Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Jul 22, 2006
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Jul 22, 2006 |
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Marketing
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Promotions & Offers Industry & Economy - NRIs
Sudha Menon
"The key here is that the entire process can be completed on the Internet and a financing tie-up with Citibank and transparency of process has made it attractive to the Indians living abroad."
Pune , July 21 When NRI Mr Parasmal Jain, working in Indonesia, wanted to send a special gift for his wife on her birthday early this week, he did not buy her an expensive diamond. Instead, he logged on to car manufacturer Maruti Udyog's www.marutinri.com and asked for a Baleno to be delivered to his wife in Indore. Two days later, an overjoyed Mrs Jain was the proud owner of a brand new Baleno and the company has got a loyal customer for life, says Mr Arun Malhotra, Chief General Manager, Marketing Strategy and Development. In the week since the `Dil Se' programme, tailored to make it easy for an NRI to gift relatives back home with a car, was launched, the company has delivered four cars including a WagonR and an Alto and, says Mr Malhotra, the Web site is seeing a huge number of hits while the toll free number for the US-based Indians has been inundated with enquiries. The cars that have been delivered are from places as diverse as Indore, Chennai and Patiala and the company, which originally wanted to keep the geographical scope of the programme limited, is now working on expanding it owing to the sustained interest being shown by NRIs. "Most of the enquiries are coming in from West Asia, the US, the UK and Canada, says Mr Malhotra. "The key here is that the entire process can be completed on the Internet and a financing tie-up with Citibank and transparency of process has made it attractive to the Indians living abroad."
Plans promotional campaign
Enthused by the response to the scheme from NRIs, the company is now ready with a promotional campaign in the electronic media abroad where it will be telecast on Indian language channels in these countries. In addition to the fact that a car can be gifted to relatives for as little as $99 every month, it is also pampering the NRI buyer with cash discounts between Rs 8,000-12,000, discounted spares and free home delivery.
More Stories on : Promotions & Offers | NRIs | Cars | Maruti Udyog Ltd
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