Why rural India is Big Bike Land
Expensive motorcycles that cost ₹3 lakh and more are flying around in rural India. How did this happen?
Joseph, I think this is all about smart marketing. From a pure marketing perspective, there is Big India, and then there is Little India. Big India is really rural India that lives in 6,43,750 villages. The top end of this classification starts somewhere at the top of ‘rurban’ and rural India. These are the Tier 2, -3 and -4 towns.
Out here, prosperity is a reality that has often been overlooked. The money is definitely out here, but the way this money is spent is what is different.
Tier 2 and -3 India loves to value its money outflow with that much greater care. If the offering is something that tickles their fancy, they part with money for the best of brands and services.
In many ways, Big India is really bike country. The terrain is different, road conditions are different and the yen is to own something small, nifty, and yet imposing. The accent is in showing off the offering.
Premium bikes fit in well here. The superbike is a super-statement made by the owner. The ₹3 lakh bikes have read the market right, and upgrading from the regular bike to the irregular bike is a fetish with the rich in these towns. The idea of ownership is clear. There is the middle-class tier 2 guy who owns the regular brands, and then there is the rich Tier 2 town guy who will not be seen with the common bike. For him, the premium offering is the right fit.
The superbike is big, noisy, colourful and that’s exactly what the Tier 2 town guy wants. If he has the money, he will pick it up. And that’s exactly what he has done with the premium bike.
The purchasing power has always been there. I did a study some nine years ago, and estimated that for every one rich person in urban India with a monthly take-home of ₹3 lakh and more, there are 2.6 people of similar take-home in rural India. And this is before adjusting for taxes. If you adjust for taxes, this number goes up, as the bulk of those in rural India in this bracket are those that earn agricultural income which is tax-free. This means that the rural rich has 30 per cent more money than the urban person of similar income bracket. Touché!
Harish Bijoor is a brand strategy expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. Mail your queries to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in