We have seen and heard Brands and Retailers launch a major inauguration drive for a new outlet. However, Tata Motors went for a kill and inaugurated 70 new retail outlets (read: Dealerships) last week on a single day – 3 Sep. ’21 which will be home to the “New Forever” range of passenger vehicles . The new outlets came across the five southern states of India at Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra, Kerala and Puducherry (UT). Chennai (5), Bangalore (7), Hyderabad (4) and Kochi (4) and most importantly 38 outlets upcountry – what are known as Tier 2/3 towns with a population ranging 5 lakh to 10 lakh resident population.
Inaugurating the new dealerships, Mr. Rajan Amba, Vice-President, Sales, Marketing & Customer Care, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors stated, “The Southern India contributes to 28% of the total Industry volumes and hence it is very critical for us to be strategically present in the emerging markets. With a 12.1% market share in Southern India, we are committed to our customers and want to make our New Forever range of passenger cars easily accessible. The trailblazing launch of these 70 new sales outlets, marks an important milestone in our aggressive retail expansion plans in India. This expansion will help us cater to our consumers’ requirements and tastes that are constantly evolving, with both online and offline solutions, to provide a seamless ‘phygital’ experience that is more convenient and relevant today.”
Passenger Vehicle sales of Tata Motors for Aug. ’21 grew 48% over the same month in 2020, due to an increased spend in the personal travel category, thanks to intermittent on-off lockdowns across the country and a continued self-dependence for personal mobility among commuters as public transport including Metro rails are kept off public usage to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. This is in line with the company’s FY20-21 sales growth of 69% over the previous Financial year, thanks to launch of new models including the Nexon, Harrier and the new Safari.
Auto-dealers and retailers across the country are among a distressed lot of retailers who have piled up crores worth of stocks at each outlet, due to a muted demand over the past 18 months, ever since the nation-wide lockdown which began in Mar. ’20. Thereafter, hundreds of dealer stores in 2W, 3W and 4W have permanently shut down, unable to manage the crisis that their businesses are in to. The fact that TaMo has been on an opening spree sends a very positive message to the Auto-retail network and also to the Consumer Retail business overall.
