MARKETING CASE STUDY

BY: KOTRA SUBHADRA RUCHA

ROLL NO: 20211226
BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

MAHINDRA AND MAHINDRA CASE STUDY :

Q1) Analyse the segments identified by Mahindra for utility

vehicles? What was the basis of this segmentation?
Ans : A market segment is a category of
customers who have similar likes and dislikes in
an otherwise homogeneous market. Marketers
use segmentation when deciding on target
market. Market Segmentation is the process of
separating a market into sub-groups, in which its
members share common characteristics.
The segments identified by Mahindra for Utility
vehicles segment is :
The utility vehicle market is segmented on the
basis of vehicle type, application, propulsion, and
region. Based on the mentioned vehicle type, the
market is divided into the major segments of:
1) Sports utility vehicle (SUV) – They are like
station wagon but built on a light-truck chassis
and equipped with four-wheel drive or all-wheel
drive amongst other off-road hardware. Their
primary purpose was to display superior off-road
and towing capabilities, teamed with higher
seating capacity.
2) Multi utility vehicle (MUV) – They are larger
vehicles which could tackle a wide range of
applications. They typically allowed easy
conversion between multiple combinations of
passenger and luggage capacity.
The segments were further classified into :
1)Pick ups
2)Soft tops
3)Hard tops
Analysing the behaviour of the consumers of the
segments:
1)Pick ups - The consumers of pick-ups used it for
goods transport. The buyers of these vehicles
were typically luxury car buyers and a SUV was his
second vehicle that they used as personal
 transport vehicle and for weekend leisure
activities.
2)Soft tops - Soft-top buyers generally used the
vehicle for commercial purpose. Soft tops were
rarely bought for the personal usage.
3)Hard tops - Hard tops could be further divided
into
a) Low-end hard tops - Low-end hard tops were
used for commercial purposes.
b) High-end hard tops - High-end hard tops or
sports utility vehicles could be compared to cars
with respect to luxury and driving comfort.

Q2) Can you identify any other variable for segmentation

which M&M could have used?

Ans: Segmentation means to divide the

marketplace into parts, or segments, which are
definable, accessible, actionable, and profitable
and have a growth potential. Segmentation takes
on great significance in today's cluttered
marketplace, with thousands of products, media
proliferation, ad-fatigue and general economic
problems around the world markets. Rightly
segmenting the market place can make the
difference between successes and shut down for a
company.
The other variable for segmentation which M & M
could have used include :
 Demographic.
 Psychographic.
 Geographic.
 Behavioral.

1) Demographic segmentation - Demographic

segmentation groups customers and potential
customers together by focusing on certain
traits such as age, gender, income, occupation
& family status.
Demographic segmentation here will be the
people falling under the middle income
category with family. People in this segment
are upgrading from two-wheeler to four
 wheelers and are seeking benefits of good
mileage and high value for money. Both cost
of acquisition and maintenance are important
to these consumers.
2)Psychographic segmentation - Psychographic
segmentation is the research methodology
used for studying consumers and dividing
them into groups using psychological
characteristics including personality, lifestyle,
social status, activities, interests, opinions,
and attitudes.
Psychographic segmentation here will be the
people who belong to the less price sensitive
segment. For them, aesthetics and comfort is
more important than low acquisition cost.
They prefer greater comfort, features, and
upgraded models.
3)Geographic segmentation: Geographic
segmentation involves segmenting your
audience based on the region they live or
work in. This can be done in any number of
ways: grouping customers by the country they
live in, or smaller geographical divisions, such
as state or a region.
Like, People driving in the hilly and rural
regions have a preference to travel in the
SUVs than people living in the plains. This is
because SUVs have bigger engines, traction
control, multiple terrain response system.
Since the SUVs have bigger and wider tyres,
so it will be a better option for driving in the
hilly and rural regions where the road is quite
bumpy.
Likewise, people living in the plains, prefer to
buy MUVs or the other alternatives available
within their budget range. Here, the roads are
quite developed to a certain extent and do
not have much bumpy roads. Hence, people
would not face much issues while driving. So,
the people would reconsider the other factors
as well to before buying.
4)Behavioral segmentation: Behavioral
segmentation is the process of sorting and
grouping customers based on the behaviors
they exhibit. These behaviors include the
types of products and content they consume,
and the cadence of their interactions with an
app, website, or business.
 Like, the consumers who are first-time car
buyers or even those who had experienced
the basic four-wheeler and are looking for
more features and upgrades.
Q3) What were the considerations in choosing
"comfort" segment for Xylo?
Ans: The considerations involved in choosing
"comfort" segment for Xylo are :

From the Consumer’s perspective:

 People had desired for the need of greater
comfort.
 People had desired for the need of advanced
features and upgraded models.
 For this segment of consumers, aesthetics and
comfort were more important rather than low
acquisition cost.
 Hence, the consumers are ready to pay a
premium for better comfort and quality.

From the Producer’s perspective:

 When M&M decided to focus on comfort seeking
consumer segment for Xylo, its target market was:
 Young males who are aspirational as well
as desire for comfort and space in their
cars.
 Young achievers with a balanced work
and social life.
 People who are socially active, cool,
trendy, and indulgent.
Based on above mentioned target audience and
their profile, M&M defined the value proposition
for each of its offerings and it was concluded that
Xylo was the best product which would be
positioned perfectly as cool, trendy and spacious
car as well as it would come under premium
product since here, people are willing to pay more
for a modern and advanced feature.
Q4) If the company plans to launch another brand,
which segment they should be looking at?
Ans: Mahindra & Mahindra’s bestselling models
were Bolero and Scorpio which belongs to the
category of SUV. The consumers preferring SUVs
belong to the category of upper middle class.
These consumers are basically first-time car
buyers or even those who had experienced the
basic four-wheeler and were looking for more
features and upgrades. They seek value for money
and in this term, SUVs like Bolero and Scorpio
grab the winning position. If the company plans to
launch another brand, they should aim for:
 The upper middle class, value seeking
segment who are willing to pay more for a
little increase in the features and services
offered.
 The target market should also consist of the
major chunk of audience so that even lesser
marginal profits from a consumer will lead to
the overall greater development of the
organization.
Hence, these factors should be considered
while targeting the audience which will
maximize the profits and lead to an overall
development of the company.
The utility 13% of the total market with growth
averaging at 9% over 2006-09. The UV segment
was primarily dominated by SUVS priced in the Rs.
7-11 lacs range. In line with the passenger car
segment, top three players in the UV segment
accounted for over 85% of the market, of which
two were domestic players. A sizeable part of the
UV market also catered to the people segment,
which had been one of the key growth drivers
striving on demand from the growing mover
leadership IT/ITES sector.3 Mahindra and
Mahindra dominated this segment and enjoyed a
position (exhibit 1) ▸ MAHINDRA MISSION M&M
had a vision to continue the domination of utility
vehicle (UV) market in India and be a global niche
player. The founders of Mahindra passionately
believed that Indians were second to none. They
had a dream to make M&M known worldwide for
the quality, durability, and reliability of its
products and services, and at the same time, play
an active role in the development of the nation.
They wanted to retain their domestic market
leadership with over 50% market share in the
Indian utility vehicle segment by catering to all
segments and also create their name in the global
market. ► UTILITY VEHICLE SEGMENT A utility
vehicle is designed to carry out a specific task with
more efficacy than a general-purpose vehicle.
Sports utility vehicles (SUV) were like a station
wagon but built on a light-truck chassis and
equipped with four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive
amongst other off-road hardware. Their primary
purpose was to display superior off-road and
towing capabilities, teamed with higher seating
capacity. MUVs were larger vehicles which could
tackle a wide range of applications They typically
allowed easy conversion between multiple
combinations of capacity.4 passenger and luggage
Utility vehicle segment was further divided into
"pick ups", "soft tops" and "hard tops" (exhibit 2).
The buyers of pick-ups used it for goods transport.
Soft-top buyers generally used the vehicle for
commercial purpose. Soft tops were rarely bought
for the personal us
 Utility vehicle segment was further divided into
"pick ups", "soft tops" and "hard tops" (exhibit 2).
The buyers of pick-ups used it for goods transport.
Soft-top buyers generally used the vehicle for
commercial purpose. Soft tops were rarely bought
for the personal usage. Hard tops could be fur
ther divided into "low-end hard tops" and "high-
end hard tops". Low-end hard tops were used for
commercial purposes. High-end hard tops or
sports utility vehicles could be compared to cars
with respect to luxury and driving comfort. The
buyers of these vehicles were typically luxury car
and a SUV was his second vehicle that they used
as personal transport vehicle and for weekend
leisure activities
In India, M&M was the specialist in utility vehicles. They
manufactured and marketed all kinds of utility vehicles
i.e. soft-tops, hard-tops, and sports utility vehicles. In
2003, Mahindra & Mahindra commanded a market
share of 36% in the utility vehicle market, and had
significant presence in the individual as well as
institutional segments, like the police force, armed
forces Government and large public and private sector
companies. Market share rose to 40% in 2005- 06.
Scorpio launch and marketing push given to it led to
this increase in M&M market share in the utility space.