Tata Motors to drive new-look showrooms
Tata Motors, fourth largest in the domestic passenger vehicle (PV) market, will change the look and feel of its 600-plus showrooms.
It aims, it says, to offer a better experience to buyers. The showrooms will be reworked on the lines of a lounge and technology will be used to enhance the consumer experience. The Mumbai-headquartered company overtook Japanese car maker Honda in FY17 to emerge as the fourth biggest. The company is eyeing the third position over the next two years and says the experience at dealerships will be an important pillar.
“We are actively looking at changing the physical look of showrooms completely. The first such (changed) showroom is expected to be operational this calendar year,” Mayank Pareek, president of their PV business unit, told this newspaper.
Maruti Suzuki, the country’s biggest car maker, launched the Nexa, a new marketing network with a loungelike showroom, in 2015 for catering to premium buyers.
Pareek said when one buys something for ~1,000 at a mall, the experience is better than the one in entering a car showroom. “We want to revisit the selling process and do more of engagement marketing. There should be no use of high-pressure sales tactics from salespersons at the showrooms,” he said.
Tata Motors had seen weak performance in recent years on the domestic PV business. It managed to enhance market presence in FY17 with the Tiago, a hatchback. It launched the Hexa SUV in January and entered the compact sedan space with the Tigor last week. The Tiago helped it grow more than the industry rate of nine per cent last year, with sales up 22 per cent to 153,151 units.
Pareek said since a car is usually the second biggest purchase of life for a customer, they look at more than twothree options before buying one. “If he walks into your showroom, you must consider yourself lucky that he is considering your product. But, he has to be treated suitably.”
Today, he added, customers do a lot of research online before walking into a showroom; in many cases, they know more than the salesperson. “He (the customer) only needs reassurance on postpurchase services.”
Their dealerships have started recruiting people from the hospitality and aviation sectors. “They (these segments) have a concept of service to customers. We are also training the existing people at dealerships,” said Pareek.
He adds that a buyer of a ~18-19 lakh vehicle such as the Hexa will not come to a dealership for a test-drive. “You need to take an appointment and take the vehicle to him or her. And, then, don’t keep pushing him to purchase.”
The company also plans to more than double its network, from the current 630 showrooms to 1,500 by FY20.
Pareek said some of the existing ones might have to be shut down. “Certain dealerships will go out of business. Nobody guarantees your existence in a competitive market. Dealers who are not able to meet customer expectations and company expectations, and do not change with time, will go out.”