Country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki has come up with special schemes to lure country's government employees. The move comes at a time when major car-makers in the country are affected with poor sales numbers. The special campaign is expected to usher in a strong lot of buyers to the country's most preferred carmaker.
Mayank Pareekh, Chief operating officer for sales and marketing, Maruti Suzuki India Limited MSIL, said, “There are as many as 3.1 million central government and 8.2 million state government employees. They are insulated from uncertainties over receiving pink slips and annual increments that are faced by employees in the corporate sector. We are segmenting the market to target this customer set. For us god is in the details.”
A similar initiative was undertaken by the company back in the year 2006 and back then it went to be a success as government had announced the Sixth Pay Commission that had resulted in considerable rise in salaries for government employees. The rise in income and receiving arrears gave them an opportunity to go for their favorite car without affecting their budget. Pareekh further added, “Nearly 70% of sales registered from sarkari employees are first-time purchases. The challenge was to convince the first-time consumer to buy the car as he is apprehensive not only about ownership costs but also about maintenance hassles. We mapped how many employees are there, in which salary bracket and then determined out consumer sets department-wise. Our dealers are asked to reach out to particular sets. Besides, every month we focus on one particular department to bring in incremental numbers. Last month, we focused on doctors, next month we will have special schemes for employees in the education sector given that 5 September is teachers’ day.”
Maruti Suzuki has collaborated with banks like Axis, ICICI and HDFC Banks for processing fee waiver for interested buyers. In addition to it, Maruti shall also offer additional schemes on Alto and Wagon R hatchbacks. The schemes are expected to work successfully for Maruti Suzuki that has had a strong standing history in the local market.
Source: BS
