1. Buying car is a family decision. Would all the family members like a car like Nano. Younger members of family would definitely want a car with good looks and better power. Nano doesn’t fulfill any of this criteria.
2. Car is a status symbol in India. This is especially true for the user segment Tata were targeting. So why would a person buy such a car which does not improve or enhance his status in society.
3. Nano caught fire and this news spread, well not like a fire but still it was there in all print and electronic media.
I heard a story that Ratan Tata thought of this car (concept of Nano) when he saw a family of four going on a scooter in rain. But why did that family of four prefer to go on the scooter? They could have easily hired a auto rickshaw if they wanted. But they thought it fit enough to somehow put all four family members at risk by going on the small scooter. So does that mean that the family was poor and can’t afford to pay for auto. Most probably not. They earn enough to spend money on rickshaw. But as Indians it’s our nature to save as much money as possible. This is more applicable to the target user/customer the Tata’s were targeting.
Well ….such a tricky user/customer group Tatas are targeting.
Aspiration or desire to own a car is definitely there in the user/customer group. But would they want to buy Nano.
Its cheap, accepted. So the wage earner thinks this criteria as plus point of Nano.
But the woman and children in family are definitely not satisfied with that. Does Nano look good, attractive, cute, classy… None of these adjectives fit to Nano. So these stake holders say that its better to not buy a car than buying a Nano.
Difficult to see Nano selling......
So is the market research enough for introducing such a product??
Or does one need user behavior research for such eccentric products..
I guess they needed behavior research........