Tata Motors is expected to end 2021 on a high note having resurrected itself in the Utility Vehicle (UV) segment. With new launches and a boom in the SUV market, the brand is set to secure the third position by volumes soon in the UV market. .

While the overall passenger vehicle (PV) industry witnessed a growth of 31 per cent during January-November period, the UV segment reported a whopping 62 per cent growth at 1.25 million units.

Tata Motors sold 1.52 lakh SUVs during January-November period, reporting an increase of 185 per cent vis-à-vis the same period last year.

Tata’s ‘New Forever’ range significantly improved the perception of Tata Motors’ brand over the last 18 months. The company has seen its NPS (net promoter score) grow from 25 in FY20 to 33 in Q3 FY22. (NPS is the difference between the percentage of promoters and detractors. For eg, in a brand survey targeting 100 people, if 60 promote the brand and 40 are its detractors, the NPS is +20).

“This has led to substantial improvement in consideration for Tata Motors cars and consequently an increase in overall sales. Therefore, the mix of SUVs in Tata Motors’ portfolio has increased from 37 per cent in CY20 to 52 per cent in CY21,” Shailesh Chandra, President Passenger Vehicles Business, Tata Motors, told BusinessLine .

In UVs, Tata Motors has one of the widest range of products consisting of sub-compact SUV (Punch), compact SUVs (Nexon, Nexon EV) and mid-size SUVs (Harrier and the New Safari), he added.

Full range

The Tata brand has a full range from entry-level Punch to Safari to address all price points in the UV segment. The novel design features and pleasing aesthetics in new models are being appreciated by the buyers. Also, its portfolio includes a higher number of vehicles with better safety ratings than competition. “Tata Motors’ growth in the passenger vehicle (PV) segment in recent years is driven by its niche presence with first-mover advantage, new launches, and great design language coupled with competitive prices. A lot of bells and whistles, new features, the latest powertrain, and good initial quality are also some of the key factors for Tata’s sales surge,” said Sanjeev Garg, Practice Leader-Automotive, Praxis Global Alliance.

The company’s marketing campaigns and reinvigorated dealer network have helped promote new models. Sharing of the platform has enabled the launch of multiple models from different segments under a single platform, thereby reducing the time spent in the development of new vehicles and production costs.

However, Tata Motors needs to speed up the launch of petrol engine variants of its popular SUVs, the Safari and Harrier. The gap is a true 4X4 SUV to compete with Mahindra Thar and Maruti Suzuki Jimny. But overall, good job by the carmaker to resurrect and address market needs swiftly, he added.