Tata to follow dealership model in north

Tata Motors will continue with the dealership model to sell its vehicles in the northern region, unlike in some southern cities where it has its company-owned retail network under the Concorde Motors banner.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, Concorde Motors operates showrooms and service centres in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Earlier, such company-owned retail outlets were present in Delhi, Lucknow and some other northern cities. They were eventually closed down as the Tatas spread its dealership network.

"The dealership model in the north is doing just fine and we have no plans to go for company-owned retail chains," Tata Motors Regional Manager (northern region) Jalaj Gupta told Business Standard.

Gupta was here to launch the refurbished Tata Sumo in the new avatar of Grande.

Tata Motors has a market share of almost 19 per cent in the highly competitive sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment in the country, which is topped by Mahindra and Mahindra with its flagship Scorpio.

"In the northern region, we have a better market share of over 21 per cent," he said.

Gupta said with Grande the company was aiming to fill the gap between its best selling SUVs Safari and Sumo Victa with Sumo Grande, which has been positioned as an SUV with the feel of a car. The company is targeting the urban segment with Grande.

"We are aiming to improve upon our market share with Grande and are hopeful to corner a better pie of the burgeoning SUV segment," Gupta added.

The company also has aggressive branding plans for the new vehicle, which would cover both print and electronic media to reach out to prospective customers.

Available in seven colours, Grande has been launched in three variants with the base model priced at Rs 6,58,000 (ex-showroom) in Lucknow, while the top-end model carries a price tag of Rs 7,52,000.