Designing Brand “Nano” – a car for the Indian Consumer: An Ethnoconsumerist Perspective

In general, automobiles are mostly designed in highly industrialized and developed economies although manufacturing plants exist all over the world. Automobiles are complex technologies and it has not been possible for less advanced countries to design their own versions of an automobile although they have manufacturing facilities for some premier brands. This is bound to change in the future as these countries catch up on auto design. It is in this context that we present research ideas and design considerations concerning Nano – which is billed as a people’s car for the Indian market – totally designed and manufactured in India (Chacko, Noronha and Aggarwal 2010).

The data for this study were gathered primarily from research publications, and public sources and press clippings. In addition, inputs were received from a designer with intimate knowledge of Nano.

We use an ethnoconsumerist approach to this study. Ethnoconsumerism is a methodology for doing cross-cultural research (Venkatesh 1995, Meamber and Venkatesh 2000). It encourages the researcher to study culture not merely as providing the context for the study of consumer behavior but to study consumption itself as culturally constituted behavior. In principle, the ethnoconsumerist perspective goes beyond the distinction of emic and etic research approaches. The etic approach encourages the researcher to interpret phenomena from her/his point of view. On the other hand, the emic approach directs the researcher to examine the same phenomena from the subject’s point of view. Ethnoconsumerism advocates the next critical step, which is to then develop knowledge from the overall culture’s point of view. Thus the research incorporates a view of the culture informed by the culture itself as demonstrated by its text view and field view (Meamber and Venkatesh 2000). In this paper, we look at the design of Nano from the Indian cultural standpoint.

We examine the Nano playing field from macro to micro, from historical to contemporary, from luxury to necessity, from expensive to affordable, from a two-wheeler to four-wheeler social transformation, and from the point of view of Indian value system.

Background

Tata Motors: Manufacturers of Nano

Tata motors is a family of pioneering industrialists whose origins can be traced to the mid-to-late 19^th century beginning with shipping interests under the British colonial system followed by a more than a century of major investments into steel plants, commercial vehicles and consumer products (Mukherjee 2009). It is considered a mega economic empire. Tatas are also local representatives of Mercedes, a German auto manufacturer, and Tata Mercedes is a large manufacturing company of commercial vehicles under German collaboration. Tatas are known for their philanthropy, and are founders of world class educational and advanced scientific institutes. They are one of the most trusted if not the most trusted conglomerate in India and their reputation is legendary. Thus Nano’s initial reputation as a trusted brand would remain intact.

Tata Motors announced the commercial launch of the Nano in 2008, the low-cost compact model powered by a 2-cylinder engine (see Figure 1 above). It was introduced into the local Indian market from June of 2009 (Kurczewski, 2009), and as shown in Figure 2, personally presented to the first buyer family by the CEO of Tata Motors.

With a length of just 10 feet, width and height of about 5 feet, the Tata Nano has the smallest exterior footprint for a car in India. Nano is 20% smaller than the cheapest car on the Indian roads right now, the Maruti Suzuki 800. It nevertheless offers a spacious passenger compartment which can seat four adults and offers a high seating position. Its small size coupled with a turning radius of just 4 meters, makes it extremely maneuverable.

Tata motors planned to make 250,000 initially and expected eventually to sell 1 million annually (The Hindu 2009). The Indian auto market is very vibrant, as economic growth lifts incomes and wealth in the country. Ford, Nissan, Fiat, Suzuki, Renault were all planning to increase production in the Nano space over the next few years. Indian economy is expected to market 10 million additional cars on Indian roads in five years.

Nano is designed and being marketed as a first car for the working middle class although it is conceivable it may be purchased by higher income groups as a second or third car in the family. It is targeted toward the consumers who own two-wheelers and expect to buy an automobile. The two-wheeler industry in India has grown rapidly in the country since the announcement of the process of economic liberalization in 1991.

In general, the traffic conditions in Indian city roads can be crowded and may appear a bit chaotic. With so many different vehicles using the same roads, from big trucks, to passenger buses, to luxury automobiles to two wheelers, the traffic congestion is a more a rule than an exception ( Figure 3).