrol version.

M&M used an intelligent strategy
to source resources from different
suppliers rather than sourcing from
a single supplier .

Therefore, Scorpio became a huge
hit among consumers for being
available at an economical price tag
when compared to all other
competitors and with plush interiors
and world class driving experience.
Competitors
Competitors
M&Ms market share in the UV segment increased from 50% in June 2002 to 54% by
June 2003.
Competitors in Soft segment- M&M, Maruti Udyog, Telco, Hindustan Motors.
In Hard top segment M&M, Telco, Toyota, Hindustan Motors, Maruti Udyog and Bajaj
tempo.
Telco- Launched Sumo+ and Sumo Ex+ (September 2002).
General motors Subaru Forester (August 2003).
M&M remained market leader in the UV segment with market share 54%.


Action Plan
Position & Advertising
Positioned as great power and style.
Targeted as third or fourth car in the household.
Series of print campaigns was launched, each campaign highlighted a specific
advantage or feature.
Image was built in television campaigns as car with rugged, space and comfort.
Company also advertised through non-traditional media, outdoor promotions and
online by launching a website exclusively for Scorpio.
Action Plan
Promotions
M&M tied up with Banks and Financial Institution to offer financial schemes.
'Anytime Anywhere Test-Drive' service was launched by Company.
Reality Radio Advertising' was used by company in which a fleet of motor cycles
accompanied a Scorpio on a 'Road Show
Contest called ' Build A Scorpio ' was also organized by company. A Brand equity
quiz was also sponsored.
'One Lap of India. One lap of Safety ' was announced to promote safety driving
cause.
'The Great Escape' event was also held every year resulting in customer
confidence.

Action Plan
Pricing
Priced between Rs.550,000 - 720,000.
Turbo 2.6 and Turbo 2.6 DX Priced between Rs.582,000 - Rs.635,000
REV 116 was priced at Rs.719,000
Price was kept lower than that of Toyota Qualis (Rs.560,000 and Rs.850,000) and
Tata Safari (Rs.760,000 and Rs.850,000).
Fear that it would cannibalize the sales of Bolero.

Thank You