Maruti's Competitive Moves against Tata Small Car

I am pleased to receive some erudite comments from one of the readers. For the benefit of all, I am giving below the comments:-

Some one told me tatas venture is nt going to b successful as
1 lac car is nt viable.. even MARUTI claimed it.. as the auto components part are a bit expensive..

y you said so that car is good for ladies nd girls.. even ladies nd girls
look for expensive cars these days..

Tata's venture will always be criticized by Maruti as for Maruti it is going to be a big forthcoming competition. They will take every step to thwart the success of Tata's small car.

Tata's are working in an unconventional manner by bringing a car around 1.0 lac rupees. To break the cost barriers, it require a real "Green Hat Thinking". They may not be successful immediately. However over a couple of years they will be able to sort out the problems (technical mainly) of the small car and then this car will be loved by everyone.

I remember once reading an interview of Mr. R.C.Bhargava (MD of Maruti). This was published in The Business Week in 1994 (when I was preparing for MBA enterance). He was asked by the interviewer what is the biggest threat to Maruti Suzuki. Mr Bhargava said it is Tata.

I was not able to digest his statement as in 1994, Tata was mainly in to Commercial Vehicles. But after 4 years in 1998, I realized the significance of his statement, when Tata introduced Indica.

Tata's have legacy of launching products which are rarely successful immediately (ACE is an exception). But after 2-3 years of struggle, they tweak their product and then it catches the market expectations. Alternatively we can say that PLC (Product Life Cycle) behaves like this only. At introduction stage, the growth is slow and then it catches with market expectations getting met.

Regarding the target segment of Tata's, I don't have any gender bias. Girls & Ladies also will go for expensive vehicles. However, since theirs will be second or third car in the family, men will compromise on their vehicle cost (sounds selfish on their part, but this is how Indian families behave).