Study of competitive strategy of various tractor companies and their sales performance with special reference to Gujarat state

Abstract

Indian tractor Industry. lately. has been experiencing more or less stagnant sales of around 85000 tractors per annum. Thou there are fifteen tractor manufacturers in the country. the mark is dominated by seven manufactuters accounting for more than 95%of the share. NO singlefirm dominates and the competition is high in this capital intensive industry operating in an olfgopolistic market. In the kind of environment in which tractor manufacturers are operating. the choice of positioning their product has been mainly along two factors - pricing and H.P. rating. This positioning has been related to the choice of technology. The other strategic choices include policies creating demand pull or dealer push concentration on certain geographical segments. leve of service to the customers etc. The competitive strategy adopted by various tractor companies has been evaluated on the basis of Michael Porter's framework. The strategic I;!iositioning and sales performance of the companies has been compared. A separate chapter analyzes performance of various tractor companies in Gujarat with special focus on M & M and TAPE. the two main competitors in the state. A set of recommendations has been given so that M & M can increa its share in Gujarat market. The methodology adopted was depth interview of various tractor company officials and analysis through the help of secondary data. A few dealers were also contacted to obtain their point of view.