DISCUSSION

3.1 Literature Review

What is Marketing?

According to American Marketing Association (AMA), “Marketing is the activity, set of

institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging
offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large”.

What is Marketing Strategy?

A Marketing Strategy is the long-term planning of business objectives that the company
wants to achieve.

There are many marketing strategies. The great thing about this is that there is no one way
to achieve success. An organization's strategy that combines all of its marketing goals into
one comprehensive plan. A good marketing strategy should be drawn from market
research and focus on the right product mix in order to achieve the maximum profit
potential and sustain the business.

A strategy is a long-term plan to achieve certain objectives. A marketing strategy is

therefore a marketing plan designed to achieve marketing objectives. The strategic plan
therefore is the detailed planning involving marketing research, and then developing a
marketing mix to delight customers.

Every organization needs to have clear marketing objectives, and the major route to
achieving organizational goals will depend on strategy. It is important, therefore, to be
clear about the difference between strategy and tactics.

Marketing Mix

Marketing mix refers to the set of actions, or tactics, that a company uses to promote its
brand or product in the market. The 4Ps make up a typical marketing mix - Price, Product,
Promotion and Place.
4P’s of Marketing:

1. Product

A product is a commodity, produced or built to satisfy the need of an individual or a group.

The product can be intangible or tangible as it can be in the form of services or goods. A
product has a certain life cycle that includes the introduction, growth phase, the maturity
phase, and the decline phase.

2. Price

Price is a very important component of the marketing mix definition. The price of the
product is basically the amount that a customer pays for to enjoy it. Price is the most
critical element of a marketing plan because it dictates a company’s survival and profit.
Adjusting the price of the product, even a little bit has a big impact on the entire marketing
strategy as well as greatly affecting the sales and demand of the product in the market.
Things to keep on mind while determining the cost of the product are, the competitor’s
price, list price, customer location, discount, terms of sale, etc.

3. Place

Place refers to the point of sale. Placement or distribution is a very important part of the
marketing mix strategy. We should position and distribute our product in a place that is
easily accessible to potential buyers/customers.

4. Promotion

It is a marketing communication process that helps the company to publicize the product
and its features to the public. It is the most expensive and essential components of the
marketing mix, that helps to grab the attention of the customers and influence them to buy
the product. Most of the marketers use promotion tactics to promote their product and
reach out to the public or the target audience. The promotion might include direct
marketing, advertising, personal branding, sales promotion, etc.
3.2 Objective assessment of the Company & Industry

OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE INDUSTRY

• To understand the business process of the Automobile Industry.

• To identify the competitions in the automobile industry.

• To study about the growth of the Industry in national as well as international level.

• To study about the industries contribution to GDP.

• Promote a globally competitive automotive industry and emerge as a global source for
auto components.

• Development of domestic safety and environmental standards at par with international

standards.

OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE COMPANY

• To understand the CSR activities of company.

• To study about the marketing strategies of Force motors.

• To understand the company’s growth.

3.3 Objective assessment of literatures gathered under Marketing

Commercial vehicle maker Force Motors has said that it is still going ahead with its Rs.
1,000-crore investment which it had announced a year earlier despite general industry
slowdown. It is investing the amount across its entire value chain, including brand-building
and engineering. The three-year program covers setting up of a new engine and a gear box
plant at Pithampur and an engine technology centre in Pune which is accredited by ARAI.

Interacting with MOTORINDIA Managing Editor and Publisher R. Natarajan recently, Mr.
Prasan Firodia, Managing Director, Force Motors, disclosed: “Force Motors operating in the
light commercial vehicle and passenger carrier segments is probably the largest ambulance
maker in the country and has registered a growth of almost 12 per cent in this segment. In
passenger vehicles, we continue having a market leadership position for Traveller vehicles.
We have developed a lot of new variants in this segment which is helping us grow. Our
school buses have also started giving us good returns.”

The company’s off-road vehicle, Force Gurkha, a highly niche product, is gaining traction
and has shown good results in the current fiscal. For the past two consecutive years, Force
has significantly increased its volumes in agricultural vehicles. Its tractors, though
constituting a small segment, have registered a growth of almost 55 per cent over the last
year. In the MUV segment, its Trax vehicles have been performing quite well and are
leading the market.

Discussing the group’s engineering activities, he said a new engine plant is under
commissioning at Chennai, which will be a fully dedicated facility for BMW. “We will
assemble and test the engines at this plant. From January 2015, all BMW cars in India will
have engines assembled by Force Motors. Installations, testing and commissioning of
equipment are currently on the plant. We are very happy to have won the contract”. The
group has already been supplying all engines and axles for Mercedes Benz and some critical
components for Bharat Benz.”
3.4 Contributions by the student

Force Motors which is well known for its commercial vehicles like Tempo Travellor,
Trekker etc has made a significant entry into the SUV market in India. The company
recently launched an SUV Force One in the Indian market.

Indian SUV market is now appearing lucrative to auto majors. Indian car market is skewed
to small cars. The market is dominated by small cars. SUVs were a niche. But recent trend is
that consumers are purchasing more SUVs despite the poor infrastructure conditions and
rising fuel prices. According to news reports, 324000 SUVs were sold in India during 2010-
2011. The growth of SUVs were in fact more than the car segment.

The Indian SUV market is dominated by Mahindra with its flagship brand Scorpio. Toyota
Fortuner is the second largest brand but dominates the premium segment of the SUV
market. The market has witnessed a slew of launches from all major brands in the world.
Hence the launch of a brand in this segment is very risky and difficult. Force One has took
this challenge seriously and has done some serious homework before going for the launch.
Force Motors took a very smart step by collaborating with Mercedes Benz for the engine of
Force One. The company has already understood the benefits of tying up with a brand like
Mercedes before in the success of its Traveller. so by sourcing the most critical element of
the car from World's most respect company, Force One has almost negated the risk of
Engine complaints and the Mercedes engine will give confidence to consumers about this
newcomer's claims.

Second smart move was the design part. Indian SUV consumers like big mean machines.
Frustrated by poor roads and rash and arrogant driving of larger vehicles like trucks and
buses, most Indian consumers love to have a large vehicle to tame the arrogant truck and
bus drivers. Hence Force One deliberately designed itself to look larger and meaner.

The third and most important move was the promotion part. The brand almost shocked the
entire auto world by roping Amithabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador. The brand knew
that it is fighting with large and powerful brands like Scorpio, Fortuner, Safari etc and
needs a trump card to get even with these established brands.
The ads are very Indian and focuses on one aspect- Force. The brand has adopted the
tagline " Be The Force ". In the ad, Big B says "India mein sirf Force hi Chalta Hai " meaning
“In India only Force will work” . This message really strikes a chord with the consumers
mind since everyone has felt this at some point in his life in India.

With regard to the brand promotion, it is interesting to observe that the brand deliberately
chose not to project itself as a premium. The brand I think is targeting those consumers
who are pissed off by Indian roads. The brand is talking to the prospective sedan buyers
and telling them that only a beast will survive in Indian roads.

Force Motors is a new entrant to the passenger segment. Like its peers Tata Motors and
Mahindra, Force will also be perceived as a commercial vehicle manufacturer and the lack
of expertise in the passenger car market will be the Achilles' heel for this company. Product
Quality and quality of its after-sales service is going to be very critical in the success of this
brand. The brand has got its basics correct.
 Conclusion

Force Motors Ltd is a fully, vertically integrated automobile company, with expertise in
design, development and manufacture of the full spectrum of automotive components,
aggregates and vehicles. Its range of products includes Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV),
Multi-Utility Vehicles (MUV), Small Commercial Vehicles (SCV), Sports Utility Vehicles
(SUV) and Agricultural Tractors. Force Motors is a subsidiary of Jaya Hind Investments
Private Limited, promoter of the company, which holds 57.38% stake in the company.

Force Motors Ltd was incorporated in the year September 08th, 1958 with the name Baja
Tempo Ltd. The company was promoted by N K Firodia. Initially, the company started
production of the HANSEAT 3-Wheelers in collaboration with Vidal & Sohn Tempo Werke
Germany.

Force Motors Limited, is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, the flagship

company of the Dr. Abhay Firodia Group. From 1958 until 2005 the company was known as
Bajaj Tempo Motors, because it originated as a joint venture between Bachraj Trading Ltd.
and Germany's Tempo. The company is known for brands like the Tempo, Matador,
Minidor and Traveller. Over the last five decades it has partnered with global
manufacturers including Daimler, ZF, Bosch, and MAN.

Force Motors is India’s largest van maker. The company is completely vertically integrated,
making its own components for the entire product range.