VW Polo Product Evaluation Final

8/3/2019 VW Polo Product Evaluation Final

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A Product Evaluation

Volkswagen

Polo


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Introduction From December 12, 2009 the new Pune plant has

started rolling-out the hatchback version of theVolkswagen Polo. The Made-in-India Polo waspresented to the general public for the very first time atthe Auto Expo 2009 Delhi in January.

The launch of this premium hatchback in March 2010,

brought access to one of the Indian passenger carsegments with the highest-volume unit sales of 18640up to December 2010.

VW Polo has received several awards such as What A

Car! Award 2010, European COTY 2009, World COTY

2010, CNBC Overdrive, NDTV Car & Bike Award,Business Standard Motoring Award.

The VW Polo has placed itself in the market with an aimto target young achievers as well as budget-minded

buyers in the compact car/ lifestyle segment. The carwas priced at Rs. 4.8 lakhs to 7.5 lakhs for 1.2L petrol &


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IMC Perspective -

Marketing Strategy Volkswagen follows a top-downstrategy of bringing its cars to India. Kurt Rippholzsaid,"As part of this strategy, we first brought theThaeton and Touareg, followed by Passat inSeptember 2007, which is a segment below thesetwo. Jetta was launched in July 2008, a segmentbelow the Passat. Now we're launching the Beetle ,which is in the same segment as the Jetta but will bepositioned as a lifestyle car.

Volkswagen hopes to increase its sales in 2010with the to-be-launched Polo hatchback and anupper-premium sedan variant. will be rolled out fromthe Chakan plant. The production of polo hatchback

and the new premium sedan will be flexiblede endin u on the demand."


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Brand Development

During the research we observed thatVolkswagen group has invested extensively inactivities targeting brand development, thusdeserving a mention. The activities are asfollows :-

13 advertisements on12 pages TOI out of 22had VW ads on the day VW-Polo waslaunched, addressed as roadblocking activity inthe media circles & opinionated media persons

say that 1st Polo Cup held on 30th May 2010 in Pune, a

3-day event had 1100 registrations followed by5 races in Chennai & Coimbatore. An activity

supported with an official websitewww. olocu .in. Followin similar format of 6
http://www.polocup.in/http://www.polocup.in/


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The company in our opinion has hit the sweetspot with its timing of the launch as SIAMreported a growth of 32% in car sales

to145000 units In Jan 2010. "This is thehighest ever sales by the auto industry andhas come on the back of economic growth,reduced interest rates and better moneysupply in the system," Dilip Chenoy, director

general, SIAM said. But, all credit can begiven to VWs executive and strategiccompetence.

The company has continued aggressivelytargeting the Indian market share andcapitalizing on the success of Polo bystrategically timing the launch of its 1.6L Polovariant and following it up by an upper-premium sedan Vento. The VW group isaiming to grab 8-10% of the market share inthe small car segment.


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Conclusion

VWs ongoing & exhaustive Brand

Development re-enforces a High PerceivedValue in the Consumers Mind.

Thus, ensuring a successful Product Launchwith a modest Product IMC.


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IMC Tools Employed


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Brand Image- A specialmention.

Having started production in India VW

has been aggressively drilling hard, inthe mind of the average indian, themessage of the german quality and

technology and Indian make. Byconstantly promoting their crisp & cleartag line German engineering. Made in

India. Making it amply clear that it isaimed also at the budget minded buyerwho is not as aware about brand VW asan above average auto enthusiast. Thetar et bu er of the VW Polo.


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Advertising The TVC used by VW has taken a unique approach a

campaign designed by the agency DDB Mudra. The Polo target segment as well as most Indians

believe strongly in buying those product which seem todeliver value for money. Thus, along with the carsperformance, due to the high competition levels this

market segment has become equally feature driven,some may take the liberty of calling it feature obsessed,too.

VW ads have exactly addressed that in a simple andhumorous way that can easily strike a chord with theIndian buyer. They have created 4 Ads, each

addressing a different feature viz., fuel efficiency, safetytoughness, ground clearance & road handling.

The creative idea of the ad is weve done the testing,so you dont have to, enrolling the consumer intomaking a buying decision even before they have visitedthe showroom.

The ad has been well received by the average indian


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Advertising


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Print Ads

The VW used the Times Of Indianewspaper media to publish print adsextensively.

As mentioned earlier the VW DAS Auto

engaged in a roadblock activityincorporated the launch and publicitymessage for the VW Polo.

The print ad again is a simple and

visually pleasing ad using lush greenenvironment as the background thatdrives the feature driven message clearlyas well as including the VW tagline,German Engineering. Made In India.


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Publicity or Public Relations(PR) The PR activity comprised publicity through the

official VW websitewww.volkswagen.co.in thatprovides all the information about the companyand its product. They have a sleek e-brochurethat gives you all the product specific information.

The website has also established associationwith social networking websites such asfacebook & twitter.

They also used the Car Racing concept as alaunching pad for VW Polo. The motor racing

rally is called Polo Cup India which is carried outin association with the JK tyre NationalChampionship. They have entered into apartnership with the Sports channel Neo SportsBroadcast Pvt. Ltd for the Live telecast of the

Polo Cup India 2010.
http://www.volkswagen.co.in/http://www.volkswagen.co.in/


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Conclusion

The Volkswagen Polo has beensuccessfully launched with anintention of not just launching the

product Polo but also creating afoundation for the brand Volkswagen.


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Thank You.

Documents

VW Polo Product Evaluation Final