Marketing Management

Marketing Management CASE STUDY (20Marks) The entry of the Korean automobile major, Daewoo Motors India Ltd. (Daewoo) in the Indian passenger car market was heralded as a milestone for the industry. This was because Daewoo was the multinational to challenge the might of the market leader Maruti Udyog Ltd. (MUL). Daewoo's first vehicle, the 1500 cc Cielo was launched in three versions (Cielo, Cielo GLX and Cielo GLE) in July Consumers who until now had no other option besides the Maruti Esteem in the midsize segment (Refer Exhibit I), rushed to buy the Cielo.

Bookings for the three models reached 114,000 in a short span of time. With the car registering high initial volumes and its plans to become a Rs 100 billion company by , Daewoo seemed all set to give MUL serious competition. However, Daewoo was in for a major shock as around 70,000 customers cancelled their bookings within a few months. Daewoo had predicted an annual turnover of over Rs 10 billion and sales of 20,000 cars by March 1996 but managed to record a turnover of Rs 6.05 billion and sales of only 9,044 cars. During April December 1996, only 13,776 Cielos were sold against the targeted 52,000.

During April 1997February 1998, 9006 Cielos were sold, a decline of 41% from the corresponding period previous year. In , 5500 Cielos were sold, a fall of nearly 50% over the previous year. The entry of competition in form of General Motors and Ford in 1996 and the general downturn in the midsize car segment added to the company's problems. Daewoo recorded a loss of Rs million in the six months ended March 1998 as sales declined to Rs 1.22 billion from Rs 2.7 billion in the corresponding period in the previous year. Daewoo was surprised to realize that its globally tried and trusted formula of providing excellent service with low prices had failed miserably in India.

Answer the following question. Q1. Give an overview of the case. Q2. Give reasons in detail for the failure of the marketing strategy of new entrant, Daewoo Motors India Ltd. (Daewoo), in the automobile market.