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| Edited By: Shrimi Choudhary |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 21, 2018, 02:41 AM IST
If you can take us through some details about the Imperio and how is it different from other products offered in the market...
Imperio stands for style, up-market, meeting the customers' unmet needs in terms of comfort, convenience for business owners. Bolero and Maxi cabs (city pick-up vehicle) fulfill the requirement of carrying higher load, whereas Imperio meets the small SMEs' and individual businessmen's requirements in terms of style quotient, cabin comfort, re-designed bumper, wider air dam, etc. What it offers is quite different as compared to other two existing products in the segment.
This the replacement of Genio. What was the failure there?
Yes, Gineo is being discontinued. We always understand the customer requirements pre and post launch of the products. Post launch of Gineo, we have got some understanding that people were not happy with the model. They were looking at our other products like Bolero and Bolero pick-ups for the same purpose. They (customer) were looking for tough looks, different stance, different size and so on and so forth. We thought that rather than tweaking the existing product, let's come out with an all-new product which will meet all these requirements.
M&M has lot of products in the segment which are doing pretty well. What was the need for launching a new product in a short span of just two months?
Being a market leader, your job is not only to be happy and be complacent with the products you have. I think as a leader, our biggest job is to try and see – How do you charter into new territory and meet the customer requirement? It is not only adding one more product into the segment but it is also a part of our overall approach where we are market leader. We consider product as one of the enablers to be successful as a brand.
But why launch a product at a time when the performance of entire sector and segment per se is inconsistent?
I am hopeful as gross domestic products (GDP) is going up, industrial production index (IIP) in last 16 months is the highest and at comfortable level. Along with that, the infrastructure which is required to be done for the 100 smart cities is the lead indicator in terms of heavy commercial vehicles showing growth followed by small commercial vehicle, which is likely to increase. So the SMEs have a bigger role to play and this product is meeting that specific segment.
The government has decided to leapfrog from BS-IV emission norms to BS-VI by 2020. Do you think it would be feasible? What will be challenges and strategy?
Industry and government will have to take on record what it takes to implement that, and I think if they both work hand-in-hand, then surely we will find a workable solution. Just by making any announcement without recognising what it takes to reach there, it would not be a fulfilling condition. In shortest possible time, we came to BS-IV, which in many countries has taken much longer time. The answer of feasibility has to come from all the stakeholders, as it is not only the manufacturers who have to meet those requirements. I am sure that if the industry, the government and various regulatory agencies sit together, nothing is impossible.
