Microhybrid positioning strategy; Mahindra and Mahindra Limited

Abstract

Micro Hybrid technology was introduced in India by Mahindra. This technology was launched in Mahindra Scorpio and Bolero in October 2008. The objective of this project is to find out the awareness and usage level of this technology among existing users. In case the usage level is low among the customers, we try to find the major reasons the customers cite for not using the feature. Along with this we also try and get information regarding their experience in the dealership and whether or not they were made aware about Micro Hybrid in the dealership either during the vehicle demo or during Home installation. To get a firsthand experience of the sales pitch made by the sales consultant’s visits were made as a mystery customer to Mahindra dealers. It was found through customer interviews that most of the customers are aware of the presence of Micro Hybrid technology in their vehicle but close to 44% people didn’t know it as Micro Hybrid but rather knew it as Start-Stop. This was due to the fact that the button used to activate and deactivate this feature and the dashboard cluster indicator mentioned it as Start-Stop. This was a concern because most of the marketing communications pitch the feature as Micro Hybrid and if a major portion of the target segment didn’t know the feature as Micro Hybrid the message would not reach the target audience. On a positive note 74% of the customers liked the feature and would look for the feature while making their next purchase. Among the customers who didn’t like the feature the main reasons cited were irritation of frequent restarts in stop-go traffic, A\C getting switched off and fuel savings obtained being trivial. During visits as a mystery customer it was found that a majority of the sales representatives did not include Micro Hybrid in their sales story and that they didn’t consider Micro Hybrid to be a very important feature. Also most of them couldn’t correctly quantify the fuel savings obtained because of the use of Micro Hybrid. Hence they didn’t consider Micro Hybrid to be a good enough feature to go for the top end To increase the awareness level and usage the first step needs to be towards increasing customer awareness of the feature. To do this the button to activate the feature and the dashboard cluster alert needs to be renamed to Micro Hybrid. In addition a voice alert can be added whenever the feature is activated. Along with this increased training to sales consultants and increased spending on print and online advertisement would help achieve a high awareness level. Mahindra can also look for a tie-up with PCRA and sponsor their advertisements which are focused towards avoiding wastage of fuel due to engine idling at signals. To further increase the usage the issue related to A\C getting switched off needs to be addressed. There are solutions available that are being used by other car manufacturers to tackle this issue. One of them being the Stop-stay-cool system provided by Valeo which makes use of thermal storage materials. Use of a reinforced starter can also be considered (e.g. Valeo Restart) which would make the engine restarts smoother. To increase the awareness and usage level among existing users, stickers can to be designed which will be placed over the Start-Stop button whenever the car is given for service. Apart from this a message could be delivered to the existing owners either over e-mail or by a letter thanking them for purchasing a car with Micro Hybrid and being a part of Mahindra’s efforts to stop fuel wastage and reduce emissions.