Page 290 - International Marketing

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292 International Marketing BRILLIANT’S

Questions:
1. What are the major considerations a firm should have in mind while
deciding its markets entry strategy?
2. To what extent direct control and ownership are critical for Smart Kids
export distribution strategy?
3. What factors might have influenced the Smart Kids decision to enter
the markets as given in the case study?
4. What should be its future expansion strategy in terms of new export
markets?

6. MARKET ENTRY STRATEGY OF HYUNDAI
"Hyundai Motors is on a roll. From being an unheard of Korean firm with a
name that most Indians could not pronounce, Hyundai has today emerged as
the second largest car market in India. Hyundai Motor India president B.V.R.
Subbu spoke about the distance travelled and the road ahead:
From a completely unknown brand to seven lakh cars in 70 months. How
do you explain Hyundai's success in India?
Our success is mainly because of the fact that we introduced global
technology and quality standards in India. Also, we brought in the best prac-
tices in customers service. If you look at the way dealerships operated before
Hyundai and after we came in, there has been a sea change. I believe that we
have catalysed that change and much of the growth was because of that.
How difficult was it to establish Hyundai and Santro as brands in India?
When we look back, difficulty seems like an understatement. I think this
company understood the consumer better than most. As an entry strategy,
getting customers to look at us through the eyes of our brand ambassador
Shahrukh Khan gave us the initial access.
We backed it with total customer support and a highly spread-out dealer
network. Besides, the large investments in India and indegination of the cars
helped us establish the brand.
How far do you think the financial mismanagement and poor initial prod-
uct quality of other entrants around that time helped Hyundai?
I don't agree with that. Much of our growth came because of our invest-
ment in technology. If you look back, we were the only manufacturers who got
a Euro-II vehicle from the very beginning.
We have had established manufacturers saying that direct fuel injection
was not a suitable technology for India. But slowly, even those manufacturers
have taken to direct fuel injections.