Team-BHP - Cedia Spirit relaunched as cedia sports basic at Rs. 9,30,000

This only points to one thing -
some new fellow has joined in the marketing department and this must be his maiden project !!

this Basic pack will AGAIN DO NOTHING FOR THE SALES

HM - please wake up. there is so much action in the auto industry that you can't come up with a mere Momo to MMC change and expect sales to go up !!

What did the CEDIA marketing campaign do to the sales - NOTHING..

people simply have SHUT their minds as far as this car is concerned.
time to move on and launch ATLEAST the 9th gen Lancer if not the 10th

and yes a diesel engine option will help immensely

@narayan - bingo!

Best thing Mitsu can do now is to admit Cedia was a Sales dud and move on. They can just waste some more marketing money but its not gonna help them in any sales.

here's what they can do:

Spend that money to accelerate bringing in the new Lancer
Spend money on bringing in Diesel engines

There is a fundamental difference between selling a 4-seater car in the US and that in India. In US, for most part of a car's lifetime, only one out of the 4 seats will be occupied and hence the purchase decision is largely one person's decision. In India, the situation is different - most of the time two or more seats will be occupied in any car on the road. So, it is natural that any buying decision will not be a driver's call alone. 2 or more people will influence the purchase decision in most cases and every single of them will try to find something for himself/herself in the car even when he/she is not driving.

As long as you have something for every seat in a car, the sales chart will continue to rock. But if you focus too much only on the driver and keep nothing for others, you are left with a small minority of buyers - you can't expect much sales whether steering is branded or not, whether GPS is there or not.

A person who didn't buy Cedia at 9.9L, is unlikely to buy it at 9.3L even if no feature-stripping is done. It was not rejected because it was over-priced, but because someone in the family put a strong objection - google through all Cedia TD threads and this story will resonate everywhere.

The right marketing strategy would be to wow the driver and ensure that there is no objection from other three seats (or atleast the front passenger seat).

@Sabynag: I agree with you. They are marketing the Cedia as a 'Sport' trim sedan. That by itself is a very niche market. Bulk of sedan buyers are family people and like what you mentioned look for features which do good to the other 3 members in the car apart from the driver alone. Perhaps if they minimize the driver centric features and add a few passenger comfort features, it MAY sell. However, Mitsubishi as most folks know is good in making performance cars and have an amazing rally track record. Its a car for the 'young at heart'. Such cars will never sell well in India. Mitsubishi is better off bringing in their MPVs and small cars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 1730395)

Jeez, they still haven't figured out WHY the Cedia doesn't sell? Is this the solution? God help HM-Mitsubishi in India. I mean, when your 60 year old product outsells (in a 20:1 ratio) one that's 6 years old, it's got to be mayhem.

What's the reason you think lancer sell outnumbered Cedia.

It's pity to see such good cars do not sell much.

Marketing !! HM sucks at marketing !!

The car is great BUT they really need a substantial price drop for it to start selling real well.

The car needs to be noticed. Half the people do not even know what a Cedia is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by akas_chauhan (Post 1730403)

What's the reason you think lancer sell outnumbered Cedia.

It's pity to see such good cars do not sell much.

I think GTO is talking about Ambassador :)

I think that good marketing or lack of it is NOT the main reason for the success/failure of a car in India. Lancer did extremey well but I dont think they did anything different with the marketing between then and now.
If the car is good, fits the need, people are smart enough to find that out despite bad marketing. Of course, the aftersales service play a big role.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vkochar (Post 1730404)

Well , Marketing plays a secondary part. To put it in Kotler's words, Marketing is the art of understanding the needs of consumers & then projecting your product like that. But in this case, the Product is simply not upto the mark.

No offences meant to anyone/owners. Its a good car nonetheless but it is not catering to the demands of the people

Lancer sold since it was one of the best cars for the value at the time. Mitsu/HM should have better offerings for us in this highly cpmpetitive market where every manufacturer is trying to bring in their newer models.

Trying to revive a flop model is not going to help their sale/image. And this is the best time mitsu could bring in their newer gen models.

This is what i believe happened. HM made an earth chattering decision to replace the old Lancer with the current model and cannot understand why the Indian public isn't grateful and buying the car off the shelves.:Shockked: I'm sure HM management must have fired the executive(s) who took the decision to upgrade as is evident by the continued sales of the old/old Lancer. I'm sure they must be scratching their heads to figure out how Indian car buyers can opt for the latest models when they offer such classics as the Amby and the old Lancers at competitive prices(sic). Shame on you HM. Do India a favor and stop making cars, please.