Car Majors Make a Big Splash to Boost Sales

Maruti, Hyundai, Honda Siel splurge on campaigns and advertisements to attract customers

CHANCHAL PAL CHAUHAN & RATNA BHUSHAN
NEW DELHI

Hit byslowdown in sales over the past two months due to rising fuel prices and interest rates, carmakers have stepped on the gas by splurging on advertising and below-the-line activities to lure back consumers. While Maruti Suzuki lined up . 15-20 crore on campaigns and promotions in May and June — besides rolling out at least four campaigns costing . 4-6 crore each — the South Korean carmaker, Hyundai, increased its marketing budget. Honda Siel, a joint venture between Japan’s Honda Motor and Siel India, too is banking on cheaper auto loans through its dealers.
“As market leader, we have to restart the sales momentum. So we have put together a fairly large budget this time,” said Shashank Srivastava, chief general manager, marketing, at Maruti Suzuki. While over the last two years Maruti focused on strategic brand building during summers, it has now moved to tactical advertising hoping to bring back sales, added Srivastava. Sales growth had come down to 7% in May, the lowest in the past two years, prompting carmakers to look at diverse marketing options and innovating packages to counter falling demand, which is likely to continue during the monsoon months.
India’s largest carmakers’ strategy to increase footfall at its dealerships and service centres include campaigns for its small-sized Alto and sedan SX4, both of which are pegged at . 4-5 crore each. While the Alto campaign was kick-started in the first week of June and would run for about four weeks, a campaign was launched in late last month for SX4. A 'low cost of ownership' campaign was launched during the same time, which talked about resale value, low running and maintenance costs, and fuel efficiency of Maruti cars.
    The carmaker also organised mileage rallies for Alto and WagonR, and provided accessories of its car models, which it says has helped in doubling enquiry levels at its showrooms and service camps. Hyundai too increased its marketing budget to combat falling sales.
“We have had cracking three months of cricket frenzy with huge spends on ICC World Cup and the IPL that kept our brand on the top. Continuing the momentum, we are looking at aggressive add campaigns in June and coming months, besides offering higher discounts,” said Arvind Saxena, director (marketing & sales), Hyundai Motor India. “We have also offered a fixed monetary package to customers buying petrol cars to cushion a rise in the price of petrol,” he Saxena.
Honda Siel Cars is targeting a higher participation by the customers after it discounted the interest rates on loans for its popular City and Jazz cars. “There has been a higher demand for diesel cars. So our dealers are offering auto loans at 6.99% rate to attract more customers,” said Jnaneshwar Sen, senior VP, Honda Siel Cars. Ford Motors will launch a multimedia campaign for its new Fiesta sedan, which may hit themarket insecond halfof this year.