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Originally Posted by wilful [url]
I think tho', that the guy's speculative pricing is a bit wishful (to put it mildly). ![Big Grin](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.png) |
Absolutely right. Wishful thinking indeed! I don't think this wish will come true even in some crazy "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' fuelled dream. The speculative pricing in that article, is probably what it will command, if at all it gets launched, only in the 3rd Hand market, let alone the second hand one!
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Originally Posted by Vikram Arya JLook at that front lip, no one in their right mind would dare take it to a mildly serious off road trail. Renegade was launched here in North America in March 2015 & I have yet to see a single one on the road and I live in Jeep country; there are 6 on my lane.
Okay that’s a little too much criticism, suffice to say it is a SUV that has more than reasonable off roading capabilities as long as customers don’t expect it to deliver Wrangler’s performance.
Yes it could have acted as a good alternative for those people who want to look beyond the cute utes.
The entry level Jeep Renegade is priced at US$20,000 with a fully load Trail Hawk addition at just over $27,000.
a fully loaded Mustang GT costs a shade over US$42,000 once dust settles. Ford has decided to price it in India at 65 lacs,
Would FCA seriously try to position Renegade as a premium 4X4 when they already have their flagship the Wrangler out front; I think not. My guess is they will offer Sahara Unlimited edition of the Wrangler that tops out at US$43,000
Wrangler is coming into a segment where there is no competition (I don’t consider Fortuner, Endeavor or the Trail Blazer as competitors as they are in different segment altogether) it is a 4X4 that has the most street cred anywhere in the world, it has cult following in India among off road enthusiasts as well as other well-heeled wannabe posers; can Jeep Wrangler be priced at 65 lacs; I don’t think so.
FCA would do well to price Wrangler at 45 to 50 lacs range & Renegade by positioning it as poor man’s Wrangler & price it at let’s say between 25 to 29 lacs.
As for your very valid question as to why should these utilitarian vehicles that are driven by common folks everywhere be priced at these stupid levels, I think the sales numbers of premium segment in India has given this (over) confidence to manufacturers that they can price their so called premium offerings
They lose sight of the fact that it is the true enthusiast that actually made these brands so aspirational and it is because of them that these brands are where they are today. It is indeed a pity that a large majority of enthusiasts barring a few would not have access to these vehicles & you will see these Jeeps parked at clubs, five start hotels & malls, that’s where these belong, right?
At the end of the day FCA will treat these vehicles, Grand Cherokee, Wrangler & Renegade (if it makes it at all) as cash cows as none of their other offerings have worked in India to the extent that could have made their Indian operations profitable. They will milk them to the max because FCA India’s balance sheet is awash in red.
The proverbial question is whether the cash generated by these premium vehicles be enough to offset the cumulative losses incurred over the years. .is unlikely to change any time soon. |
Such a first class post Vikram. So well articulated.
And absolutely my sentiments exactly.
Yes the Renegade is NOT a True Off Roader. It IS most definitely a cutie with a bit of dirt on and a bit of off road cred. In India it will be an alternative to the CRV, Yeti and the likes of those. The Renegade has a thick frontal LIP, with a longer overhang, which straightaway will impact its break over angles and probably scrape those steep slopes and things. The little Yeti on the other hand is quite neat and has almost no LIP or overhang, but while it has a clever 4x4 system, it is at best, to be used for snow, ice and slush etc, certainly not for river fording and rock climbing as seen in the movie "Hatari"!
America most certainly is Jeep country and full of those original outdoor enthusiasts who made Jeep what it is. Such people are relatively few and far between in India and anyway the median income in India is nowhere near that of the US. Nor is the availability of used Jeeps and suchlike, which are in top condition and accessible to more people, so common as it would be out there in the US. Same goes for the equipment available, the actual trails and the other "organised" facilities which make Trail riding a joy in the US. In India this is still an "Elite" pastime. Normal people have to go to work in their fields and toil and dig the soil, both physical and digital.
Yes, the Wrangler has immense 4x4 Cred. Its natural competitors here in India are none. Barring the Mahindra Thar which is quite literally the poor man's Wrangler.
But the pricing game here owes a lot to the Duties and Taxes. That kills everyone completely. And sows salt on the foundations too, as in Carthage!
Now who on earth, barring a few posers, would buy the Mustang at 65 lacs? The same fellows who probably bought the Nissan 370Z at its ridiculous price of 60 lacs. And the same characters are the ones who will go and buy the Jeep Wrangler at a similar price. These vehicles will never go off road.
They will remain like those innumerable Land Rover Defenders sitting about Sloane Street in London - which earned them the un-enviable euphemism of "Chelsea Tractor". These same buyers can be likened to those who will insist on wearing their (artistically muddied) Tweeds and Wellies and carrying their "Grouse Shootin' paraphernalia with them to their offices on Monday - poseurs who simply have to prove that they've got themselves an alternative "Country Lifestyle" when they are actually mere slaves to the lucre fuelled "Digital Revolution" going on in the Cities!
And yes again to your statement that these big prices are an attempt to claw their company back in to Black from the sea of Red that they've been floundering about in, these last several years. Saying that, the volumes that they are likely to achieve with these prices, will definitely not help them in this task either.
It would certainly be more sensible for them to price themselves a Tad more aggressively and invite a whole new bunch of people onto the Brand platform, build long term Brand loyalty and cred, with those who matter, and slowly, over time, build a Brand Tradition, from "Father" to "Son" like the Mahindra's did, quite by accident or possibly because there was a complete monopoly brought on by the protectionist economy of the time! (At least in cases like mine, Mahindra was the sum of everything UTE and off road - right from my early childhood in the Tea Estates to my early 40's in the City!)
However, typical of the short sightedness of all manufacturers everywhere, they will come in here with a bang. They will price everything high and pump in some big time steroids by way of marketing and events and expect this to sustain the Brand and create a cash cow at a way faster rate of acceleration than normal.
Sadly, the world does not always move because of inordinate inorganic pressure except when the price is perceived as "right", by the "target consumer". This fact is amply demonstrated by the rise rise rise and then dip, in E Commerce in India.
This is a complex, price sensitive market, and there are absolutely no shortcuts - that is, if one wants to get to the real meat in the Pyramid - if not the bottom of the Pyramid, at least to the middle where some volumes are sitting!
For the moment, however, as regards ownership in India of a real Jeep like a Wrangler Unlimited TrailHawk or Renegade Top Spec TrailHawk version, I shall continue to dream and as Edmond Dantes was forced to do in the Chateau D'If in Alexandre Dumas's visceral novel The Count of Monte Cristo, I shall "Wait and Hope". "Wait and Hope"!
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