A Comparative study of Brand Equity

V/S

By : Section B

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Oscar Rebello Pankaj Singh Parihar Soumendra Mahapatra Amogh Deo Sirin Sam

Parameters Global Market Revenue Profit (EBIT) Unit Sales Position in China Position in the US

BMW 69billion Euros 7.3 billion Euros 1.67 million 2 1

Mercedes Benz 57.4 billion Euros 4.6 billion Euros 1.26million 3 2

India Market Unit Sales Top Selling Model Cheapest Model 9371 X1 34 BMW X1Drive 18i 23.7kakh Rupees BMW 760Li 1.31crore Rupees 7430 C class C -class 200 Classic 26 lakh rupees

Most Expensive Model

S class 600 Pullman Guard at 6 crore Rupees upwards 60 Dealers in 25 cities

Reach

25 dealers in 18 cities

BMW
Brand positioning: The luxury car brand targets younger customers. Often self-driven, it lays thrust on speed and emphasises on driving as pleasure. Its advertising campaigns often show the car being driven around. Its tagline is "joy forever".

India Strategy: BMW is aggressive and fast, and its Indian journey proves that. Within four years of its launch, the company unseated Mercedes to become the top-selling luxury car in India, its market share has moved up from 9% in 2006 to 42% in 2011. Appealing to the younger buyers (average age of a BMW buyer is 40 years), it has introduced a varying product range at different price levels, starting with its cheapest model X1 available at Rs 23.7 lakh. It will further strengthen its portfolio by bringing in its MINI range, a new 3 Series and the new M5 sometime soon. On the back of all this, the country head Andreas Schaff is hoping to make India among the top 10 countries for BMW globally in the next 10 years. At its Chennai plant, BMW assembles 3, 5 series and X1 while others like X3, X5 are imported as a fully built unit. But with growing sales, it may set up its second plant by 2015. It might also scale up its manufacturing facility from just complete knock-down (CKD) kits. Their local component sourcing,

currently low, will rise. Already, they have a global sourcing team here to cater to their global needs and have identified 20 vendors so far. This number should go up in future. Its marketing strategy has largely been to create touch points like professional golf tournaments, wine tasting sessions and events with fashion designers. Last year they organised an Xperience Drive in Gurgaon which brought in international trainers with a live performance by the Australian Raw BANG. A test course, with 10 obstacles, was especially designed to bring out X range's special features. BMW is growing its dealer network and hopes to touch the 60 mark by 2015. With 80% of its cars being financed by its own financial services arm, BMW financing is a brisk business. Its recently launched used-car business BMW Premium Selection will soon be available across all its dealerships.

Mercedes Benz
Brand positioning: A symbol of power. The ultimate car for those who have arrived and is almost always chauffeur driven. The brand symbolises social status with the tagline "The best or nothing". India Strategy: This is the oldest and the best luxury car India has known. It set up India operations in 1994 and has the best infrastructure among the three in terms of dealer reach and domestic component sourcing which stands at around 34%. But the leader has been on the backfoot ever since younger and peppier BMW unseated it in 2009. Mercedes is now reorienting its India strategy to target the youth. The company is working on its model line-ups, marketing and brand positioning to keep them aligned. For example, the luxury brand is now increasingly emphasising on performance and sportiness of its brand in India. It is now closely associated with F1 in India. Further, the company has brought in performance cars from its AMG stable to appeal to young Indian buyers. It is planning to invest Rs 350 crore as part of its strategy to introduce new small and compact cars in India by 2015. The company is expected to bring in its B-class, front-wheel-drive small family car sometime around the festival season (October-November) this year. Currently Mercedes' cheapest car is the C-Class. With B-Class hatchbacks, it will lower the entry threshold. The B-Class hatch, owing to its styling and agile contours will be positioned as sports tourer. During the next few years, Mercedes-Benz has planned the introduction of most of its 10 new global cars in India, and for this it is considering assembly of its SUVs ML, GL and GLC-Class here. The company has recognised the need for more compact cars in countries like India and China and assembling them in local markets is considered beneficial. With better localisation of content, they will have a pricing edge over others. On the back of all this, as Indian luxury car market expands, the company is hoping to sell around 55,000-60,000 cars (from current 7,430) by 2020. This is part of the bigger plan for Mercedes to regain its top slot in India.

Perceptual Maps showing a comparative analysis between Mercedes and BMW (based on customer outlook). Number of Respondents: 10 Parameter: 1) Price Range v/s Luxury :

2) Price Range v/s Service level Networks :