Reasons for Re Launching Electric Car †Reva

Reasons for Re Launching galvanizing Car Reva Introduction The Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) was founded in 1994 by Chetan Maini, as a control stick venture between the Maini Group of Bangalore and Amerigon Electric Vehicle Technologies (AEVT Inc. ) of the USA. The companys sole look was to develop and produce an affordable compact voltaic machine. Several some early(a) automakers were also aiming to do so, but in 2001 RECC launched theREVA Reva, started off with a complaint The first electric car in Indiaand the people behind the car were confident of the success of the car.Plans were set and the forecasting team estimated that 1500 cars would be exchange by the end of the first year. Three years after its launch,Reva unless managed to sell a total of 300 cars. Reva was subsequently pulled off Indian markets. On May 26th 2010, Mahindra Group bought a 55. 2% majority stake in Reva and now has plans of relaunching the car in Indian markets. This article explores rea sons for the failure of Reva and what should be Mahindra Revas Strategy for achieving success in the Indian market. * Reva waspositi anedas a discolour,low operating cost car.The merchandise strategy when Reva was first launched mainly concentrated on the car cosmos green and the first of its type in the electric car segment. besides this was non enough to create ripples amongst the consumers. * With a smallsize, lite to learn (no clutch or gear)and slowspeed, Revawas tooshieed atsmall families, old couples and female person runrs. While Reva had a beneficial cost proposition of only Rs. 0. 40 paise per km travelled, it was non a cheap car. Priced at around Rs. 3. 75 lakhs, people would have preferred to purchase a Maruti Zen or an Alto which are within the same price range.The major paradox with Reva was that it was perceived to be a low cost car, but it was actually not. Also it was not a car that the rich wanted to buy, as it looked below their league. In one word, R eva, was atotal mis chalk up. * Aesthetically, Reva did not speak to to the youth. It wasnot fast, did not have ahigh range, had high upkeep problems(100 % charging needed 8 hours) and was not meant for long drives. The small car dummy and the design made it look like a rather disquieting car. People do advocate being green but they are not departing to sacrifice their solace for it. * The arketing campaign for Reva also was not an aggressive one. The car made news for itself for being the first electric car in the Indian market but no market effort was made to create ripples in the nodes. The buzz through promotions and advertisements was genuinely low. T here wasno excitementandcuriositycreated in the minds of the consumers before the overlap launch. A research done by me amongst 50 female drivers, 35 elderly people (50+ age) and 20 couples has friended me come up with the followingcustomer value hierarchyfor a Car 1. Core benefitTakes you from one place to another withou t aninconvenience. . Basic productEasy to drive,comfortable set and leg room,high mileage. 3. Expected ProductSafety, does not break down,easy to repair. 4. Augmented ProductSpeed,smooth on road,Stylish. 5. Potential Productsurround friendly. As seen the pointsbolded in red fontare the ones that Reva clearly misses. not being able to satisfy the core, basic and judge product benefits has been a major miss in the marketing strategy of Reva. If Reva has to be prospering it has to first cater to these customer benefits, satisfy them and then only forget being environment friendly be a product differentiator.Reva had expected to sell around 1500 cars in its first year itself. After 3 years, Reva managed to sell only about350 odd cars. This is a definite failure in the first innings of Reva. However the item that it is the only one in the electric car market, a proper marketing strategy can serve up it become a success. Revas Second Innings A Re-launch Strategy It is not like Gree n cars are boring and cannot be successful. Take the exemplification ofRoadster Teslaan electric car which is the coolest and one of the most aspired cars in the car market. So surely there is no reason for Reva to fail if it is marketed in the right way.If the car is able to satisfy the core, basic and expected benefits of its tar circumvent audience then we have a winner on our hands. In todays, Global warming era. Being green is in fact the in thing. But just Green Cannot Sell. Reva should market itself on its other facets as well. Consider the slogan below for marketing Reva Reva Easy to drive, Stylish, soothing Car By the way, we are also Green The easy to drive attribute is already present in Reva. Reva needs to do subtle alterations in its design to make it look more fashionable, ergonomically designed for seating and safety needs.As given in the figure above, Reva should look at targeting the increment female car owners. Also it should target the young and old couples , who ferret out thecuteness factorin the car, exciting enough to purchase it. Reva should be promoted as aFun car to hang out with. Promotions The Reva advertisementsshould not hire any stars to advertise it. Instead it should look at victorious the common short letter going man, the girl next door, the college couple to dent it. This will ensure that its target audience connect to the advertisement and Reva to a greater extent.The greenness in Reva can be subtly highlighted in the advertisements. The promotion ideas for both print and television advertisements are 1. The office goerHow because of heavy traffic he used to reach late to office and get reprimanded by his boss. How now Reva has made him reach office in time and get promotions. Catch line Traffic problems. No Problem. Reva is here 2. The girl next door How Reva has made her independent. Highlight the ease and comfort of driving the car in the advertisement. Catch line Get Independent. Do The Reva 3.The lovebirds A part by part ad series in which an old couple get nostalgic on how they started their love bill in a Reva and their memories associated with the Reva car. Highlight the comfort of the Reva car. Catch line Reva acquire you closer Social media promotions Low cost and high effect. 1. Social gaming applicationsin which users play a car racing game and get green credits for using the Reva Car. This will help spread the Reva mark off virally. 2. Get expert reviews on the Reva car and publish them on theReva Blog. 3. take in a contest in which users can transfer their Reva moment onYouTube.Also upload YouTube videos to show how Reva makes a greener world. 4. defecate, The Spacious Reva Contest Customers try to fit in as many of their friends in a Reva car and upload a picture of it onFacebook. The one with maximum likes would win the contest. 5. list to what your customers are sayingabout Reva, how are they feeling about Reva? Have you managed to create the right buzz? Social med ia would tell you instantly and help you to do any kind of damage control if necessary. Thesocial media is a good measureon how well your marketing strategy has worked.In shutdown , Reva has already in its First Innings, highlighted its attribute of being aGreen Car. The Second Innings strategy that has been mentioned will market Reva as an easy to drive, safe, stylish and comfortable car. Thus satisfying the core, basic and expected needs of its customers which will help the Reva car become a success story. While the Mahindra soil name and its distribution network and capabilities in the Indian market should emphatically benefit Reva, in having a successful second innings. The strategy describe above should help Reva preventing burns and scars the second time round.