Along with product strategy, a push in digital marketing and a new model of dedicated network have helped Tata Motors increase its sales in the small commercial vehicle (SCV) segment, particularly in the pick-up segment.

The SCV segment (sub-3.5 tonne) comprises mini-trucks (0-2 tonne gross vehicle weight) and pick-ups (2-3 tonne GVW). Pick-up is the growing segment and is the largest category in the entire CV market.

A leader in the mini-truck segment, Tata has been attempting to grab a higher share in the pick-up segment, dominated by Mahindra & Mahindra.

Digital presence

While the company has come out with a range of products to fill the gaps and expand the range with its pick-ups such as ‘Intra’ and ‘Yodha’, it has also undertaken digital marketing campaigns and created dedicated ‘low break-even’ retail outlets for sales growth.

“In CV sales, we need to do a lot of personal interactions and physical activities. But we focused on digital campaigns for lead generations and they have paid dividends as 18 per cent of SCV sales come through digital mode now,” Girish Wagh, Executive Director, Tata Motors, told businessline.

While the company is planning to ramp up its digital focus, it has also increased its network. In the last 18 months or so, the company has created more than 110 dealers focused on SCVs. “These are low break-even set-ups — their break-even volumes will be lower than bigger outlets. This is also bringing us incremental volumes,” said Wagh.

Profitability

“While doing this, we have also been bringing down the spend per vehicle (to crack a sale). As a result, we are improving profitability while maintaining healthy retail volumes,” he added.

To spur sales, the company had incurred a lot of variable marketing expenditure earlier. “We have learnt our lessons and we are not going to do that, he said.

For the April-December 2022 period, Tata Motors’ LCV sales, including SCV volumes, stood at 148,221 units compared with 125,997 units in the year-ago period.

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