Tata drives in upgraded Sumo Grande to gain utility vehicle share

Tata Motors’ ground has been shaky for a while now in the utility vehicle (UV) market where it lost substantial share over the last year.

However, the company after taking stock of the competition and its product shortcomings has come up with an upgraded version of Sumo Grande, which is Grande Mark II, replacing Mark I.  Though upgrades are generally costlier, Mark II is cheaper by almost Rs 30,000 (Rs 6.43-7.50 lakh ex-showroom Delhi) and almost a lakh cheaper than Safari.

The vehicle which is a Bharat Stage (BS) III compliant will witness a cost increase once the BS IV norms kick in by April next year.

According to Rajiv Dube, president, passenger car unit, Tata Motors, the gap between the top variant of Grande and Safari was very narrow, leading to cannibalisation between the two brands. “By reducing the price of the upgraded version we will create a distance between the two brands and also create a balance as the Sumo customers were moving towards Safari,” Dube said.

With this vehicle, Tata Motors will join the league of Toyota and Mahindra & Mahindra, which offer a UV with a look of a sports utility vehicle and comfort of a sedan.
The UV market has undergone a transformation in India from tough offroaders to soft roaders, with Toyota Innova introducing the shift.

M&M’s Xylo changed the game by not only accelerating the change, but also taking away a large chunk of the market share from the existing players. The worst hit have been Tata Motors’ Sumo Victa and Sumo Grande (Mark I).

Today, UVs constitute about 17% of the total passenger car market and according to Pawan Goenka, president (automotive), M&M, this share will rise as the UVs become more affordable (matching the price range of a C-segment sedan) and comfortable with sedan like interiors.

The market is soon adapting to the shift of constantly improving soft roading, making the
competition tougher to keep pace with.

Tata Motors UV market share declined to 12.91% in April-November as compared with 18.5% in the same period of the corresponding year.

Tata Motors expects to sell up to 4,000 units a month with the new launch. “Currently in the UV category the company is selling about 2,500-3,000 units. We hope to increase that by 1,000 vehicles a month and boost our market share which has declined,” Dube said.