August 31, 2016
“With the kind of product portfolio that we have planned we expect very healthy growth"
JOHNNY OOMMEN is the Head-International Business- Passenger Vehicle Business Unit of Tata Motors. He spoke to Soni Rai of THT Auto Plus about Tata Motors in Nepal and expectations from the new launch of Tiago.
How has the performance of Tata Motors been in Nepal?
We have seen extremely good growth in Nepal though last year due to the earthquake and blockade we couldn’t supply vehicles as per the demand. But this year, the market for passenger vehicles seems very promising and we are optimistic that we will increase our sales by 30 to 35 per cent.
What is the competition like and what is your market share at present?
I think we have witnessed growth in across most segments in Nepal. It’s a very interesting market for us. There is extremely good growth in the hatchback segment and that is why we have come up with Tiago. Indeed, it is a market that is waiting to expand.
We have healthy double digit market share which we are planning to increase substantially in coming years.
What are your expectations from this new launch— Tiago? What kind of competition do you see in the Nepali market?
We are seeking to define the hatchback segment in Nepal and we are confident with the Tiago. For this car we have mainly focused on three areas— technology, design and quality since 2013. We believe it is a car that is absolutely perfect for market like Nepal. Here I see a large emerging young consumers segment and we are confident that Tiago will appeal to them in many aspects.
Looking through the traditional lens the competitors in terms of size of car and performance attributes, it would be Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki by the offerings that they have in that segment. However, I think the features and equipment that we have offered in Tiago actually belong to a higher segment. We are actually somewhere in between the low and medium hatchback segment. In terms of price value we are closer to the lower segment and in features we are closer to the higher segment.
What are the biggest challenges facing Tata Motors faces at present?
We have a very strong presence in the MUV segment with the Sumo, a very dominant product in that segment. We had been trying to find ways of expanding our presence in the market by making offerings in other segments where we have been absent. So, last year we launched two products— Zest and Bolt. Both have received extremely good response which has actually resulted in an increase in overall numbers in Nepal. With the launch of Tiago we are seeking to further add on to our presence in the hatchback segment. So currently one of the big challenges has been our presence in various segments.
What are your future plans for Nepal?
I think with the kind of product portfolio that we have planned we expect very healthy growth. As I said earlier, we launched two products last year— Zest and Bolt. This year Tiago is already one of them and you can expect another launch later this year. We are planning to launch at least two new products every year in Nepal to maintain our strong product portfolio. We are optimistic that in next three to four years we will be among the top two players in Nepali automobile market.
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