Hamara Bajaj: An iconic indian brand that caught eveyone's imaginations!

"Hamara Bajaj, Hamara Bajaj"...two generations grew up humming the jingle...It portrayed the Bulannd Bharat, strong and united India. It caught the imaginations of the aspiring middle class...joint families. I, as a kid really enjoyed the jingle but never realise the importance untill the announcement to stop the production of scooters by Bajaj. Oh! you mean to say the priyas and chetaks are all history now! Has the time changed so much...I have travelled almost every corner of my city, nagpur, with my dad on scooter, as a kid! The adv reminds me of those days.

Launched in 1972, people use to wait for upto 15 years to become proud owners of a scooter. My dad got his first scooter after waiting for almost 4 years and yes, we were looked upon as a very cherished family. Owning a scooter in those days was among the sort after thing. People use to ask for Bajaj scooter as dowry, or if a bride's family is offering a scooter, they were highly regarded. The this generation kids would never understand the sentiments of Rahul Bajaj, when Rajiv Bajaj, the MD of Bajaj Auto announced to discontinue the production.

Renowned Indian ad guru Alyque Padamsee came up with the slogan "Hamara Bajaj". It was like a nationalist movement. The words were on everyones mind. Everyone could relate to it. It was truely the style statement and youth of that time use to boast scooter with great pride. I wonder if there could be any vehicle or even any product worth waiting for 15 years!!!

The sweet, romantic Beetle is here!

The VW Beetle... it does look cute... sweet yet strong and kind of very romantic car... I find it romantic car, I dont know why!... :)

The beginnings of the Beetle stretch way back to 1931, when a young Austro-Hungarian engineer by name of Ferdinand Porsche, when he developed a 'car for everybody'. Impressed by his treatment and understanding of real-world expectations from a daily transport vehicle, Adolf Hitler commissioned Porsche to make a 'Volks-wagen' - a people's car for Germany - a basic four-wheeler with a roof that would carry two adults and three children at contemporary freeway speeds - then pegged at about 100 km/h. And then there was the key rider - the car had to be sold at around the same price as that of a motorcycle.

The car brought the concept of an economy car to the United States in 1949. Within a decade, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Studebaker attempted to emulate the fuel-efficient compact car. More than 21 million Beetles were produced by 1992, breaking the Model T's 15 million production record. Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Datsun, later Nissan, followed VW's lead, with even better results.

Advertising Strategy:

(Adv of the 60s.)
The 1960s ad campaign for the Volkswagen Beetle changed the very nature of advertising--from the way it's created to what you see as a consumer today.

It was in this environment that DDB introduced the Beetle with a radical ad campaign that perfectly positioned the product and won the hearts and minds of the masses. What made the VW Beetle ad campaign so radical? Ads before it were either information-based and lacking in persuasion, more fantasy than reality, or relied on the medium's ability to deliver repeated exposure.
Beetle ads, though, connected with consumers on an emotional level, yet also conveyed a product benefit in a way consumers could relate to. Plus, the ads were breathtakingly simple.

Two famous print ads illustrate this. One featured a small picture of the car with the headline "Think small." Text highlighted the advantages of driving the small Beetle versus a big car.

The other presented just the car with "Lemon" in bold type. Ad copy explained that the chrome strip on the glove compartment was blemished and had to be replaced. The take-away was obvious. If this was Volkswagen's idea of a lemon, the Beetle must be a well-built car.

My Take on its entry into India: The car has already grabbed all the limelight. It comes with a price tag of Rs.20L something. Surely, it would appeal to bollywood industry more for simple reasons like... stars generally travel nucleus and not with complete family together, the style statement it provides... Cant ignore the parking and congestion issue in mumbai/ Delhi. Among the owners would be bollywood actresses, high class college going girls would get as Bday gift and sweet romantic couples may be in the age of 60s... :)

Exclusive Report - One Lakh Car is a realty!

Mr. Ratan Tata unveiled Rs 1 lakh car, 'Nano' at the 9th Auto Expo Show in Delhi. With this a new segment is created in the auto industry. Tata Motors now offer from trains to trucks to even the most affordable car of the world!

"That's what drove me -- a man on a two-wheeler with a child standing in front, his wife sitting behind, add to that the wet roads - a family in potential danger," Mr. Tata wrote on the company website.

''Since, promise is a promise the standard dealer version will cost Rs 1 lakh,'' said Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata. He also said that that the car is eight per cent smaller bumper to bumper, than the Maruti 800 but at the same time 21 per cent larger in its interiors and can sit up to four people. Talking about the safety of the car, Tata said, ‘‘the car has passed the full-frontal crash and the side impact crash''.

The car will be available in many variants, which will include one standard version and two deluxe versions with AC.

Small Wonders - features:

* 624 cc engine

* Mileage of 20 kilometers per liter

* Passed full frontal crash test, the offset and side-crash test

* Legroom is expected to be 21 pc more than Maruti 800.

* The car meets the Bharat 3 (Euro 4) emission standards.

* The car that will come in two variants - AC and non-AC

* Will comes a dealer price of Rs one lakh plus VAT and transport charges.

* Commercial launch in mid 2008-09

Suppliers:

BOSCH - Alternator; Brakes; Fuel injection system; Ignition system. LUMAX AUTOMOTIVE - Headlamps. RICO AUTO - Engine blocks. NK MINDA - Switches; horns. SONA GROUP - Steering columns. GABRIEL - Suspensions. KINETIC ENGINEERING - Gears. FEDERAL-MOGUL GOETZEE - Engine pistons. JK TYRES - 12-inch tyres.

What is missing in the car apart from a reasonable luggage space is power steering. The car also said to have one wiper instead of the customary two.

Tata Motors has gone all out to make sure Ratan Tata's plan of a rupees one lakh car is fulfilled.

Surely, owning a four wheeler has now become affordable in India.

The People's Car!!!

The people's car is all set to be displayed on Jan 10th 2008, in The Delhi Auto Expo. This is Mr. Ratan Tata's dream project.

The vision of the car is to fill the gap between two wheelers and lowest priced four wheeler. The possibility of manufacturing a car for one lakh rupees has already been denied by the likes of Mr. Jagdish Khattar, the recently retired MD of Maruti Udyog. Biggies like Honda, Suzuki, Toyota and Hyundai still lives in the denial of possibility of a rupees one lakh car.

But, in a recent interview to the McKinsey Quarterly, Mr. Ratan Tata said: “If you could position an all-weather car that was not a glorified scooter or a stripped down car, then I believe there would be market potential for one million cars a year.”

And Tatas have bigger plans. Even before the launch of the car, Tata motors has submitted an application to Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) for an investment of around Rs 800-900 crore in Thailand for the same project. Now, that is what you call an aggressive strategy! The company already has a good presence in Thailand with its Ace, a one ton mini-truck. This would help company to further leverage its presence in the asian market.

Advertising Agency: The Diwan Arun Nanda-promoted Rediffusion has managed to bag the project. The fight was between the three Tata Motor agencies, the Piyush Pandey led O&M, Anil Kapoor's FCB Ulka and Mr Nanda's Rediffusion. Both O&M and Rediff are WPP agencies, while FCB Ulka is 100% Omnicom owned agency.

Distribution and after sales services is already present for Tata Motors. The target customers are also identified. So, if all goes well, including no technical faults, and inflation under control, there is no problem why the project won't be successful.

The car is supposed to be available during Diwali festival time.

My take: The car would do well!!!

The Tatas

The center of attraction for January 2008 in automobile sector, surely, would be Tata Motors. The company is inching closer and closer to bag the two iconic brands, Jaguar and Land Rover.
Secondly, the most eagerly awaited One Lakh car would be displayed in Delhi Auto Expo on 10th January. The car is believed to be Chairman of Tata Group, Mr. Ratan Tata's dream project.

Last year, Tata group was again in news, when Tata Steel announced to acquire Corus Steel. Though it all started with a friendly bid, went on to finish with a hostile takeover.

Surely, Tatas have drawn a road map for each of its companies to go global, and things are unfolding slowly but steadly.