Driver’s ed for customers

Maruti Udyog, India’s largest car manufacturer, has taken a matter-of-fact approach to broadening its customer base. Want more people to buy your cars? Teach them to drive! The Maruti Driving School was established to provide the best driving training in India. State of the art facilities include driving simulators imported from France, and there is a strong emphasis on road safety. Safety is an area of great concern to India, which has one of the highest accident rates in the world. The project was initiated after Maruti Udyog’s Indian and Japanese directors exchanged notes on the accident statistics of India and Japan, and found that although Japan has five time as many vehicles, India has 10 times as many accidents. The driving school also employs female instructors for teaching women, who make up 50-65% of the schools’ pupils. The Maruti Driving School is currently located in three cities, with another 13 to be added soon. This reminds us of what trendwatching.com wrote about brands and transformation: how offering transformation and empowerment is one level up from offering an experience. Transform potential customers, and sales will follow! What corporate courses, classes and DIY manuals can you offer your customers, if not turn into new business concepts?