Hyundai's Marketing Strategies in India

Analysts attributed HMIL's success to its ability to launch technologically superior products and its innovative marketing strategies.

However, they expressed concerns that the company relied heavily on Santro and any fall in demand for that model would hit the company.

It was felt that the introduction of new cars by the competitors and upgrading & price reduction of existing cars in the B segment would affect Santro's sales.

This would lead to a loss in Santro's market share. (Refer Exhibit III for the comparison of features of various models in the B segment).

For HM and PA, the GOI dictated as to what type of vehicle the two companies should manufacture. No other domestic or foreign car manufacturer was allowed to enter the Indian car industry.

The restriction on foreign collaboration led to poor technological improvements in Indian cars. As a result, car prices remained high while quality was inferior.

This affected the growth of the industry. The demand for cars in 1960 was 15,714 units and in the next two decades, this rose to 30,989 units, which meant that the Compound Annual Growth Rate (AGR) was just 3.5 per cent.