34206783 Consumer Buying Behaviour MBA
Content
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
TOPIC: “Retail Coverage”
The report is an earnest endeavor made to understand the present market scenario of FMCG
in Shimla region and simultaneously ascertain visibility and availability of ITC products. I
was required to conduct a market study to see the coverage by ITC products and bring out
the potential and loyal retailers so that the company could maintain the market leadership in
the existing business scenario in the FMCG market.
During the course of study I visited around 200 retail stores and conducted personal
interviews with the retailers to find out major competitors of ITC. I also used observation
technique to ascertain penetration of the ITC products and the market potential for the new
products. Also interviews were conducted to determine major competitors in FMCG.
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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objective of the summer training is to ensure that I as a management student develop in
real life experience for handling the specific project and also to develop all understanding of
the various management activities related to the area of my specialization. This training
gives us a substantial corporate exposure and also serves as a useful tool of interaction with
the corporate sector.
The project has been derived from the field of Marketing and is entitled as “Retail coverage
of ITC’s products”.
The main objective of the study is:
To know the retail coverage of ITC products.
Identify the major competitor of ITC FMCG products in the
market.
To check the competitor’s market strategies.
Estimate market potential for ITC FMCG products.
2
PREAFACE
Today almost all the major co-operation is actively marketing their
product beyond their original homeland borders. So, companies must rethink
their marketing strategies instead of continuing with their existing strategy.
Today company work in a war zone of rapidly changing competitive
environment technological advances, changing govt. politics diminishing
customer loyalty and so on.
Now a day world of stiff competition, the companies with existing
marketing strategies need to be changed in a manner so as to cope up with its
rapidly changing competitive environment, technical up gradation, varying
govt. policies, rules and regulation during customer loyalty etc. in the last few
years the information need to conduct a business has grown rapidly.
So, in this context, the Maruti Suzuki is also facing a stiff competition in
the market from its competitors and for this the company is gearing up
themselves to face the competition and conduct a good business taking
successful business decision for more accuracy and timeliness.
As the part of the partial fulfillment of the MBA course a project has been
incorporated in the curriculum during which a study to be under taken in an
organization mainly to take out the newly acquired knowledge and skill from an
actual work situation and take book and classroom teaching give us through
back ground of different functional area devoid of practical experience to how
those area to be administered and managed respectively. This report has given
up an opportunity to gain an inside into a practical applicability of management
concept and theory, learning faster and developed better ability to analysis
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problems and in decision that contribute significantly for better use of resource
available to the management.
With this view to understand the concept, I have undertaken a project
study in Maruti Suzuki, which has equipped me to prepare a report with a
proper solution of the problem face by the organization.
This area of work has chosen by me as this had all the ingredient of
marketing research and other aspect of marketing as well the report offer a
Glimpse of various stage at project work in order to serve purpose of the study
in systematic manner and hope that the findings and recommendation will go
along way in helping in organization.
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Table Contents
Executive Summary:
(i)
Page No.
Introduction
4
(ii) Aims & objective
5
(iii) Methodology
6
(iv) Analysis
6-7
(v) Conclusions
7-8
(vi) Recommendations
8-9
Part : I
An Overview of the Company
(i)
Introduction
11 - 27
(ii) History of the Organisation and products
28 - 47
(iii) Special future
48 - 58
(v) Competitors details
59- 63
Part : II
Project Overview
(i)
Introduction
65 - 77
(ii) Objective
78 - 80
(iii) Methodology
81 - 83
(iv) Analysis
84 - 105
(v) Conclusions
106 - 107
(vi) Limitations
108
(vii) Recommendations
109 - 110
Part : III
(i)
Bibliography
111
(ii) Questionnaire
112 - 116
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(i)
Introduction
Topic
Study on consumer behavior of car with special reference to Maruti Suzuki in
Tezpur.
Organization
Isum Motors Pvt Ltd.
Authorized Dealer, Maruti Suzuki.
Location Of Study
Tezpur
Institutional Guide
Anjan Baruah
Faculty member, Third eye College.
Organizational Guide
Amitab Dey
Sales Officer Isum Motors Pvt Ltd.
Duration
2 Months
6
(ii) Aims and Objectives
Primary :
To make a study on consumer buying behavior of car with special
reference to Maruti Suzuki in Tezpur area.
Secondary :
1. To study their satisfaction level of customers of different cars available in
Tezpur.
2. To study the importance of various attribute which effect the purchasing
decision of customers in regard of cars.
3. To study the awareness level of different cars in Tezpur.
4. To study the importance of dealer and their influence in marketing/sale
for cars in Tezpur.
5. To study consumers buying behaviours.
6. To find out the expectation of the existing possessing and prospective
customers of the company.
7. To study the impact of media on the customers.
8. To study the satisfaction level of the customers on overall performance
and after sale service of their existing cars.
9. To study different promotional scheme they expect for purchasing a new
car.
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(iii)
Methodology
(i)
Preliminary study.
(ii)
Data collection
(iii)
Questionnaire Design.
(iv)
Sample size
(v)
Analysis
(vi)
Scope and Limitation.
(iv)
Analysis
The project was undertaken to study the consumer buying behavior of
motor car with special reference to Maruti Suzuki in Tezpur.
Major findings are: 1. Demographic profile i.e. Age, Occupation and monthly income of the
customer.
2. Regarding the awareness of different brands of motor cars all
respondents are well aware.
3. According to the most of the respondent the T.V. ads was the best
media in building awareness followed by the newspaper, friends,
colleague, majoring & family members.
4. Regarding importance of attribute before purchasing the motor car in
over all motor cars most of the customer gave importance on brand
image of the company. In case of Hyundai motorcars most of the
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customer gave importance or fuel efficiency and look on style of the
car.
5. Regarding source of finance most of the customers gave important on
loan and installment facility.
6. Most of the customer gave most importance on high engine power.
(v)
Conslusion
This study was conducted to find out the consumer buying behaviour of
motorcars in special reference to the Maruti Suzuki in Tezpur. The findings and
analysis revealed many advantages as well as disadvantages for the Maruti India
Ltd.
Though the Maruti Suzuki is the faster growing company and leading in
the market facing a stiff competition from Hyundai and Tata motors in the
Tezpur.
It has been observed that Maruti Suzuki adopted many promotional
strategies and company’s marketing channel is also satisfactory.
Now a days people are most aware about after sales service. The dealers
also expect Maruti motorcars has overcome this problem and facilities should
be improved for meeting the after sales service requirement effectively.
The majority of customers expect loan or installment facilities. The
Maruti Suzuki has joined hand with State Bank Of India, and many Private
Banks to promote this facilities.
As most of the existing and prospective customers adults, Maruti should
introduces stylish Motor cars which compete its competitors product.
But Maruti to meet the expectations of new generation people who are the
prospect, or customers has recently introduce Ritz, SX4, AStar hoping to fulfill
the demand of the new generation.
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As this study was conducted for educational purpose with the aim to give
necessary information to the organization, any mistake by the researchers
should be overlooked considering his inexperience in the field of marketing
research.
(vi)
Recommendations
Based on the findings drawn from the project’s analysis, certain
recommendation need to be made as regards to the future course of action for
Maruti Suzuki, which can go a long way in improving the Brand Awareness of
the Company in the Motorcars market. The main recommendations are:
1. Maruti should continue with its range of innovative products. At the same
time try to add value to its existing products so that it can cater to the
present day requirements. As the study reveals that majority of customers
are aged 20 – 40 years the needs and wants should be kept in mind while
designing new products.
2. There should be proper synchronization between order placed an delivery.
The distribution channel should be enhanced and the models should be
readily available in the market.
3. As the buying decision of the buyer has influenced by himself, company
should target them through demonstration and advertisement.
4. As the market for the financial institutions are increasing, the company
should target them through demonstration and advertisement.
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5. Facilities should be provide to the dealers so that they can extend them to
the customers while purchasing this brand.
6. Increase in sales promotion budgets to develop a point of purchase
display and to participate to a greater extent in Trade shows and similar
kind of shows and this will motivate the non-users to try out the products.
7. The company can sponsor local cultural programmes like Bihu festival of
Assam holding Bihu competition at least once in a year and for attracting
the youth it may sponsor sports events also.
8. The company can make charitable donation to different organizations. It
can extend their helping hand to the people hotted by natural havoc like
flood, draught, earthquake etc. to win the hearts of the mass people which
will build a good image of the Company among them.
9. As the market for the financial institutions are increasing, the company
should come up with various schemes, which will induce them to
influence the customer for the product. This includes offering various
gifts, packages and financial incentives like higher commission as
compared to other four-wheeler companies.
10.Incentives and financial benefits provided to the dealers should be
maximized to maintain their level of satisfaction and motivation.
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Part 1
An Overview of the company
12
INTRODUCTION
About the company:
Maruti Suzuki is one of India's leading automobile manufacturers and the
market leader in the car segment, both in terms of volume of vehicles sold and
revenue earned. Until recently, 18.28% of the company was owned by the
Indian government, and 54.2% by Suzuki of Japan. The Indian government held
an initial public offering of 25% of the company in June 2003. As of 10 May
2007, Govt. of India sold its complete share to Indian financial institutions.
With this, Govt. of India no longer has stake in Maruti Udyog.
Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in February 1981, though the
actual production commenced in 1983 with the Maruti 800, based on the Suzuki
Alto kei car which at the time was the only modern car available in India, its'
only competitors- the Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padmini were both
around 25 years out of date at that point. Through 2004, Maruti Suzuki has
produced over 5 Million vehicles. Maruti Suzukis are sold in India and various
several other countries, depending upon export orders. Models similar to Maruti
Suzukis (but not manufactured by Maruti Udyog) are sold by Suzuki Motor
Corporation and manufactured in Pakistan and other South Asian countries.
The company annually exports more than 50,000 cars and has an extremely
large domestic market in India selling over 730,000 cars annually. Maruti 800,
till 2004, was the India's largest selling compact car ever since it was launched
in 1983. More than a million units of this car have been sold worldwide so far.
Currently, Maruti Suzuki Alto tops the sales charts and Maruti Suzuki Swift is
the largest selling in A2 segment.
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Due to the large number of Maruti 800s sold in the Indian market, the term
"Maruti" is commonly used to refer to this compact car model. Till recently the
term "Maruti", in popular Indian culture, in India Hindu's lord Hanuman is
known as "maruti", was associated to the Maruti 800 model.
Maruti Suzuki has been the leader of the Indian car market for over two
decades.
Its manufacturing facilities are located at two facilities Gurgaon and Manesar
south of Delhi. Maruti Suzuki’s Gurgaon facility has an installed capacity of
350,000 units per annum. The Manesar facilities, launched in February 2007
comprise a vehicle assembly plant with a capacity of 100,000 units per year and
a Diesel Engine plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 engines and
transmissions. Manesar and Gurgaon facilities have a combined capability to
produce over 700,000 units annually.
More than half the cars sold in India are Maruti Suzuki cars. The company is a
subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan, which owns 54.2 per cent of
Maruti Suzuki. The rest is owned by the public and financial institutions. It is
listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in India.
During 2007-08, Maruti Suzuki sold 764,842 cars, of which 53,024 were
exported. In all, over six million Maruti Suzuki cars are on Indian roads since
the first car was rolled out on 14 December 1983.
Pressure started mounting on Indira and Sanjay Gandhi to share the details of
the progress on the Maruti Project. Since country's resources were made
available by mother to her son's pet project. A delegation of Indian technocrats
was assigned to hunt a collaborator for the project. Initial rounds of discussion
were held with the giants of the automobile industry in Japan including Toyota,
Nissan and Honda. Suzuki Motor Corporation was at that time a small player in
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the four wheeler automobile sector and had major share in the two wheeler
segment. Suzuki's bid was considered negligible.
In the initial rounds of discussion the giants had their bosses present and in the
later rounds related to the technical discussions executives of these automobile
giants were present. Osamu Suzuki, Chairman and CEO of the company
ensured that he was present in all the rounds of discussion. Osamu in an article
writes that it subtly massaged their (Indian delegation) egos and also convinced
them about the sincerity of Suzuki's bid. In the initial days Suzuki took all steps
to ensure the government about its sincerity on the project. Suzuki in return
received a lot of help from the government in such matters as import clearances
for manufacturing equipment (against the wishes of the Indian machine tool
industry then and its own socialistic ideology), land purchase at government
prices for setting up the factory Gurgaon and reduced or removal of excise
tariffs. This helped Suzuki conscientiously nurse Maruti Suzuki through its
infancy to become one of its flagship ventures.
Maruti Suzuki's A-Star vehicle during its unveiling in Pragati Maidan, Delhi. AStar, Suzuki's fifth global car model, was designed and is made only in India.
Besides being Suzuki's largest subsidiary in terms of car sales, Maruti Suzuki is
also Suzuki's leading research and development arm outside Japan
Relationship between the Government of India, under the United Front (India)
coalition and Suzuki Motor Corporation over the joint venture was a point of
heated debate in the Indian media till Suzuki Motor Corporation gained the
controlling stake. This highly profitable joint venture that had a near
monopolistic trade in the Indian automobile market and the nature of the
partnership built up till then was the underlying reason for most issues. The
success of the joint venture led Suzuki to increase its equity from 26% to 40%
in 1987, and further to 50% in 1992. In 1982 both the venture partners had
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entered into an agreement to nominate their candidate for the post of Managing
Director and every Managing Director will have a tenure of five years.
Initially R.C.Bhargava, was the managing director of the company since the
inception of the joint venture. Till today he is regarded as instrumental for the
success of Maruti Suzuki. Joining in 1982 he held several key positions in the
company before heading the company as Managing Director. Currently he is on
the Board of Directors. After completing his five year tenure, Mr. Bhargava later
assumed the office of Part-Time Chairman. The Government nominated Mr.
S.S.L.N. Bhaskarudu as the Managing Director on 27 August 1997. Mr.
Bhaskarudu had joined Maruti Suzuki in 1983 after spending 21 years in the
Public sector undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited as General
Manager. Later in 1987 he was promoted as Chief General Manager, 1988 as
Director, Productions and Projects, 1989 Director, Materials and in 1993 as
Joint Managing Director.
Suzuki Motor Corporation didn't attend the Annual General Meeting of the
Board with the reason of it being called on a short notice. Later Suzuki Motor
Corporation went on record to state that Mr. Bhaskarudu was "incompetent" and
wanted someone else. However, the Ministry of Industries, Government of India
refuted the charges. Media stated from the Maruti Suzuki sources that
Bhaskarudu was interested to indigenise most of components for the models
including gear boxes especially for Maruti 800. Suzuki also felt that Bhaskarudu
was a proxy for the Government and would not let it increase its stake in the
venture. If Maruti Suzuki would have been able to indigenise gear boxes then
Maruti Suzuki would have been able to manufacture all the models without the
technical assistance from Suzuki. Till today the issue of localization of gear
boxes is highlighted in the press.
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The relation strained when Suzuki Motor Corporation moved to Delhi High
Court to bring a stay order against the appointment of Mr. Bhaskarudu. The
issue was resolved in an out-of-court settlement and both the parties agreed that
R S S L N Bhaskarudu would serve up to 31 December 1999, and from 1
January 2000, Jagdish Khattar, Executive Director of Maruti Udyog Limited
would assume charges as the Managing Director. Many politicians believed, and
had stated in parliament that the Suzuki Motor Corporation is unwilling to
localize manufacturing and reduce imports. This remains true, even today the
gear boxes are still imported from Japan and are assembled at the Gurgaon
facility.
For most of its history, Maruti Udyog Limited had relatively few problems with
its labour force. Its emphasis of a Japanese work culture and the modern
manufacturing process, first instituted in Japan in the 1970s, was accepted by
the workforce of the company without any difficulty. But with the change in
management in 1997, when it became predominantly government controlled for
a while, and the conflict between the United Front Government and Suzuki may
have been the cause of unrest among employees. A major row broke out in
September 2000 when employees of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) went on an
indefinite strike, demanding among other things, revision of the incentive
scheme offered and implementation of a pension scheme. Employees struck
work for six hours in October 2000, irked over the suspension of nine
employees, going on a six-hour tools-down strike at its Gurgaon plant,
demanding revision of the incentive-linked pay and threatened to fast to death if
the suspended employees were not reinstated. About this time, the NDA
government, following a disinvestments policy, proposed to sell part of its stake
in Maruti Suzuki in a public offering. The Staff union opposed this sell-off plan
on the grounds that the company will lose a major business advantage of being
subsidised by the Government.
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The standoff with the management continued to December with a proposal by
the management to end the two-month long agitation rejected with a demand for
reinstatement of 92 dismissed workers, with four MUL employees going on a
fast-unto-death. In December the company's shareholders met in New Delhi in
an AGM that lasted 30 minutes. At the same time around 1500 plant workers
from the MUL's Gurgaon facility were agitating outside the company's
corporate office demanding commencement of production linked incentives, a
better pension scheme and other benefits. The management has refused to pass
on the benefits citing increased competition and lower margins.
Maruti Suzuki offers 15 models, Maruti 800, Alto, WagonR, Estilo, A-star, Ritz,
Swift, Swift DZire, SX4, Omni, Eeco, Gypsy, Grand Vitara. Swift, Swift DZire,
A-star and SX4 are maufactured in Manesar, Grand Vitara is imported from
Japan as a completely built unit (CBU), remaining all models are manufactured
in Maruti Suzuki's Gurgaon Plant.
Suzuki Motor Corporation, the parent company, is a global leader in mini and
compact cars for three decades. Suzuki’s technical superiority lies in its ability
to pack power and performance into a compact, lightweight engine that is clean
and fuel efficient.
Nearly 75,000 people are employed directly by Maruti Suzuki and its partners.It
has been rated first in customer satisfaction among all car makers in India from
1999 to 2009 by J D Power Asia Pacific.
Pressure started mounting on Indira and Sanjay Gandhi to share the details of
the progress on the Maruti Project. Since country's resources were made
available by mother to her son's pet project. A delegation of Indian technocrats
was assigned to hunt a collaborator for the project. Initial rounds of discussion
18
were held with the giants of the automobile industry in Japan including Toyota,
Nissan and Honda. Suzuki Motor Corporation was at that time a small player in
the four wheeler automobile sector and had major share in the two wheeler
segment. Suzuki's bid was considered negligible.
Maruti Suzuki has two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India. [12]. Both
manufacturing facilities have a combined production capacity of 1,000,000
vehicles annually.
The Gurgaon Manufacturing Facility has three fully integrated manufacturing
plants and is spread over 300 acres. All three plants have a installed capacity of
350,000 vehicles annually but productivity improvements have enabled it to
manufacture 700,000 vehicles annually. The Gurgaon facilities also manufacture
240,000 K-Series engines annually. The entire facility is equipped with more
than 150 robots, out of which 71 have been developed in-house. The Gurgaon
Facilities manufactures the 800, Alto, WagonR, Estilo, Omni , Gypsy, Swift and
Eeco.
The Manesar Manufacturing Plant was inaugurated in February 2007 and is
spread over 600 acres. Initially it had a production capacity of 100,000 vehicles
annually but this was increased to 300,000 vehicles annually in October 2008.
The Manesar Plant produces the A-star, Swift, Swift DZire and SX4.
Four Wheeler Industry
Approximately 25 of Benz's vehicles were built before 1893, when his first
four-wheeler was introduced. They were powered with four-stroke engines of
his own design. Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under
license, now added the Benz automobile to his line of products. Because France
was more open to the early automobiles, more were built and sold in France
through Roger than Benz sold in Germany. From 1890 to 1895 Daimler and his
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assistant, Maybach, either at the Daimler works or in the Hotel Hermann, where
they set up shop after falling out with their backers, built about 30 vehicles.
Benz and Daimler seem to have been unaware of each other's early work and
worked independently.
In 1890, Emile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing
vehicles with Daimler engines, and so laid the foundation of the motor industry
in France. George Selden of Rochester, New York, who applied for a patent on
an automobile in 1879, supposedly designed the first American car with a
gasoline internal combustion engine in 1877. In Britain there had been several
attempts to build steam cars with varying degrees of success with Thomas
Rickett even attempting a production run in 1860. Santler from Malvern is
recognized by the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain as having made the first
petrol-powered car in the country in 1894 followed by Frederick William
Lanchester in 1895 but these were both one-offs. [The first production vehicles
came from the Daimler Motor Company, founded by Harry J. Lawson in 1896,
and making their first cars in 1897.
In 1892, Rudolf Diesel got a patent for a "New Rational Combustion Engine".
In 1897 he built the first Diesel Engine. In 1895, Selden was granted a United
States patent(U.S. Patent 549,160 ) for a two-stroke automobile engine, which
hinderd more than encouraged development of autos in the United States.
Steam, electric, and gasoline powered autos competed for decades, with
gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the 1910s.
Every other day a new model of car is being launched in the country, how many
times you must have wished to change that old car of yours and buy a hot set of
wheels. However as you come back to earth, bitter reality bites you; realization
dawns in that you don't have such a big amount of money to invest in a new car.
Don't worry as several banks and financial institution have donned the role of
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new age Santa Claus to make sure that your dream comes true. Today car loans
are not only available for brand new cars but they are also available for used
cars.
In this section we will try to provide you with an insight into automobile
financing so read on. State Bank of India which is one of the largest
nationalized banks in the country offers you the following advantages
Longer repayment periods up to 7 years
Low processing
No advance EMI along with the down payment effectively increasing the
amount of loan
Interest is calculated on the reducing balance method meaning every time
you repay an amount the interest is calculated on the remaining amount
and not on the one which is out standing at the beginning of the year.
The company gives a loan which is up to 2.5 times of one's net annual income,
with the minimum income cap of the applicant being 75000 rupees per annum.
The company sanctions loans for all new cars and for second hand cars which
are not more than 5 years old. The bank also provides loans to people who don't
have an account with the bank provided they furnish address proof, identity
proof and other relevant documents. For more details click http://www.sbi.co.in
UTI bank offers loans covering 85% of the cost of the vehicle plus registration
and insurance or 20 times the net monthly salary and you can repay the loan
with in a maximum period of 5 years or 60 monthly equated installments.
Car Insurance gives the necessary cover if one meets with some unforeseen
incident or an accident. Car insurance offers a number of benefits. A no claim
bonus is given to the policy holder if no claims are made. It is transferable as it
can be used even if one is changing the auto insurance company.
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Used car owners shouldn't feel that they are sidelined. Used car insurances help
the second hand car owners greatly. Those who can't afford the luxury cars and
their high prices are opting for used cars.
The Indian automobile industry is the tenth largest in the world with an annual
production of approximately 2 million units. Indian auto industry, promises to
become the major automotive industry in the upcoming years and the industry
experts are hopeful that it will touch 10 million units mark.
Indian automobile industry is involved in design, development, manufacture,
marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. There are a number of global automotive
giants that are upbeat about the expansion plans and collaboration with
domestic companies to produce automobiles in India.
The major car manufacturers in India are Maruti Udyog, Hyundai Motors India
Ltd., General Motors India Pvt. Ltd., Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., Toyota
Kirloskar Motor Ltd., Hindustan Motors etc.
The two-wheeler manufacturers in India are Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India
(Pvt.) Ltd., TVS, Hero Honda, Yamaha, Bajaj, etc. The heavy motors including
buses, trucks, auto rickshaws and multi-utility vehicles are manufactured by
Tata-Telco, Eicher Motors, Bajaj, Mahindra and Mahindra, etc.
Quick Facts:
First Indian to own a car in India was Jamshedji Tata.
First woman to drive a car in India was Mrs. Suzanne RD Tata.
The passenger car and motorcycle segment in the Indian auto industry is
growing by 8-9 percent.
Commercial vehicle will grow by 5.2 per cent.
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The first automobile in India was rolled in 1897 in Bombay.
India is a potential emerging auto market.
Motorcycles contribute 80% of the two-wheeler industry.
Unlike the USA, the Indian passenger vehicle market is dominated by
cars (79%).
India is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world.
India's motorcycle segment will grow by 8-9 percent in the coming years.
11. India is the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the
world. 12. India has the number one global motorcycle manufacturer. 13.
In Asia, India is the fourth largest car market.
The new chapter in the automobile industry is that of used cars. The massive
demand of used cars indicates that cars are becoming increasingly popular.
Those who can't afford the luxury cars and their high prices are opting for used
cars. In today's time, customers are conscious and diligently investing on car
dealership. Car buyers are investing heavily a lot of time for both to sell a car
and buy car. There's also a number of car websites that have offering detailed
information on new car prices, used cars, car reviews, Chevrolet cars, jaguar
cars and luxury cars.
At present major Indian, European, Korean, Japanese automobile companies are
holding significant market shares. In commercial vehicle, Tata Motors
dominates over 60% of the Indian commercial vehicle market. Tata Motors is
the largest medium and heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer.
Among the two-wheeler segment, including scooters and mopeds- motorcycles
have- major share in the market. Hero Honda contributes 50% motorcycles to
the market in which Honda holds 46% share in scooter and TVS makes 82% of
the mopeds in the country. In the three wheeler industry in India, Piaggio holds
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40% of the market share. Bajaj is the leader by making 68% of the threewheelers.
Car manufacturers in India dominate the passenger vehicle market by 79%.
Maruti Suzuki is the largest car producer in India and has 52% share in
passenger cars and is a complete monopoly in multi purpose vehicles. In utility
vehicles Mahindra holds 42% share. Hyundai and Tata Motors is the second and
third car producer in India.
Ransom E. Olds.
The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was
debuted by Ransom Olds at his Oldsmobile factory in 1902. This assembly line
concept was then greatly expanded by Henry Ford in the 1910s. Development
of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to the hundreds of small
manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments
included electric ignition and the electric self-starter (both by Charles Kettering,
for the Cadillac Motor Company in 1910-1911), independent suspension, and
four-wheel brakes.
Although various pistonless rotary engine designs have attempted to compete
with the conventional piston and crankshaft design, only Mazda's version of the
Wankel engine has had more than very limited success.
Since the 1920s, nearly all cars have been mass-produced to meet market needs,
so marketing plans have often heavily influenced automobile design. It was
Alfred P. Sloan who established the idea of different makes of cars produced by
one company, so buyers could "move up" as their fortunes improved. The makes
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shared parts with one another so larger production volume resulted in lower
costs for each price range. For example, in the 1950s, Chevrolet shared hood,
doors, roof, and windows with Pontiac; the LaSalle of the 1930s, sold by
Cadillac, used cheaper mechanical parts made by the Oldsmobile division.
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Cars by Price Range
Under Rs. 3
Lakhs
Maruti 800, Alto, Omni
Reva
Ambassador
Fiat Palio
Hyundai Santro, Getz
Chevrolet Opel Corsa
Maruti Zen, Wagon R, Versa, Esteem, Gypsy
Ford Icon & Fiesta
Tata Indica, Indigo XL, Indigo Marina
Chevrolet Swing, Optra Magnum, Tavera
Hyundai Accent, Elantra
Mahindra Scorpio
Maruti Baleno
Toyota Innova
Tata Safari
Mitsubishi Lancer, Mitsubishi Cedia
Honda City ZX
Mahindra Bolero
Hyundai Sonata Embera
Toyota Corolla
Ford Mondeo & Endeavour
Chevrolet Forester
Skoda Octavia & Combi
Honda Civic
Rs. 3-5 Lakhs
Rs. 5-10 Lakhs
Rs. 10-15 Lakhs
Rs. 15-30 Lakh
Honda CR-V
Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara
Terracan & Tucson
Mitsubishi Pajero
Audi A4
Opel Vectra
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Honda Accord
Mercedes C Class
Toyota Camry
Audi A6, A8 & Audi TT
BMW X5, 5 Series & 7 Series
Mercedes E Class, S Class, SLK, SL & CLS-Class
Porsche Boxster, Cayenne, 911 Carrera & Cayman S
Toyota Prado
Bentley Arnage, Bentley Continental GT & Flying
Spur
Rolls Royce Phantom
Maybach
Rs. 30-90 Lakhs
Above Rs. 1 Crore
27
The following links gives the complete picture of Indian Auto Industry:
The first auto vehicle rolled out in India at the end of 19th
century. Today, India is the the 2nd largest tractor and 5th largest
commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world. Hero Honda with
Automobile History
1.7M motorcycles a year is now the largest motorcycle
manufacturer in the world.
On the cost front, OEMs eyeing India in a big way to source
products and components at significant discounts to home
Industry Investment market. On the revenue side, OEMs are active in the booming
passenger car market in India.
Industry Growth
Vehicle Production
Auto Export
Auto Companies
The passenger car and motorcycle segment in Indian auto
market is growing by 8-9 per cent. The two-wheeler segment
will clock 11.5% rise by 2007. Commercial vehicle to grow by
5.2 per cent.
India is the 11th largest Passenger Cars producing countries in
the world and 4th largest in Heavy Trucks. Maruti Udyog Ltd. is
the leading 4-wheelers manufacturer. Hero Honda is the leading
2-wheelers manufacturer.
Passenger vehicle exports have grown over five times and twowheeler exports have reached more than double. Exports of auto
components, whose manufacturing costs are 30-40 per cent
lower than in the West, have grown at 25% a year between 2000
to 2005.
Hero Honda is the largest manufacturer of motorcycles. Hyundai
Motors India is the second largest player in passenger car
market. Tata Motors is the fifth largest medium & heavy
commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world.
Know about the number of vehicles registered as Transport or
Vehicle Distribution Non-Transport in the Indian states and Union Territories.
Associations
Get all the contact details of Automobile Association of Upper
India (AAUI), Automotive Research Association of India
(ARAI), Automobile Association of Southern India (AASI),
Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India
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(ACMA) and more
Sales and Service Network
Maruti Suzuki is one of the companies in India which has unparalleled sales and
service network. As of 2009 it currently has 681 dealerships across 454 cities.
To ensure the vehicles sold by them are serviced properly, Maruti Suzuki has
779 dealer workshops, 1,945 Maruti Authorized Service Stations and 30 Express
Service Stations on 30 National Highways across 1,314 cities in India.
Service is a major revenue generator of the company. Most of the service
stations are managed on franchise basis, where Maruti Suzuki trains the local
staff. Other automobile companies have not been able to match this benchmark
set by Maruti Suzuki. The Express Service stations help many stranded vehicles
on the highways by sending across their repair man to the vehicle.
29
Historical timeline
1909 – Suzuki Loom Works founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture,
by Mr. Michio Suzuki.
1920 – Reorganized, incorporated, and capitalized at 500,000 yen as
Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. with Michio Suzuki as president.
1952 – 'Power Free' motorized bicycle marketed.
1954 – Company name changed to Suzuki Motor Co.,Ltd.
1955 – Lightweight car Suzuki Suzulight (360 cc, 2-stroke) front wheel
drive, marketed helping to usher in Japan's light-weight car age.
1961 – Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. established by separating the
loom machine division from the motor works and lightweight truck
'Suzulight Carry' marketed.
1962 – Suzuki won the 50 cc class championship at the Isle of Man TT
1963 – U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp., a direct sales subsidiary, opened in Los
Angeles.
1965 – 'D55'(5.5 hp, 2-stroke) outboard motor marketed and makes early
inroads and Fronte 800 marketed.
1967 – Thai Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. established as a local assembly plant.
1968 – Carry full-cab van marketed.
1970 – LJ-Series 4X4 marketed.
1971 – Ts185 Enduro marketed.
1971 – GT750 motorcycle marketed.
1973 – Suzuki Canada Ltd., opened in Ontario, Canada.
1974 – P.T. Suzuki Indonesia Manufacturing established in Jakarta,
Indonesia, entry into medical equipment field by marketing the Suzuki
Motor Chair Z600 motorized wheelchair, expansion into the housing field
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initiated with Suzuki Home marketing two models of prefab 'Mini-House'
and three types of storage sheds.
1975 – Antonio Suzuki Corp., a joint venture for knockdown production
and sales, established in Manila, the Philippines.
1976 – GS-Series motorcycles marketed.
1977 – LJ80 4x4 vehicle marketed and exports of GS1000H motorcycle
began.
1979 – Alto marketed.
1979 – SC100 marketed in the UK.
1980 – Suzuki Australia Pty. Ltd. established in Sydney, Australia and
entry into general purpose engine field by marketing three electric power
generator models.
1981 – Business ties with General Motors (U.S.) and Isuzu Motors, Ltd.
(Japan) signed.
1982 – 4X4 production began at PAK Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. in Karachi,
Pakistan and won maker championship for 7th consecutive year at the
World Road Race Grand Prix 500.
1982 – SC100 Discontinued in favour of Alto.
1983 – Enters into a partnership with Maruti Udyog Ltd. to produce cars
in India.
1983 – Cultus/Swift 1.0-liter passenger car marketed and 4X4 production
started at Maruti Udyog Ltd. in New Delhi, India.
1984 – Suzuki New Zealand Ltd. established in Wanganui, New Zealand
and began export of Chevrolet Sprint to the United States. Car production
technical assistance contract signed with China National Aerotechnology
Import & Export Beijing Corporation. Operation of Suzuki Motor GmbH
Deutschland began in Heppenheim, Germany.
1985 – SUZUKI of AMERICA AUTOMOTIVE CORP. established with
the introduction of the Samurai, and the GSX-R750 motorcycle with an
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oil-cooled engine marketed and scooter production started at Avello S.A.
of Spain. Agreement with Santana Motors to produce Suzuki cars in their
Linares factory in Andalusia, Spain.
1986 – American Suzuki Motor Corp. is formed merging U.S. Suzuki
Motor Corp and Suzuki of America Automotive Corp.
1987 – Cultus/Swift production began in Colombia and total aggregate
car exports reached 2 million units.
1988 – Escudo/Vitara 4x4 marketed and total aggregate car production
reached 10 million units..
1989 – CAMI Automotive Inc. established and began operation in
Ontario, Canada. Swift GT/GLX and Sidekick sales begin in the United
States.
1990 – Corporate name changed to Suzuki Motor Corporation.
1991 – Car production started in Korea through technical ties with
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Ltd and Cappuccino 2-seater
marketed.
1993 – Passenger car production/sales began at Suzuki Egypt S.A.E.,
opening ceremony for new car production plant held at Magyar Suzuki
Corp. in Esztergom, Hungary and Wagon R passenger car marketed.
1994 – Maruti Udyog Ltd. of India total aggregate car production reached
1 million units.
1995 – Total aggregate motorcycle export reached 20 million units
1996 – Start of production in Vietnam (Motorcycles and automobiles)
1997 – Achieved 10 million cumulative automobile sales for overseas
market and 4-stroke outboard motors win the Innovation Award at The
International Marine Trade Exhibit and Conference (IMTEC) in Chicago.
32
1998 – Suzuki and General Motors form strategic alliance and Chongqing
Chang'an Suzuki Automobile Co., Ltd. received official approval from
the Chinese government for production of passenger cars.
1999 – Aggregate motorcycle production reaches 40 million units and
Jiangxi Changhe Suzuki Automobile Co., Ltd. receives official approval
from the Chinese government for production of commercial vehicles.
2000 – The company commemorates the 80th anniversary, aggregate car
production at Kosai Plant reaches 10 million units and Suzuki production
starts at General Motors de Argentina S.A.
2001 – Aggregate Launch of Suzuki Liana/Aerio. worldwide sales of SJSeries reaches 2 million units, production of Alto reaches 4 million units
and Suzuki achieves "Zero-Level" target of landfill waste
2002 – Achieved 30 million cumulative automobile sales for worldwide
market and America's #1 warranty: 100,000/7-year powertrain limited
warranty.
2003 – Suzuki is #1 in Kei car sales for the 30th consecutive year and
Twin, the first hybrid Kei car in Japan, marketed.
2004 – Aggregate domestic automobile sales reach 15 million units.
2005 – Swift was awarded the 2006 RJC Car of the Year.
2006 – New XL7 is marketed particularly to the North American market;
and GM divested, selling 92.36 million shares and reducing their stake to
3%.
2008 – Suzuki introduces its first production fuel-injected motocross
bike; and GM divested its remaining 3% stake in Suzuki.
2009 – Suzuki introduces its first production pickup truck called the
Equator. Volkswagen AG and Suzuki reach a common understanding to
establish a close long-term strategic partnership
2010 – Volkswagen AG completed the purchase of 19.9% of Suzuki's
outstanding shares.
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Maruti Poducts
1. 800 (Launched 1982)
2. Omni (Launched 1984)
3. Gypsy (Launched 1985)
4. WagonR (Launched 2001)
5. Alto (Launched 2000)
6. Swift (Launched 2005)
7. Estilo (Launched 2006)
8. SX4 (Launched 2007)
9. Swift DZire (Launched 2008)
10. A-star (Launched 2008)
11. Ritz (Launched 2009)
12. Eeco (Launched 2010)
Discontinued Car Models
1000 (1990–1994)
Zen (1993–2006)
Esteem (1994–2008)
Baleno (1999–2007)
Versa (2001–2010)
Grand Vitara XL7 (2003–2007)
May Launch
34
Maruti Cervo
1.Maruti 800 :- It is a city car manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India. It is a
rebadged version of an old model of the Suzuki Alto. Over 2.5 million Maruti
800's have been sold since its launch in 1984. The same car is sold in Pakistan
as the Suzuki Mehran with a much older 1980s era Suzuki SS80 carburetor
based engine. The 800 has undergone some minor face lifts but overall it still
remains the same as it was in 1984. The car has reported slipping sales in recent
times, mainly due to the introduction of the Alto at a comparable price. The car
produces approximately 37 bhp (28 kW; 38 PS) of power and runs on 12 inch
wheels. Curb weight is 650 kg (1,433 lb) and 4 passengers (including the driver)
fit in. Top speed is in the region of 125 km/h (78 mph) and the car is known to
deliver fuel economy better than 20 km/l (47 mpg) on clear and plain roads.
Maruti Suzuki had earlier launched a version with a 4 valves per cylinder
engine producing 45 bhp (34 kW; 46 PS) coupled with a 5-speed manual
transmission (currently found in the Suzuki Alto) but discontinued it after a
couple of years.
The Maruti 800 is still popularly hailed in India as "the smallest car in
production" due to its relatively tightly spaced interior. Its main competitor is
the cheaper Tata Nano (123,000 compared to 184,641 Rupees) which has an 8
percent smaller exterior size and a 23 percent larger interior space. Maruti 800 the first choice for all those who want a 'value for money car' that is little on
pocket and big in performance. Maruti 800 is safe, economical and easy to drive
car(with a small turning radius of 4.4 m) in congested road conditions. Since its
launch in December 1984, Maruti 800 has gone through various changes in
styling, structure and technology.
For years Maruti 800 has remained the right opening car for people who look
for low cost of ownership and fuel efficiency. It is a car perfectly made for the
35
Indian roads. It goes in any location, be it in town, around town, highways, busy
streets, narrow lanes anywhere and everywhere.
In order to make the car more attractive, new engine has been installed in M800.
The M800 E 2 AC has been a major success.
Variants, Price and Mileage
The car is available in Standard and A/C versions in metallic and non-metallic
colors. It is available in the price range of around Rs 2 lakhs.
Engine
The engince produces approximately 37 bph (28 kW) of power. It consists of 4gear, 4-stroke, and 800 cc water cooled engine having three two-valvescylinders. The pistol displacement is 796cc. Maruti800 has a fuel tank of
capacity of 28 liters for petrol.
Safety
Thanks to the presence of specially allocated crumble zone which absorbs the
impact of accident, Maruti 800 ensures safe journey. It is equipped with front
and rear seat belts to provide more safety.
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2.Maruti Omni :- It is a microvan manufactured by Indian automaker Maruti
Suzuki. The first version of Maruti Omni had 796 cc engine, same as the Maruti
800 city car. This was the second vehicle to be launched by Maruti, one year
after the 800, in 1984. Later version of the Omni includes the:
Omni (E), released in 1996, 796 cc engine, 8 seater capacity vehicle
Omni XL - 1999, same engine, modified with a higher roof.
Omni Cargo LPG - 2004, created to answer the growing popularity of this
car being used as an inter-city cargo vehicle.[1]
Omni LPG - 2003, same 796 cc engine, added with a factory fitted LPG
Kit, authorised by the Indian RTOs (Regional Transport Offices). This
makes it the most economic 4 wheeler in India, as far as the driving costs
are concerned.
Omni Ambulance - A Modified E version into an ambulance vehicle. This
is the most common type of ambulances found in Indian cities.
37
3.Gypsy :- It is manufactured in India by Maruti Suzuki. It was introduced in
the Indian market in 1985 with the 970cc F10A Suzuki engine and was an
instant hit in the civilian market as well as with law enforcement. It was
codenamed MG410 that stood for Maruti Gypsy 4 cylinder 1.0 litre engine.
Initially, it was only available as a soft-top; but a bolt on hardtop was later
introduced to the public after the aftermarket hardtops became extremely
popular. It instantly replaced Premier Padmini as the quintessential Indian rally
car due to its performance, reliability, tunability and the go-anywhere capability.
The carburetted F10A engine made 45bhp and was mated to a 4 speed gearbox.
The 4WD transfer case had 2 speeds. It had a freewheeling mechanism
[1]
on the
front axles made by Aisin to unlock the front axles from the hub when 4WD is
not used; It reduced rolling resistance, thereby improving fuel efficiency.
However, many owners of the Gypsy who constantly complained about the poor
fuel consumption never knew about this novel feature.
The two major complaints of the vehicle in the civilian market were poor fuel
consumption and poor ride quality especially in the rear seats. The suspension
was indeed harsh with live axles and leaf springs all around. It features almost
no creature comforts, like power-windows and power-assisted steering.
38
4.WagonR :- WagonR The Suzuki Wagon R is a kei car first introduced in
Japan in 1993, and is still in production by Suzuki. The R stands for recreation.
It is one of the first cars to use the "tall wagon" design in which the car is
designed to be unusually tall with a short bonnet and almost vertical hatchback
and sides in order to maximise cabin space while staying within the kei car
dimension restrictions.
The Wagon R has been the best-selling kei car in Japan since 2003 and in 2008,
Suzuki expected to produce its three-millionth Wagon R.
It has been a profitable car for Suzuki even in the International market, mainly
since introducing the car in India. The car comes with a variety of trim levels.
These include the LX (sans power steering), Lxi (power steering), VXi (fully
loaded) and the AX (automatic). The car is available with a 5-speed manual
transmission and seats 4 (including the driver) comfortably.
The Wagon R's bread-box shape did not immediately cut ice with the Indian
consumer and the car saw slow sales initially. Recently New version of
WangonR has been launched with more upgraded features. Wearing an
innovative and sporty looks Maruti Suzuki Wagon R is enjoying good market
position in small car segment. India's leading auto maker Maruti Udyog Ltd
(MUL) has designed Wagon R with ample and convertible inner space, finely
crafted panels and the power of a low friction 64 bhp engine. Available in three
variants (LX, LXi, VXi) Wagon R has everything that small car lover looks for.
'Blue Eyed Boy' - The New Wagon R
Maruti has re-lauched its second best selling model to compete in present
competitive car market. The new WagonR is roomier with larger cabin space,
increased leg-room for all passengers and larger boot. Other major highlighs
39
includes fitment of a new L-shaped front suspension for improved ride comfort,
tiltable steering, electrical outside rear view mirror, superior AC for faster
cooling and tubeless tyres. Externally, the new Wagon R flaunts a new grill and
bigger and sweeping headlamps with blue tint giving it a refreshing new look.
The new K10B engine marks the technical advancement and ensures a high
mileage of 18.9 kmpl. The new cool colors are bound to get you attracted
towards this smart boy of maruti. Available in three variants viz LX, LXI and
VXI, this re-loaded new Wagon R can make it to your garage in Rs 3.28 - 4.14
lakhs.
5. Alto:- The Maruti Alto is the Indian-built Suzuki Alto version, manufactured
by Maruti Suzuki in India. It was launched in the local Indian market on
September 27, 2000 although the Alto nameplate was very successfully being
used to export the Maruti Zen to Europe from India since around 1994having
captured over 40% market share in Belgium and 33% in Netherlands by 1998. It
is the best-selling hatchback in India. Since 2006, It is India's largest selling car
and crossed the 1 million production figure in February 2008 becoming the 3rd
Maruti model to cross the million mark in India after Maruti 800 and Maruti
Omni and 4th overall joining Hyundai Santro. Besides being exported to Europe
from 1994-2004, it has also been exported to several other countries. In the
small hatchback car segment of India, Maruti Suzuki Alto gives 'maximum'
comfort and safety features with 'minimum' price tag. The most economical
petrol engine powered with 32-bit computer technology delivers great output of
47 bhp. Available with number of convenient and security features, Maruti
Suzuki Alto has become like a hot cake in its segment.
Maruti Suzuki Alto, is tagged as the Best Selling car of India from last three
years. One of the hottest selling compact cars in the Indian market, Alto has an
40
efficient engine system and better mileage. Maruto Alto is targeted at middle
class families living in cities because of high fuel economy and affordability.
Least maintenance cost and variety of vibrant colours make it true value for
money.
The car has high tensile steel side door beams to guard against the front, rear
and side collision impact. The looks are tough but accommodating, having more
Boot Space than other cars. The AC of the vehicle is ideal for India's tropical
climate
6. Swift :- Swift debuted at the Paris Auto Salon in September 2004. This
generation of the Swift marked a significant departure with the previous Cultusbased models, with Suzuki re-designing the vehicle as less of a "low price
alternative" subcompact and more of a "sporty" subcompact.The Swift's design
and driving characteristics focused on the European market with its chassis
refined through a road-testing program across Europe.
Available with 1.3 (92 PS (68 kW; 91 hp)) and 1.5 (102 PS (75 kW; 101 hp)) L
petrol engines, the new Swift is Suzuki's new "global car", produced in
Hungary, India, Japan, Pakistan and by Chang'an in China. Maruti Suzuki Swift
is rocking the hatchback car segment of India and has become the blockbuster
model since its launch. Swift is cool, stylish and dressed powerfully. Big
dimensions, great fuel economy, larger fuel tank capacity, European style looks,
eye-catching interiors and above all the support of large Maruti service network,
makes Suzuki Swift a thrilling car that has emerged as a tough competition for
Hyundai
and
41
Tata.
Maruti Suzuki Swift, the car of the year, was launched in May 2005. It is a new
kind of compact car with a fresh approach to design and development. The
Swift is more eye-catching, more spacious, more refined and more user-friendly.
It is a whole lot of enjoyable to drive than anything else in the compact-car
category.
7.Estilo :- The First Generation MR Wagon is currently sold in India as "Maruti
Suzuki Estilo", where it was known until 2009 as the "Maruti Zen Estilo". This
transition has brought about a steady decline in sales for this model though the
redesign has brought significant improvement in performance and styling over
the car's Japanese variants.
The first generation model went on sale on December 4, 2001, featuring
Suzuki's K6A kei car engine, in either naturally-aspirated (40 kW / 54 hp) or
turbocharged (44 kW / 60 hp) versions, available with either front-wheel drive
or all-wheel drive. In all versions, the transmission was a 4-speed transmission
with column shift. A hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle based on the firstgeneration MR Wagon was presented in 2005, using technology co-developed
with General Motors. Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo is a flamboyant model launched
by India's leading auto company Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) replacing the
Zen model. Zen Estilo, with its sporty looks, roomy space, true riding comfort
and competitive price tag, would definitely make its style statement in the small
car segment in India posing a tough call for other players like Hyundai and Tata.
Estilo is all set to compete against the Hyundai Santro, Tata Indica and possibly
can eat into the sales of its own model, the Swift. Maruti Udyog launched the
Zen Estilo to cater to a slightly upmarket customers then that of the Maruti 800
had. Estilo is powered by 1.1 l MPFI engine that delievers a power of 64 bhp @
6200 rpm. Zen Estilo wears an aerodynamic body in unique bean shape with
42
stunning body line. Just step inside Zen Estilo which is soft-plush from inside
and sleek-dynamic from outside, would shape your world in new dimension of
comfort, style and performance.
8.SX4:- SX4 Maruti Suzuki launched SX4 sedan with the 1.6-litre gasoline
engine (without VVT) in 2007. Currently, the SX4 comes equipped with the
1.6-litre gasoline engine (with VVT). Minor cosmetic differences can be seen
between the Indian version and others sold elsewhere. For the 2010 model year,
SX4 five-door hatchback is available with a 1.6-litre DOHC VVT petrol engine,
2.0-litre DOHC engine and 2.0 litre DDiS engine (16 valve, 135 PS & 320 Nm
torque) on the AWD version. The 1.6 litre DOHC VVT engine revised to the
new CO2 emission control standards Euro 5 regulations. The engine gets also
slight performance increase (from 102 to 107 bhp). (The US-market 2.0 litre
engine from 143 to 150 bhp) and lower fuel consumption.
The car is offered either a six-speed manual, 4 speed automatic transmission for
1.6 litre engine cars, or CVT automatic transmission with paddle shifters for 2.0
litre I4 engine cars.
The 2010 model also gets front (ventilated) and rear (solid) disc brakes, 6
airbags (front, side and curtain), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), and
Electronic Stability Program (ESP), optional in 1.6 litre models.
The 2010-model SX4 saw changes to the grille, taillights, instrument cluster,
climate controls, and door trim, as well as a restructured cargo hold, and allwheel-drive models add new rear skid plates. "Men are back" amongst the cars.
Maruti Suzuki SX4-the strong, masculine body outline, generous power of 102
bhp, plush and luxurious interiors with steering mounted controls - are some of
the unmatched features in sedan car segment, that the SX4 flaunts. Dressed with
43
contemporary European design styling and the economical and responsive M
series petrol engine, driving the Sx4 is like a dream come true.
In an attempt to strengthen its position in the of Sedan cars market, Maruti
Udyog Ltd. has launched its premium model bearing name SX4. After Maruti
Suzuki Swift, SX4 is the second international model being launched in India.
Suzuki SX4, is an A3 segment sedan car, with a perfect combination of style,
performance, safety and comfort. There are two versions of Suzuki SX4: Vxi
and Zxi that gets power from latest and efficient 1.6-litre M-Series engine
delivering impressive 102 BHP of power.
Maruti Suzuki SX4 is packed with strong features like independent suspension
system, Anti Lock Braking System (ABS), matching color bumpers, electrically
adjustable outside mirrors, fine quality fabric seats, power windows, rear seat
center armrest and adjustable head rests in the front and rear seats are few to
name for a smooth, comfortable and safe ride.
Having the price tag of between Rs. 6-6.5 Lacs, Maruti Suzuki SX4 will provide
tough competition to its rivalry models like Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna, Honda
City, and Indigo XL.
A new SportBack model offers a lowered sport-tuned suspension, body kit, rear
spoiler, and also removes the roof rack found on the normal crossover SX4. The
2010 SportBack also includes many standard features otherwise optional.
44
9.Swift Dezire:- It is the new entry level sedan from Indian automaker Maruti
Suzuki. Launched on March 26 2008, Maruti Swift DZire is based on the
popular Suzuki Swift platform. The Swift DZire replaces Maruti Suzuki’s
popular entry level sedan, Maruti Suzuki Esteem, production of which was
discontinued in late 2007. Maruti Suzuki has introduced Swift DZire only in the
Indian market.
Swift DZire is a result of an indigenous project started in 2005 to design a threebox notchback version of the Swift. Some changes have been made to the car’s
overall styling to seamlessly integrate the boot. The wheelbase remains the
same. The car weighs about 30-35 Kgs more than the Swift hatchback. Few
modifications in the rear suspension have been done to cope with the additional
weight of the boot and improve the ride quality for the rear passengers.
Adjustments in the rear seat inclination have been made to improve the rear seat
comfort and legroom.
The car is pitted against the other entry level sedans in the Indian market, such
as the Mahindra Renault Logan and the Tata Indigo.
The Swift DZire has become infamous for delivery delays as the number of cars
being booked is large. The price of the car and the features offered are very
attractive compared to the entry-level sedan competition (in India), resulting in
large number of bookings. The diesel version of the Dzire, in particular, had
delivery times extending from 4 to 6 months
10.A star :- A-star (Launched 2008) The 7th Generation is known in India as
the Maruti Suzuki A-Star, but is also known as the Suzuki Celerio or Nissan
Pixo in other places worldwide. It was launched in December 2008 by the IndoJapanese auto maker Maruti Suzuki. It is the next generation Suzuki Alto and is
45
exported worldwide. It is available in European markets as Nissan Pixo. The car
was rolled out to the Indian customers in December 2008 and exports began in
April 2009. A-Star means Alto-Star.
With a totally new body and engine, Maruti hopes to bring freshness to the
Indian car market, of which it already holds a major share. Initial reviews have
been positive. It has a fresh new dashboard, with a unique protruding
tachometer besides the usual meter cowl (only in the ZXi trim). It is the fourth
model after Swift, SX4 and Grand Vitara which has helped Maruti to make
stylish cars, something which it was unknown for during older models.
Though the drive is comfortable for the front row, rear seating is a little small
for taller passengers. The interiors have been reported to be a bit cramped as
compared to the Hyundai i10, its closest competitor. It has the new K10B series
engine, which Suzuki says is technically highly developed and gives a balance
of fuel efficiency and power. The ZXi is the fully loaded version with all the
expected features like power windows, central lock, ABS, rear wiper, fog lamps,
CD player, airbags etc. Indian car market leader Maruti Suzuki has launched AStar in the hatchback car segment in which the company holds ruling position
with 55% market share. Maruti has unveiled A Star as a next generation model
of its another model Alto which is already selling greatly in the segment. Scroll
down to know more about the sporty and striking features of all new A Star Car.
India's largest automaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited has unveiled its much
awaited hatchback car, A Star in the Indian auto market. A Star was first
showcased in the Indian auto expo in New Delhi, as a concept car and after
launch A Star from Maruti would be its fifth car model slated to be exported in
the International market as well. Maruti Suzuki A Star, the all new entrant into
the hatchback car segment in India, promises to become the most fuel-efficient
car in its category with an exceptional mileage of 20 kmpl. The launch of A Star
46
Car, which is the eighth consecutive car launch by Maruti, denotes the key
positioning of the market leader in the A2 car segment with 55% market share.
The all new Maruti Suzuki A Star features a sporty-designer looks and equipped
with state-of-the-art technology that promises to deliver a wonderful driving
experience. A Star houses a brand new KB series 998 cc engine under its hood
that delivers 67 PS @ 6200 rpm and an exceptionally good torque of 90 Nm @
3500 rpms. Being light in weight this engine lowers the vibration or noise and
provides more fuel-efficiency in every litre. The A Star has been launched as the
next generation model of Alto car car and would be built completely at the
company's facility at Manesar, Haryana.
11.Ritz:- Ritz (Launched 2009) The Suzuki Splash is a city car introduced in
model year 2008 and jointly developed between Suzuki Motor Corporation and
Opel — which will also market their version as the Agila. It debuted as a
concept car at the 2006 Paris Auto Show and the production model debuted at
the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Splash is slotted below the Swift in the
lineup, and uses a shortened wheelbase version of its chassis.
The car was launched with two petrol engines, a 3 cylinder 1.0 litre and 4
cylinder 1.2 litre Family 0, and a 4 cylinder version of Fiat's MultiJet diesel
engine. Unlike its predecessor, the Wagon R+, the Splash has five seats as
standard.
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12.Ecco:- Eeco (Launched 2010) When it comes to performance, the Maruti
Suzuki Eeco is a thrilling surprise. Because under its hood, and in your hands lie
unique features and unmatched benefits that add up to giving you a delightful
driving experience.
Maruti Suzuki Eeco is equipped with a powerful 1200cc BS IV compliant
engine that delivers 73 bhp @ 6000 rpm, with a torque of 101Nm @ 3000 rpm.
The engine incorporates a range of advanced technologies, and has been tuned
for performance at low and mid range speeds with emphasis on fuel efficiency
and drivability.
The suspension system of the Maruti Suzuki Eeco has been designed and
developed for best-in-class driving comfort, with balanced handling for Indian
roads in both plain and rough terrains.
For the first time, Maruti Suzuki has introduced Diagonal Shift Assistance
(DSA) for smoother gear shifting.
48
May Launch
Maruti Cervo
India's largest auto manufacturer, Maruti is planning to launch another small car
model Maruti Cervo in entry level segment in the Indian auto market. This car is
to balane Maruti's market share in loe level segment cats which has been
effected due to Tata Nano. Maruti Cervo will be priced in the range of Rs 1.5 to
2 lacs with ample features and performance parameters to overtake the
companys most popular models Maruti 800 and Maruti Alto along with Tata
Nano.
Maruti Suzuki Cervo has a sleek and beautiful look in a compact structure. Easy
handling in congested traffic and city roads makes it an easy drive. Features like
power steering, AC as standard, body colored bumpers,body colored door
handles and outside mirrors make Maruti Cervo a true value for money. Safety
features like ABS and Airbags take Cervo into the category of competitive
hatchbacks like Hyundai i10, Chevrolet Spark etc.
49
Special Features of Maruti Suzuki
Maruti Insurance
Launched in 2002 Maruti Suzuki provides vehicle insurance to its customers
with the help of the National Insurance Company, Bajaj Allianz, New India
Assurance and Royal Sundaram. The service was set up the company with the
inception of two subsidiaries Maruti Insurance Distributors Services Pvt. Ltd
and Maruti Insurance Brokers Pvt. Limited.
This service started as a benefit or value addition to customers and was able to
ramp up easily. By December 2005 they were able to sell more than two million
insurance policies since its inception.
You do not have to pay the repair charges to the extent the same is payable by the
Insurance Company. Just pay for the compulsory excess and applicable depreciation
(both are as per motor tariff) and walk away with the repaired vehicle - Rest is settled
directly between the dealer and the Insurance Company.
Its like "Free Roaming" - You get Maruti insurance services across India at all Maruti
authorized dealer. These services include buying new policy, effecting renewals,
endorsements issuance and claims settlement.
Maruti Insurance ensure a hassle-free and fair claim settlement. Whatever is payable by
standards is paid by the Insurance Company. The customer is not forced to bear the undue
differential cost of repair/ replacement. All transactions are completely transparent. No
hassles of personal involvement or follow up with surveyors/ insurance co. etc. No
botheration of depositing the salvage with insurance co. No compromise on repair50
replacement-parts that need replacement are replaced and not repaired to minimize repair
bills.
With Maruti Insurance you don’t compromise on the quality of repairs as you are not
forced to go to a roadside workshop. The damaged vehicles are repaired at Maruti
authorized dealer workshops that are equipped with the best facilities and infrastructure.
This ensures quality repairs with Maruti Genuine spare parts and trained technicians.
Towing assistance is provided for getting the vehicle to the dealer workshop, in case the
vehicle is immobile after accident. This facility is available free of cost upto Rs 1500/-.
This limit can be increased at customer preference by paying extra premium at the time
of policy issuance.
If you are renewing with Maruti Insurance for the first time, the entitled no claim
bonus(NCB) is easily transferred to Maruti Insurance policy at the time of renewal.
The customer does not have to wait for the policy document, which sometimes takes
months to get delivered from the Insurance Company. With Maruti Insurance, the policy
is issued instantly through the Internet.
Maruti Finance
To promote its bottom line growth, Maruti Suzuki launched Maruti Finance in
January 2002. Prior to the start of this service Maruti Suzuki had started two
joint ventures Citicorp Maruti and Maruti Countrywide with Citi Group and GE
Countrywide respectively to assist its client in securing loan. Maruti Suzuki tied
51
up with ABN Amro Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Limited, Kotak Mahindra,
Standard Chartered Bank, and Sundaram to start this venture including its
strategic partners in car finance. Again the company entered into a strategic
partnership with SBI in March 2003 Since March 2003, Maruti has sold over
12,000 vehicles through SBI-Maruti Finance. SBI-Maruti Finance is currently
available in 166 cities across India. Maruti has entered into agreements with
several finance institutions to arrange for finance for its customers. Under the
program, lucrative financial deals are offered for the customers. The consortium
of companies is comprised of State Bank Group, Citicorp Maruti, ICICI Bank,
HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Sundaram Finance, Magma Leasing Ltd,
Cholamandalam Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra Finance Services.
Features The interest rates offered by Maruti Finance are 0.25% to 0.5% lower
than
those
available
in
the
market
across
all
credit
profiles.
Maruti Finance offers value added services like extended warranty for the 3rd
and 4th years, which can be bundled along with the Maruti Finance loan.
Loans for insurance and accessories are built into the EMI's, keeping the whole
deal simple and hassle-free.
The customer get all his car needs – Car, Finance, Accessories, all under the
same
roof.
Citicorp Maruti Finance The joint venture was set up by Maruti with Citibank
in May 1998. A wide range of flexible and customised financing options at
affordable rates are available to prospective customers for buying a Maruti car.
Maruti Countrysid GE Capital, HDFC and Maruti Udyog Limited came
52
together to set up Maruti Countryside in 1995. The entity offers innovative
finance schemes for the purchase of Maruti cars.
SBI Maruti Car Loans The country's largest bank and the largest car maker
have joined hands to make car finance affordable. The group offers low interest
rates and there is no processing fee or hidden costs. Loan is made available on
the basis of the car's on-road price, not ex showroom price. The repayment
period is upto seven years.
Maruti TrueValue
Maruti True service offered by Maruti Suzuki to its customers. It is a market
place for used Maruti Suzuki Vehicles. One can buy, sell or exchange used
Maruti Suzuki vehicles with the help of this service in India. As of 2009 there
are 315 Maruti True Value outlets. Maruti True Value is India No.1 organized
pre-owned car brand .True Value is venture of India’s largest automobiles
manufacturer “Maruti Suzuki India Ltd”.
Maruti True Value business expands the family of Maruti customers, providing
reassurance to existing Maruti customers about resale of their cars and further
emphasizes Maruti s Commitment towards enhancing customer satisfaction by
continuous association during the vehicle ownership life cycle.
No one knows your Maruti car better than Maruti - based on this premise,
Maruti chanalises its expertise to ensure that transactions in pre owned cars are
transparent and fair. Through that, the company endeavors to extend the
relationship and emotional connect that it enjoys with the customer.
True Value has transparent and fair evaluation process, which is currently
missing in the largely unorganized market for pre-owned cars. Maruti True
53
Value processes and systems ensure that the seller gets the right price and is
paid promptly.
Under True Value, the seller has the option to be paid in cash, or get a True
Value car in exchange or a brand new Maruti Suzuki car in exchange. True
Value category cars bought by Maruti True Value dealers are taken to state-ofthe-art workshops.
True Value Category cars are refurbished in state of art workshops using Maruti
Genuine Parts and by skilled technicians. These cars are then sold through
maruti True Value outlets.
As a mark of confidence, and to provide reassurance to customers, every vehicle
bought under Maruti True Value is inspected and certified by Maruti Engineers
and the Car carries a one-year warranty and three free services. Convenient
finance options are also offered to buyers of Maruti True Value cars.
Accessories
Many of the auto component companies other than Maruti Suzuki started to
offer components and accessories that were compatible. This caused a serious
threat and loss of revenue to Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki started a new
initiative under the brand name Maruti Genuine Accessories to offer
accessories like alloy wheels, body cover, carpets, door visors, fog lamps, stereo
systems, seat covers and other car care products. These products are sold
through dealer outlets and authorized service stations throughout India. Maruti
Genuine Accessories (MGA) is a new initiative to offer you high quality
accessories at competitive prices. We follow world Class engineering and
design processes to develop each and every item of MGA. Many of these items
54
are imported from Suzuki, Japan. Every MGA item has perfect mechanical and
electrical compatibility with the vehicle and offers you unmatched performance.
Company’s welfare activities for the employee:
Medical facilities:
For providing domiciliary treatment to the employee and their dependent
a dispensary and a full time doctor is the plant.
Group Accident insurance scheme:
Employee covered under ESI is automatically under the company group
accident insurance scheme.
Provision of loans:
Loan can be obtain by member for purpose such as construction of house,
marriage etc.
Service Award:
In appreciation of the long term association the company gives service
awards as a mark of honour to the employee.
Training Activities:
The company is concerned with personal growth a development of the
employee & sponsor for various learning and developmental programme.
Transportation:
There have provision for transportation facility for the employee.
55
TPM:
Total productivity maintenance mean to achieve high level of
productivity through total participation of all people inside the
organization and with them maintain the time service by developing self
managing in the people a practice.
Economic development:
The programmed enables people below the poverty line in these adopted
villages to earn their livelihood by involving them in activities that generates
income.
Infrastructure Development
The Company is actively involve in the community development of the
villages by providing infrastructure facilities such as housing, sanitation, road,
drainage, shelter, medical center and natural resource management.
Network at Maruti
Maruti Suzuki India has one of the largest sales and service network in
India spanning 454 cities and comprising of 681 dealers. Maruti Suzuki is
making its domestic sales network stronger day by day to reach out to its
growing number of customers in each and every part of the country. Most of the
Maruti dealership all equipped with 3S facilities, which means that sales,
service and spares facility are offered under one roof. CHENNAI, Team Maruti,
56
comprising company’s top officials, have a job at hand. To target cities and
markets where the company has not got its due share, and strengthen its
presence.
To achieve that, the company has been encouraging its existing dealers to open
new outlets. And it doesn’t seem to be a tough job to accomplish considering
that MUL had rolled out new initiatives like finance, insurance and TrueValue
(used car business) through its dealers.
“Our new initiatives and new businesses have started bearing fruit and it
(dealership) has turned out to be a much bigger business that merely selling
cars,” said Jagdish Khattar, MD, Maruti. Several of the company’s dealers have
invested Rs 4-8 crore on new dealership outlets. And in the next three months,
the company expects to add at least 20 more outlets this way. The company
targeted nine cities, including Mumbai and Bangalore, to strengthen its
presence.
“If they are not prospering from the business, they will not be keen to make
such huge additional investments,” Mr Khattar pointed out. “We are really now
focusing on states where we are not getting our due share,” he said. The
company particularly targeted nine cities, including Mumbai and Bangalore,
across the country to strengthen its presence.
In addition, it also resorted to “price rationalisation” for its models in places like
South India. For instance, if the company had brought down the prices of a few
of its models last year in south, it has again given a 7% reduction in price over
and above the 7% excise duty cut “to get better volumes” from the South this
57
year.
The results are already there. While the company’s ‘B’ segment cars — Zen,
Alto and Wagon R grew by 9-10% in the first 11 months of the current fiscal,
the growth of these models in the south were much higher at 14% for Zen, 79%
for Alto and 55% for Wagon R.
The focus is also spreading the ‘TrueValue’ used car network across the country.
While the network will be 50-outlet strong by the end of the month, it will be
100 by the end of this year. “The objective is to cover more cities through
TrueValue than the new car outlets of our nearest competitor,” Mr Khattar
asserted. Kinji Saito, director (marketing and sales), MUL said that there are
more buyers (waiting to buy used cars through TrueValue) than sellers. “We
need to enthuse them through exchange or customer loyalty programme and
help them to upgrade,” Mr Khattar added.
Four-wheeler dealers more satisfied compared to two-wheeler dealers
According to the findings of the 2004 Dealer Satisfaction Study released by
market information provider - TNS, Honda Motorcycle & Scooters (HMSI) and
Honda Siel Cars (HSCI) rank highest in dealer satisfaction with their principals
in the Two and Four-Wheeler industry segments, respectively.
The study represents the responses of 1238 dealers (which included 846 twowheeler dealers and 392 four wheeler dealers) on the key areas of product,
management relationship, profit & margin, order & delivery, sales & marketing
58
activities, after-sales & parts support, warranty, sales representatives, after-sales
representatives, and training support. Depending on the respondent's
convenience, a combination of face-to-face, telephonic, or self-completion
interviews were conducted for this study. Over 150 cities including metros,
mini metros, state capitals, and other smaller towns were covered for the study.
The study was fielded from October 2004 through December 2004. The 2004
Dealer Satisfaction Study is the second in the series by TNS specialist division,
TNS Automotive.
In contrast, the four-wheeler manufacturers do a remarkable job in almost
doubling their 'partner' dealers in 2004. Honda Siel has significantly increased
the proportion of "Partners" from 38% in 2002 to 70% this year. Also of
significance is the drop in 'uninvolved' dealers - from 34% in 2002 to 22% this
year at the overall level. The challenge for the manufacturers lies in converting
the 'hostage' dealers into 'partners', since, at 28%, they form a very large section
of the dissatisfied dealer community.
A well developed transport network indicates a well developed economy. For
rapid development a well-developed and well-knit transportation system is
essential. As India's transport network is developing at a fast pace, Indian
Automobile Industry is growing too. Also, the Automobile industry has strong
backward and forward linkages and hence provides employment to a large
section of the population. Thus the role of Automobile Industry cannot be
overlooked in Indian Economy. All kinds of vehicles are produced by the
Automobile Industry. The automobile industry in India—the tenth largest in the
world with an annual production of approximately 2 million units—is expected
to become one of the major global automotive industries in the coming years. A
number of domestic companies produce automobiles in India and the growing
presence of multinational investment, too, has led to an increase in overall
growth. Following the economic reforms of 1991 the Indian automotive
59
industry has demonstrated sustained growth as a result of increased
competitiveness and relaxed restrictions. India Automobile Industry includes the
manufacture of trucks, buses, passenger cars, defence vehicles, two-wheelers,
etc. The industry can be broadly divided into the Car manufacturing, twowheeler manufacturing and heavy vehicle manufacturing units.
The small car market in India is increasing by leaps and bounds. The indigenous
market for small cars now occupies a substantial share of around 70% of the
annual car production in India of about one million. The main players in the car
market like Tata Motors and Maruti Udyog are fiercely competitive and more or
less all the automobile companies in India that have forayed into the production
of small cars are trying to out-do each other in terms of design, innovation,
pricing, and technology, in order to gain control of the small car market in India.
The biggest players in the Indian small car market are engaging in a healthy
competition, which has intensified since the Indian government decided to boost
the small car sector. In this regard, a reduction in the excise duties has been
thought of. Even the engine capacities are expected to be raised to 1500cc. The
new small cars in India cars may even be fueled by gasoline and diesel in the
future. With all these facilities, it has been estimated that the indigenous car
market is going to move beyond the 3.5 million mark very soon.
60
Competitor Detail
So many inferences to be drawn from these stats that if I put something,
someone would howl as to why I have missed something else. Still, some very
quick observations:
1.Distinct slowdown in 2007-08 (FY2008).
2. Maruti’s share has remained the most consistent across 2003-08: 46-47%.
Over the same period, Hyundai down marginally, and so is Tata.
3. Pt.2 needs to be combined with the fact that growth during last 5 years has
been higher in bigger segment (cars and MUVs). That means +for Honda and
Toyota; and growth limitation on Maruti, Hyundai, and Tata.
4.That still leaves a lot of room for these 3: the Indian market will still retain a
small car one (with a gradual shift upwards). The small, compact, and Omni
share of total domestic sales has remained at around 65% for last few years.
5. The bigger segment is growing fast but still very low % of total. That should
change in the next decade.
6. Hyundai has dominated exports. That is a +for the country. On the other
hand, no one has found success in exporting bigger cars. They may export to
fellow LDCs (Bangladesh, etc) but not to competitive markets of US, Europe,
and Japan. Could that change soon? Not soon, though people are trying. As of
61
now, only M&M and Tata have some plans, but those involve a radical quality
improvement, which will not happen tomorrow (liability laws have made them
very cautious). Toyota and Honda have the products, but then they also have
factories worldwide. Possibly India could be used as a regional hub. Suzuki
exports small cars, and its big cars do not sell much anywhere.
7. High growth for One month or quarter or even a year do not make a
successful company, as Fiat and GM have found it (have data prior to 2002
also). Even the 3-year growth can be misleading (when read in isolation). Refer
only Skoda. It was anyway growing at a good rate but selling around 1000 prior
to Fabia. Now it sells 1900-2000. That means a 100% growth. Similarly for
Logan/M&M; Spark/GM.
8. Most important for survival (as any business would be aware) is profits. No
profits and selling at a loss soon leads to extinction. The really good profitable
years were till FY2007. From 2003-07, although steel, aluminium, plastics
prices all increased; higher volumes enabled healthy growth in profits and
returns. That has changed in 2007-08 with higher costs continuing, but volume
growth slowing down. For comparison, I am posting the operating margin and
return on networth for major companies which have publicly available financial
results for FY2007 (first figure is margin and second is return):
Maruti: 13.5%, 25.4%; margins increasing FY2004-07
Tata: 10.5%, 30.9%; stable margins
HM: operating losses from 2003-04 onwards
Hyundai: 8.3%, 20.4%; declining margins from 2001-02 onwards, though
margins have been stable during 2005-07.
Honda: 11.2%, 30.8%, stable margins
M&M: 8%, 33.3%; stable margins.
62
Four – Wheeler
As in the two-wheeler segment, manufacturer related aspects are critical
"Motivators" where performance is below average. Segment leader,
Honda Siel has scored above average in 'Concern for dealer profitability'.
This clearly brings out the importance of these attributes with respect to
the overall satisfaction.
The impact of 'Effectiveness of brand/product positioning' on
commitment is relatively lower among 4-wheeler dealers. 4-wheeler
manufacturers are also delivering as per their dealer expectations on this
aspect.
'Fair settlement of warranty claims' & 'Communication to dealer in case
of delay', which were hygiene areas for 2-wheeler dealers have moved to
the motivator segment for 4-wheeler dealers.
'Sales & service training support' has a greater impact on commitment
among 4-wheeler dealers as compared, to 2-wheeler dealers.
A well developed transport network indicates a well developed economy. For
rapid development a well-developed and well-knit transportation system is
essential. As India's transport network is developing at a fast pace, Indian
Automobile Industry is growing too. Also, the Automobile industry has strong
backward and forward linkages and hence provides employment to a large
section of the population. Thus the role of Automobile Industry cannot be
overlooked in Indian Economy. All kinds of vehicles are produced by the
Automobile Industry. The automobile industry in India—the tenth largest in the
world with an annual production of approximately 2 million units—is expected
to become one of the major global automotive industries in the coming years. A
number of domestic companies produce automobiles in India and the growing
presence of multinational investment, too, has led to an increase in overall
63
growth. Following the economic reforms of 1991 the Indian automotive
industry has demonstrated sustained growth as a result of increased
competitiveness and relaxed restrictions. India Automobile Industry includes the
manufacture of trucks, buses, passenger cars, defence vehicles, two-wheelers,
etc. The industry can be broadly divided into the Car manufacturing, twowheeler manufacturing and heavy vehicle manufacturing units. The major Car
manufacturers are,
1
2
3
4
1. Hindustan Motors
5
2. Maruti Udyog,
6
3. Fiat India Private Ltd
7
4. Ford India Ltd
8
5. General Motors India Pvt. Ltd
9
6. Honda Siel Cars India Ltd
10
7. Hyundai Motors India Ltd
11
8. Skoda India Private Ltd
12
9. Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd
13
14
The two-wheeler manufacturing is dominated by companies like TVS,
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (Pvt.) Ltd., Hero Honda, Yamaha, Bajaj, etc.
The heavy motors like buses, trucks, defense vehicles, auto rickshaws and other
multi-utility vehicles are manufactured by Tata-Telco, Ashok Leyland, Eicher
Motors, Bajaj, Mahindra and Mahindra,etc. Following India‘s growing
openness, the arrival of new and existing models, easy availability of finance at
relatively low rate of interest and price discounts offered by the dealers and
manufacturers all have stirred the demand for vehicles and a strong growth of
the Indian automobile industry.
64
15
Small Car Market in India
16
The small car market in India is increasing by leaps and bounds. The
indigenous market for small cars now occupies a substantial share of around
70% of the annual car production in India of about one million. The main
players in the car market like Tata Motors and Maruti Udyog are fiercely
competitive and more or less all the automobile companies in India that have
forayed into the production of small cars are trying to out-do each other in terms
of design, innovation, pricing, and technology, in order to gain control of the
small car market in India. The biggest players in the Indian small car market are
engaging in a healthy competition, which has intensified since the Indian
government decided to boost the small car sector. In this regard, a reduction in
the excise duties has been thought of. Even the engine capacities are expected to
be raised to 1500cc. The new small cars in India cars may even be fueled by
gasoline and diesel in the future. With all these facilities, it has been estimated
that the indigenous car market is going to move beyond the 3.5 million mark
very soon.
65
Part : II
Project Overview
66
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Our society is a land of diversity. We see diversity at all level exist among
consumers, among nation, culture, food and taste among marketers and even
among consumers behavior theoretically perspective. However, despite
prevailing diversity in our society.
The term consumers behavior refers to the behavior that consumers
display in searching for purchasing, using, evaluating a disposing of product
and service that they expect will satisfy their needs. To study consumers
behavior to spend their available resource to understand and predict behavior in
the market place, it also promote understanding of the role that consumption
play in the lines of individuals.
Consumer behaviour study include the study what they buy, why they buy
it, when they buy, where they buy it, how often they buy it and how often they
use it. Consumer research takes place at every phases of the consumption
process, before the purchase, during the purchase and after the purchase,
consumer behaviour research goes far beyond these facts of consumer
behaviour and considered the uses of consumers make of the good they buy and
their subsequent evaluation.
Consumer behaviour is inter disciplinary, that it is based on concept and
theories about people that have been involved by scientist in such diverse
disciplines as psychology, sociology, social psychology, cultural anthropology
and economics.
Consumer behaviour has been an integral part of strategic market
planning. The belief that ethics and social responsibility should also be Integral
component of every marketing decision is a revised market concept.
The term consumer is often used to describe two different kinds of
consuming entitles the personal consumer and the organizational consumers.
The personal consumers buys goods and service for his/her own use for the
67
organizational encompasses for profit and non profit business, govt. agencies
and institution all of which must buy product, equipment and service in order to
run their organization.
Introduction to buying motives Consumer or buyer is the central figure of all
marketing activities. It is the consumer who determines the growth, prosperity
and even existence of a business enterprise. Hence the marketer should always
feel the pulse of customers. In order to understand the pulse of the customers,
the marketer needs to understand fully the working of buyers mind. It helps him
to plan his production and distribution to suit to the needs and convenience of
customers‘ .It also helps him to plan suitable marketing strategies. Thus it is
very essential for every marketer to know his customers buying motives.
Buying motives Motive is a strong feeling, instinct, desire or emotion that
makes a person to do something. When a motive makes a person to buy a
product, then it becomes a buying motive. Thus buying motive means the
influence and considerations which makes a customer to buy a particular
product. According to D.J.Duncan, ―buying motives are those influences or
considerations which provide the impulse to buy, induce action or determine
choice in the purchase of goods and services‖. Buying motives are mainly two
types, manifest motives and latent motives. Manifest motives are those motives
which are known to the customer and also ready to admit them.
68
Consumer Behaviour: Turning to the Web and New C2C Tools
Consumers today have a multitude of sources from which to gather information
during the vehicle buying process, but the Internet tops the list. The web has
become a standard resource in the shopping process for eight out of 10
consumers when researching car purchases. However, the way they use it is
changing. As the web matures, vehicle buyers are visiting fewer sites and
focussing more on manufacturer and C2C websites and less on third-party
information sites and independent e-tailer sties.
Manufacturer Sites a Key Information Source
Just two years ago, information websites were identified as the number one
information source by web users responding to the Cars Online survey (tied
with family and friends and manufacturer specific dealer), named by 55% of
consumers. This year, they dropped to the number four source, named by 41%
of web users. In comparison, manufacturer sites are now the top source for
consumers who use the web when researching vehicles, named by 70% of
respondents. Two years ago manufacturer sites held the number three position,
named by 43% of web users. The use of dealer websites has remained steady,
with about half of web users turning to these sites.
Key Factors in Vehicle Choice
When it comes to making their final decision about which vehicle to buy,
consumers focus on factors such as reliability, safety, price and fuel economy.
At the bottom of the list are cash-back incentives, named by fewer than half of
consumers. The importance of incentives as a deciding factor has declined for
the past several years, indicating that consumers today seem less interested in
69
gimmicks when it comes to their car purchases. Where consumers are in the
buying cycle can make a difference in how they rank the factors that influence
their vehicle choice. For example, additional warranty coverage is important to
consumers who are furthest away from the point of purchase; it was named by
69% of respondents who were 13 to 18 months from purchase. However, the
number declines as consumers get closer to actually buying the car: 55% of
respondents who were within three months of purchase said extra warranty
coverage was important. This reflects the fact that consumers will narrow down
the factors that really matter to them as they get closer to the point of purchase.
Demographic factors such as age and gender accounted for some variances. For
example, older consumers tend to put more emphasis on reliability and safety
than do younger respondents. Those in the 50-plus age group were also more
concerned with environmental issues and fuel economy. The youngest
respondents were most likely to rate the ability to research information on the
Internet as an important factor in their vehicle decision. Women tend to rate
most of the factors as more important than do men. The difference was most
pronounced for cash-back incentives, low financing, safety, environmental
issues, fuel economy and additional warranty coverage.
70
Going ‘Green’: Fuel Efficiency Takes Centre Stage
Fuel efficiency and environmental issues have moved to the forefront in
consumers’ minds and in automotive industry forums thanks to factors including
global warming, fluctuating gasoline prices, and proposed legislation to increase
fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. This growing interest in so-called
green vehicles was evident in this year’s Cars Online research.
More than one-quarter of respondents said they currently own or lease a fuelefficient vehicle while almost half said they are planning to buy or thinking
seriously about buying a fuel-efficient vehicle. Not surprisingly, the numbers for
alternative-fuel vehicles were lower. Just 2% of respondents currently own an
alternative-fuel vehicle and 11% are planning to buy or thinking seriously about
buying one. The most common type of alternative-fuel vehicle represented in
the survey were gas/ electric hybrids, named by about half of current
alternative-fuel car owners.
Biodiesel vehicles were the second most common, named by 15%. The
alternative-fuel market remains in transition and it’s still too early to tell how it
will ultimately shake out, although sales are expected to continue to grow. For
example, J.D. Power and Associates predicts that U.S. sales of hybrid vehicles
will increase by 35% in 2007, compared with 2006.
Current ownership of fuel-efficient and alternative-fuel vehicles tended to be
quite consistent across gender and age groups, although the oldest consumers
were somewhat more likely to be seriously thinking about buying an
alternative-fuel car.
71
CONSUMER BUYING vs. ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING
Final (or ultimate) consumers purchase for:
personal,
family, or
household use
Organizational consumers purchase for:
further production,
usage in operating the organization, and/or
resale to other consumers
Consumer Buying Behavior
The decision processes and acts of final household consumers associated with
evaluating, buying, consuming, and discarding products for personal
consumption
Consider the purchase an automobile. You generally will not consider different
options until some event triggers a need, such as a problem needing potentially
expensive repair. Once this need has put you "on the market", you begin to ask
your friends for recommendations regarding dealerships and car models. After
visiting several dealerships, you test drive several models and finally decide on
a particular model. After picking up your new car, you have doubts on the way
home, wondering if you can afford the monthly payments, but then begin to
wonder if instead you should have purchased a more expensive but potentially
more reliable model. Over the next five years, the car has several unexpected
breakdowns that lead you to want to purchase a different brand, but you have
been very happy with the services of the local dealership and decide to again
purchase your next car there.
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In this particular case, the following generic model of consumer decision
making appears to hold:
=====>need recognition
=====>information search
=====>evaluation of alternatives
=====>purchase decision
=====>postpurchase behavior
Now consider the purchase of a quart of orange juice. You purchase this product
when you do your grocery shopping once per week. You have a favorite brand
of orange juice and usually do your grocery shopping at the same store. When
you buy orange juice, you always go to the same place in the store to pick it up,
and never notice what other brands are on the shelf or what are the prices of
other brands. How is it that the generic model above works differently in this
second scenario? Why does it work differently? Why would we generally need
the ministrations of a sales person in the sale of a car, but we generally do not
need the help of a salesperson in the purchase of orange juice?
How can the marketer of orange juice get a consumer like you to exert more
effort into information search or to consider alternative products? How is it that
the marketer of your brand got you to ignore alternative competing brands?
What is the involvement of salespeople in sales promotions that might be
associated with products such as orange juice?
Consumer behavior researchers are not so interested in studying the validity of
the above generic model, but are more interested in various factors that
influence how such a model might work.
73
GROUP INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Culture
the set of basic values, beliefs, norms, and associated behaviors that are learned
by a member of society
Note that culture is something that is learned and that it has a relatively long
lasting effect on the behaviors of an individual. As an example of cultural
influences, consider how the salesperson in an appliance store in the U.S. must
react to different couples who are considering the purchase of a refrigerator. In
some subcultures, the husband will play a dominant role in the purchase
decision; in others, the wife will play a more dominant role.
Social Class
A group of individuals with similar social rank, based on such factors as
occupation, education, and wealth
Reference Groups
Groups, often temporary, that affect a person's values, attitude, or behaviors
E.g., your behaviors around colleagues at work or friends at school are
probably different from your behaviors around your parents, no matter
your age or stage in the family life cycle. If you were a used car
salesperson, how might you respond differently to a nineteen year old
prospect accompanied by her boyfriend from one accompanied by two
girlfriends?
Opinion leader
A person within a reference group who exerts influence on others because
of special skills, knowledge, personality, etc.
74
o
You might ask the webmaster at work for an opinion about a
particular software application. Software manufacturers often give
away free beta copies of software to potential opinion leaders with
the hope that they will in turn influence many others to purchase
the product.
Family
A group of people related by blood, marriage, or other socially approved
relationship
ENVIRONMENTAL / SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
Circumstances, time, location, etc.
Do you like grapes? Do you like peas?
You might like grapes as a snack after lunch, but probably not as a dessert after
a fancy meal in a restaurant. You might like peas, but probably not as a topping
on your pancakes. Everyday situations cause an interaction between various
factors which influence our behaviors. If you work for tips (a form of incentive
related to commission) as a waiter or waitress, you must certainly be aware of
such interactions which can increase or decrease your sales.
If you are doing your Saturday grocery shopping and are looking for orange
juice, you are probably much more sensitive to price than if you stop at the
quick store late at night, when you are tired and cranky, after a late meeting at
the office. A prospect shopping for a new automobile while debating the
wisdom of a necessary expensive repair to his car might be more interested in
what cars are on the lot than in shopping for the best deal that might involve a
special order.
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INTERNAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Personality
A person's distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively
consistent and lasting responses to stimuli in the environment
We are each unique as individuals, and we each respond differently as
consumers. For example, some people are "optimizers" who will keep shopping
until they are certain that they have found the best price for a particular item,
while other people are "satisficers" who will stop shopping when they believe
that they have found something that is "good enough." If you are a salesperson
in a retail shoe store, how might you work differently with these two
personalities?
Lifestyle and Psychographics
lifestyle is a pattern of living expressed through a person's activities,
interests, and opinions
psychographics is a technique for measuring personality and lifestyles to
developing lifestyle classifications.
Motivation: Multiple motives
Consumers usually have multiple motives for particular behaviors. These can be
a combination of:
manifest
known to the person and freely admitted
latent
unknown to the person or the person is very reluctant to admit
76
Note: different motives can lead to the same behavior; observing behavior is not
sufficient to determine motives.
TYPES OF CONSUMER PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESSES
Routinized
used when buying frequently purchased, low cost items
used when little search/decision effort is needed
e.g., buying a quart of orange juice once per week
Limited Problem Solving
used when products are occasionally purchased
used when information is needed about an unfamiliar product in a
familiar product category.
Extended problem solving
used when product is unfamiliar, expensive, or infrequently purchased
e.g., buying a new car once every five years
Under what sorts of conditions would the assistance of a salesperson be needed?
Not needed?
77
POST-PURCHASE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Satisfaction
After the sale, the buyer will likely feel either satisfied or dissatisfied. If the
buyer beleives that s/he received more in the exchange than what was paid, s/he
might feel satisfied. If s/he believes that s/he received less in the exchange than
what was paid, then s/he might feel dissatisfied. Dissatisfied buyers are not
likely to return as customers and are not likely to send friends, relatives, and
acquaintences. They are also more likely to be unhappy or even abusive when
the product requires post-sale servicing, as when an automobile needs warranty
maintenance.
Cognitive dissonance
It has to do with the doubt that a person has about the wisdom of a recent
purchase
It is very common for people to experience some anxiety after the purchase of a
product that is very expensive or that will require a long term commitment. Jane
and Fred, for example, signed a one year lease on an apartment, committing
themselves to payments of $1500 per month. A week later, they are wondering
if they should have instead leased a smaller $900 apartment in a more rough
part of town; they are not sure if they really can afford this much of a monthly
obligation. Dick and Sally, on the other hand, ultimately rented the $900
apartment, and now are wondering if the savings in rent will be offset by noisy
and sometimes unsafe conditions in this neighborhood.
Perhaps neither couple would be experiencing this anxiety if their landlords had
given them just the smallest of assurances that they had made a good decision.
After a close on products that are expensive or that require a long term
78
commitment, the salesperson should provide the prospect with some reasons to
be happy with the decision. Allow the car buyer to reinforce her own positive
feelings by calling her a week after the purchase to ask how things are going.
Call the new life insurance policy holder after two months to see if there are any
questions; a lack of questions can only help the buyer to convince himself that
he did the right thing.
The four-wheeler Market is even expanding and ever changing showing
new trends. Almost every day, we get to know about the launch of new model
by different company Sales. Their market strategy and also their selling policy.
But as the competitors gets intensified between the domestic and the
multinational brands. The company producing better product enjoy the benefit.
79
Objectives
Tezpur is the most developed town in north bank and gateway to Arunachal
Pradesh and to capture this market and establish themselves as a leader is the
prime aim of all the companies so as to have an psychological impact on the
people and to have an edge over other four wheeler companies were not doing
great business in This region from the very beginning. It was so because the
prices of the product were high and the customer were not fully aware of proper
advertisement facility, which is key factor in influencing a consumer. Earlier
Maruti product was almost enjoying the monopoly market but now Hyundai and
TATA entered the market with various promotional schemes and changing the
market scenario.
Nowadays with the advent of financial scheme by the commercial Bank
and Hire purchase companies, the four-wheeler company has been given new
dimension. But with the introduction of new models, the greater market opened
up for all the motorcar companies, which ultimately led to a stiff competition
between the brands.
Today all the companies namely Hyundai, Toyota, Hyundai, TATA,
Skoda, Chevrolet, Ford, Mahindra etc. are trying to grab the market. Maruti is
enjoying good reputation in motorcar segment in Tezpur market for its after
sales service. According to research, Maruti is the largest car manufacture in
India.
80
1. To study their satisfaction level of customers of different cars available in
Tezpur.
2. To study the importance of various attribute which effect the purchasing
decision of customers in regard of cars.
3. To study the awareness level of different cars in Tezpur.
4. To study the importance of dealer and their influence in marketing/sale
for cars in Tezpur.
5. To study consumers buying behaviours.
6. To find out the expectation of the existing possessing and prospective
customers of the company.
7. To study the impact of media on the customers.
8. To study the satisfaction level of the customers on overall performance
and after sale service of their existing cars.
9. To study different promotional scheme they expect for purchasing a new
car.
Various segments of Maruti are:
The entire model is being used in Tezpur, Maruti Motor is trying to reach
every nook and corner of the North East, it has dealers and sub-dealers in every
part of the North Eastern India. The service provided by them are quite
satisfactory to the consumers, which has helped them to achieve good reputation
in the market.
The four-wheeler companies have divided the market into various
segments, which have helped them to meet the demand more easily. Suppose,
the customer who demand a unique stylish car, for them Maruti has produced
SX4, Grand Vitara which is considered as one of the most extraordinary car in
the market.
81
Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in February 1981, though
the actual production commenced in 1983 with the Maruti 800, based on the
Suzuki Alto kei car which at the time was the only modern car available in
India, its' only competitors- the Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padmini
were both around 25 years out of date at that point. Through 2004, Maruti
Suzuki has produced over 5 Million vehicles. Maruti Suzukis are sold in India
and various several other countries, depending upon export orders. Models
similar to Maruti Suzukis (but not manufactured by Maruti Udyog) are sold by
Suzuki Motor Corporation and manufactured in Pakistan and other South Asian
countries.
Today Maruti is coming up with various sales promotion works to induce
more sales in the city. They also spend a good lot of money in advertisement
like TV advertisements, Hoarding, Banner etc. This help to in increase the sales
of the product.
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METHODOLOGY
(1) Preliminary Survey: - The project study was undertaken general
discussion and informal interview with the customer both possessing and
prospective. The objective were set mainly to gain an idea about
consumers buying behaviors of cars.
(2) Data Collection: - The data were collected from primary sources. The
primary data were collected from the customer both possessing and
prospective. Surveying method through personal or direct interviews with
the help of questionnaire-designed specification for the purpose did this.
(3) Questionnaire Design:- Primary data was collected through well framed
questionnaire. The questionnaire had two parts, one part for possessing
customers and other part for prospective customer. Question was framed
keeping mind. The various information required as per the objectives.
Each question was directed towards getting information regarding Maruti
as well as other competitors. The questionnaire contained both open
ended and close ended question. Also question with multiple-choice
answers, degree of importance scale etc. were included. All effort were
made to that the questionnaire was simple and precise and also adequate
care was taken about the language, structure and format of
questionnaires.
(4) Sample Size: The sample was selected on the basis of simple random
sampling. A total 50 customer surveyed where 44 were processing and 6
were prospective customers.
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The total sample size in segmented under the following zones:
Zones:
1. Isum Motors.
2. Main Road, Tezpur.
3. M.D.Road.
4. Various business establishments in Tezpur.
(5) Analysis: The data collected from the customer were analysed using
different standard statistical tools and techniques each of the question
were analyzed to find out the purchasing behaviour of different cars with
reference to Maruti motors.
(6) Scope: The scope of the project is define by the objective of the study it
self. If the study was basically for the fulfillment at its objectives. This
means that scope of this project study is restricted to consumers buying
behaviours of Maruti cars among the other brand in the market.
Scope of this project is also restricted to the area of field survey in
Tezpur. The study does not include any other area like finance personnel
product etc.
(7) Limitations: With many point the study of this project suffered from
many limitation also, likewise as the sample is low I cannot analyze
many respondent, as the survey may also suffer from bais results.
(8) Recommendation: Recommendation were made or the based of finding
drawn from the project analysis.
84
(9) Conclusion: Conclusion were made on the finding and analysis of the
survey.
85
ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
As the consumers play a key role in the today’s market; their preferences,
attitude and perceptions are of utmost value to the marketers keeping all the
objectives of the study in mind and to give a proper dimension to the study
undertaken, a comprehensive consumer survey was undertaken with the aid of a
well-framed questionnaire. The detail of the findings have been fragmented as:
Demographic profile segment: The analysis on demographic profile has been
done on the basis of Age group, Occupation and Monthly income:
86
Q. No 3. Occupation Considered
This question was put forwarded to extract a profile factor of the respondent.
The prime objective of this question was to know the occupation of the
respondent. Though this it can be analysed that which segment of people have
like for which brands. This question helped to extract the background of the
customers owning and not owning cars.
Table No. 1.1
Occupation
Service
Business
Students
Others
Percentage
30%
40%
20%
10%
People
15
20
10
5
Diagram 1.1
From the responses obtained, it was found that the most of the Businessman
seemed to score high followed by service holder in possession of cars.
Q. No 4. AGE GROUP
87
The age group, which is one of the important roles in the buying behaviour of
the customer, was extracted through this question. It was attempted to cover
most of the age groups in various slabs.
Table No. 1.2
Age groups
20-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
Above 40 years
Percentage
2%
8%
24%
40%
26%
Diagram 1.2
Age Group
The responses revealed that maximum number of car possessed by respondents
in the age group of 36 – 40. Age group above 40 years followed it. The least
was found to be in the age group of 20-25 years.
Q. No 5. INCOME PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
88
Since the income of a respondent is also important in making decision to buy a
car, therefore, this question was framed to extract their level of income. The
slabs of income considered for the purpose were ranging from Rs.15,000/(minimum) and above Rs.45,000/-.
Table No. 1.3
Income slab
Rs.15,000 – Rs.25,000/Rs.25,000 – Rs.35,000/Rs.35,000 – Rs.45,000/Above Rs.45,000/-
Percentage
44%
30%
18%
8%
Diagram 1.3
Out of the total respondents, most of them were found to be in the income
slab of Rs.15,000 – Rs.25,000/- followed by respondents in the age group of
Rs.25,000 – Rs.35,000/-.
Q.NO. 6. AWARENESS ON BRANDS OF CARS
89
The respondents in response to this question revealed the awareness about the
existing brands of cars in the market. To reveal it, they were given options of
various brands that are playing in the market of Tezpur.
Table No. 1.4
Brands
Hyundai
Maruti
Chevrolet
Toyota
Skoda
Ford
TATA
Mahindra
Percentage
100%
100%
76%
100%
70%
100%
100%
100%
Diagram 1.4
It is seemed that almost every brand is well aware by thr respondent.
Q. No. 7. MEDIA OF AWARENESS
An endeavor was made to know the source of information or the awareness of
different brands of existing cars in the market of Tezpur, to the customers. To
respond to this query, respondents were opted with various sources of media.
Table No. 1.5
Media
Newspapers
Percentage
82%
90
Magazines
T.V. Advertisement
Trade Fairs
Friends
Family Members
Others
64%
100%
20%
80%
64%
46%
Diagram 1.5
Of the different media, TV Advertisement ranked top in creating brand
awareness among the perceptual mindset of the customers, which in turn effects
the buying behaviour of a customer.
Q. No. 8. Do You Own a Car
Ownership of car was the chief extraction of this question. To this question only
88% of the respondents were found positive whereas the remaining 12% were
not in possession of a car of their own.
Table No. 1.6
Media
Yes
No
Percentage
88%
12%
91
Diagram 1.6
The question revealed that, of the 50 respondents only 44 of them owns a car
whereas rest 6 do not possess car.
PART A
Questions of Part A were targeted to those respondents who own a car.
These questions were put forwarded to know the brand of possessed by them,
attributes they look for, payment patterns etc. The deliberation of each questions
are discussed below separately below:
92
Q No. 1. Most of the brands of cars existing in the market of Tezpur were given
to choose from by the respondents. Accordingly, respondents made their
responses favoring mostly for Maruti followed by Hyundai.
Table 2.1
Brands
Hyundai
Fiat
Maruti
Chevrolet
Toyota
TATA
Mahindra
Skoda
Ford
Percentage
27.27%
0%
40.90%
4.5%
0%
20.45%
4.5%
0%
2.27%
Diagram 2.1
93
Q.No. 2. This question was attempted to extract the factors, which plays a
major role in the buying behaviour of the customers. It was attempted to cover
most of the factors to make this extract more effective and productive.
Table No. 2.2
Sl.
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
Attributes
Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service
94
Very
Important
39
40
44
35
38
37
20
6
44
Important
Not so
important
5
4
5
6
6
18
19
4
1
6
19
In response to this question, as revealed by respondents, the attribute “fuel
efficiency” and “after sales service” ranked top followed by “financial
assistance
Diagram2.2
Q. No. 3. A major factor “Influence”, which induces a person to buy
anything (herein referred to as car) was revealed by the respondents through
their response to this question.
Table No. 2.3
Source of Influence
Self
Family
Friends
Colleague
Others
Don’t own a car
Percentage
48%
28%
10%
2%
0%
12%
Diagram No. 2.3
95
From the responses obtained, it is found that self-motivation is the major
role in purchasing a car. Of the 50 considered respondents
Q. No. 4
The price factor and payment mode also plays a pivotal role in the
buying behaviour of a customer. Respondents, being customers to respective
companies, also looks for the most convenient mode of payment. Therefore, this
question was designed to know their preferred mode of payment.
In response to this query with four different options like (a) Cash
(b) Bank finance (c) Private finance (d) Others, respondents numbering 21
opted to go for Bank Finance, for the purpose of low and reducing balancing
method of charging interest, whereas 19 respondents opted to go for private
finance for their lesser paper work despite interest being flat. Of the rest 1 opted
for cash and remaining 3 opted for other modes of purchase.
Table No.2.4
Options
No of respondents
96
Cash
1
Bank finance
21
Private finance
19
Others
3
Diagram 2.4
Q. No. 5 This question was designed to know the overall performances that
were being experienced by the respondents from their cars. Also, an open-ended
part in question was offered to reveal the exact kind of problem that they have
experienced from their cars.
80% of respondents were satisfied with the overall performance of the car
whereas remaining 20% were partially or were not satisfied with their car’s
performance.
Table No. 2.5
Options
Percentage
Yes
80%
No
20%
Diagram No. 2.5
97
Q. No. 6 Another major factor playing the role in decision making of buying or
buying behaviour of respondents was “After sales service”. So, this question
was designed to know the satisfaction level on the after Sales service of
respective brands, received by the respondents, which in other words are
considered as the customers of respective brands.
Table No. 2.6
Options
Yes
No
Percentage
100%
0%
Diagram No. 2.6
98
Q. No. 7 This question was designed to know the next option, if any respondent
is willing to go for a new one. To this query, 27.27% respondents were
willing to go for latest model of cars whereas the remaining were happy
to be contended with what they have.
Table No. 2.7
Options
Yes
No
Percentage
27.27%
82.73%
Diagram No. 2.7
99
Q. No.8 In terms of technical feature expectation of the respondents, it was
found that all the technical feature are expected by the customers.
Table No. 2.8
Technical features
Sl. No.
No
Yes
1.
High engine power
100%
0%
2.
High fuel efficiency
95%
5%
3.
Brakes
100%
0%
4.
Tyres & Wheels
80%
20%
5.
Power Steering
98%
2%
6.
Suspension
100%
0%
100
7.
Power window
80%
20%
Diagram 2.8
Q.No.9. This question was targeted to extract if they recommend Maruti to
others. To this response 10 respondents out 12 (possessing Maruti
brands of cars) are recommending whereas remaining 2 are not doing
so.
Table No. 2.9
Options
Yes
No
No of respondents
10
2
Diagram No. 2.9
101
PART – B
This part was intended for those respondents who were not possession of
a four-wheeler car. To this part only 6 respondents responded.
Q.No.1 The never-ending choosy human beings were asked to extract their
preference of brands when they go for their new car. To this question
only two respondents preferred to go for Hyundai brand of cars whereas
3 opted for Maruti and remaining 1 opted for TATA.
Table No. 3.1
Brands
No of respondents
102
Hyundai
Fiat
Maruti
Chevrolet
Toyota
TATA
Mahindra
Skoda
Ford
2
0
3
0
0
1
0
0
0
Diagram 3.1
Q.NO.2 To know the specific model of cars that the respondents would like to
go for in near future are presented herein below in tabular form. The responses
were obtained in the form of an open-ended response.
Table No. 3.2
Models
Hyundai’s Santro l
Maruti’s Wagon R
Maruti’s 800
TATA’s Indica
No of respondents
2
1
2
1
Diagram No. 3.2
103
Q. No.3: This question was attempted to extract the factors, which plays a
major role in the buying behaviour of the customers. All the factors were found
to be important for the respondents.
Table No. – 3.3
Sl.
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Attributes
Price
Financial assistance / credit
facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
Brand image
104
Very
Important Not so
Important
important
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
h)
i)
Advertising
After sales service
6
6
Diagram 3.3
Q. No. 4: The price factor and payment mode also plays a pivotal role in the
buying behaviour of a customer. Respondents, being customers to respective
companies, also looks for the most convenient mode of payment. Therefore, this
question was designed to know their preferred mode of payment.
In response to this query with four different options like (a) Cash (b) Bank
finance (c) Private finance (d) Others, Out of a total of six respondents, one
respondent preferred cash, two respondents preferred Bank finance and three
respondents preferred private finance.
Table No. 3.4
Options
No of respondents
Cash
1
Bank finance
2
Private finance
3
Others
0
105
Diagram – 3.4
Q. No. – 5 : This question was framed to know about the respondents interest
on the various promotional schemes, and was found that out of 6 respondents
100% were interested for the different promotional schemes which is shown in
the following table.
Table – 3.5 (a)
Options
Yes
No
No of respondents
6
0
Table 3.5 (b)
Sl.No.
1
2
3
Scheme
Price discount
Exchange offer
Free gift
Very
Important
Not so important
Important
6
---
-4
3
-2
3
106
4
5
Installment facility
Interest free
4
6
2
--
---
installments
Diagram No. 3.5 (b)
CONCLUSION
Since Indian Automobile market is continuously in the prowl of surging as a
major car manufacturer, people are purchasing car as there is increase of income
of common people as well as change in tastes and preferences of consumers. It
is important for the car manufacturers and car dealers to be able to understand
the different factors affecting the extent in car purchasing behaviour. People are
more conscious about the on spot information provided about various cars who
serves according to the needs and wants of the customer. The type of technology
used and the wider reach of the service stations also affect the most on car
purchasing decision. While government obligations and various policies like
import duties, custom exemptions is seen as second most affecting driver of
purchase of cars. Factor 3 includes family needs; brand image; income level;
special family programs/events like Anniversary, Birthday; insurance facility;
credit card acceptance; car accessories affects customers car purchase decision
causing a variance of 3.080.This shows that importance of family decisions,
107
special occasions in family and the various services provided by car dealers.
includes installment payment facility; location of the car dealer shop; looks;
availability of service station showing customers accessibility to the service
provided. Factor 5 shows the impact of various promotional activities and extra
care taken by car dealers. Factors 6 shows the impact of suggestion provided by
family members and peers as well as price and after sales service provided.
includes the infrastructural benefits of the shop and the variety of cars it
stores .The last but not the least ones shows the impact of factors of technical
specifications of the car and the festive season offersThis study was conducted
to find out the consumer buying behaviour of motorcars in special reference to
the Maruti brand in Tezpur. The findings and analysis revealed many advantages
as well as disadvantages for the Maruti India Pvt Ltd.
Though the Maruti is the faster growing company and leading in the
market facing a stiff competition from Hyundai and Tata motors in the Tezpur.
It has been observed that Maruti adopted many promotional strategies and
company’s marketing channel is also satisfactory.
Now a days people are most aware about after sales service. The dealers
also expect Maruti has over come this problem and facilities should be
improved for meeting the after sales service requirement effectively.
The majority of customers expect loan or installment facilities. The
Maruti has joined hand with State Bank Of India and many private bank to
promote this facilities.
As most of the existing and prospective customers adults, Maruti should
introduces stylish Motor cars which compete its competitors product.
108
But Maruti to meet the expectations of new generation people who are the
prospect, or customers has recently introduce Ritz, SX4, WagonR hoping to
fulfill the demand of the new generation.
As this study was conducted for educational purpose with the aim to give
necessary information to the organization, any mistake by the researchers
should be overlooked considering his inexperience in the field of marketing
research.
LIMITATION
The study suffers from many limitations of this report are enumerated as the
following:
Firstly, being the whole project dependent on primary data, the study has gained
vulnerability.
Secondly, the survey was restricted only 50 respondents in whole Tezpur and as
such may not be true representative of the entire Tezpur.
Thirdly, the major constrain was the time factor, as the study have to be finished
within the stipulated time period.
Fourthly, lack of interest and unenthusiastic response may have allowed
biasness to creep this report.
109
Finally, lack of conclusions, which have been drawn, are subject to criticism at
any stages of its analysis and presentation. This report may not provide the best
possible market scenario and the efforts can always be made to have this project
report more effective and useful.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based
on the findings
drawn from
the project’s analysis, certain
recommendation need to be made as regards to the future course of action
Maruti India Pvt Ltd., which can go a long way in improving the Brand
Awareness
of
the
Company
in
the
Motorcars
market.
The
main
recommendations are:
1. Maruti should continue with its range of innovative products. At the same
time try to add value to its existing products so that it can cater to the
present day requirements. As the study reveals that majority of customers
are aged 20 – 40 years the needs and wants should be kept in mind while
designing new products.
2. There should be proper synchronization between order placed an delivery.
The distribution channel should be enhanced and the models should be
readily available in the market.
110
3. As the buying decision of the buyer has influenced by himself, company
should target them through demonstration and advertisement.
4. As the market for the financial institutions are increasing, the company
should target them through demonstration and advertisement.
5. Facilities should be provide to the dealers so that they can extend them to
the customers while purchasing this brand.
6. Increase in sales promotion budgets to develop a point of purchase display
and to participate to a greater extent in Trade shows and similar kind of
shows and this will motivate the non-users to try out the products.
7. The company can sponsor local cultural programmes like Bihu festival of
Assam holding Bihu competition at least once in a year and for attracting
the youth it may sponsor sports events also.
8. The company can make charitable donation to different organizations. It can
extend their helping hand to the people hotted by natural havoc like flood,
draught, earthquake etc. to win the hearts of the mass people which will
build a good image of the Company among them.
9. As the market for the financial institutions are increasing, the company
should come up with various schemes, which will induce them to influence
the customer for the product. This includes offering various gifts, packages
and financial incentives like higher commission as compared to other fourwheeler companies.
111
10. Incentives and financial benefits provided to the dealers should be
maximized to maintain their level of satisfaction and motivation.
Annexure
Bibiology
Name of the Author/Publisher
Year of Publication
Name of the Books
1. Kotler Philip
Eighth Edition (1994)
Marketing Management
Thirteenth
Modern Marketing
Edition(2003)
Second Edition (1990)
Principle and Practices
Research Methodology
2. RSN Pillai Bhagavathi
3 C.R. Kothari
Websites:http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.marutisuzuki.com
http://www.google.com
112
Questionnaire
Respected sir/madam,
I am Management (MBA) student at Sikkim Manipal University. I have been assigned
a project in the context of which I am conducting a study on “Customer’s buying Behavior”
on Maruti Car in Tezpur, I would like to request you kindly to spare a few minutes for
answering some questions. Your answers will be kept strictly confidential and will be used for
academic purpose only.
1.Name of the respondent:………………………………………………………
2. Address: ………………………………………… Phone no: ………………
3. Occupation: (a) Service
(b) Business
(c) Students
(d) Others
4. Age group.
(a) 20 to 25 years
(b) 26 to 30 years
(d) 36 to 40 years
(e) above 40 years.
5. Monthly income:
(a) Rs. 15,000 to 25,000/(b) Rs 25,000 to 35,000/(c) Rs. 35,000 to 45,000/(d) Above 45,000/113
(c) 31 to 35 years
6. What are the different brands of cars you are aware of?
(a) Hyundai
(b) Maruti
(c) Chevrolet
(d) Toyota
(e ) Skoda
(f) Ford
(g) TATA
(h) Mahindra
7. How did you aware of different brands of cars?
(a) News papers
(b) Magazines
(c) T.V. add
(d) Trade fairs
(e) Friends
(f) Family members
(g) others please specify………………………………………………..
8. Do you own a car?
(a) Yes
(b) No.
If yes please respond to Part A.
If no please respond to Part B.
PART A
(1) Which Brand of cars do you posses ?
(a) Hundai
(b) Fiat
(c) Maruti
(d) Chevrolet
(e) Toyota.
(f) TATA
(g) Mahindra.
(h) Skoda
(i) Ford
(2) How important were the following attributes before you decide to buy the existing
car?
Sl.
Attributes
Very
Important
Not so
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Important
Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
114
important
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
Durability
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service
Millage
(3) Who influence your decision in purchasing cars?
(a) Self
(b) Family
(c) Friends
(d) colleague
(e) Others.
(f) Don’t own a car
4) What was your mode of payment while purchasing the car ?
(a) Cash
(b) Bank finance
(c) Private finance
(d) Others
Please Specify ………………………………………………………….
5) Are you satisfied with the overall performance of your existing car?
(a) Yes
(b) No
If No, Kindly specify the problem ……………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
6) Are you satisfied with the after sales service of your car ?
(a) Yes
(b) No
If No, Kindly specify the problem ……………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
7) Are you planning to purchase a latest model of car ?
(a) Yes
(b) No
If Yes, Kindly specify the Brand ……………………………………………………
8) Which of the following technical features do you accept from your new car that
dose not exist in the old car?
Sl. No.
1.
Technical features
High engine power
115
Yes
No
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
High fuel efficiency
Breaks
Tyres & Wheels
Power Steering
Suspension
Power window
9) For the possessing customers of Hyundai cars, do you recommend others to
purchase Hyundai cars?
(a)
Yes
(b)
No.
PART B
1) Which brand of cars would you like to purchase in near future?
(a) Hyundai
(b) Fiat
(c) Maruti
(d) Chevrolet
(e) Toyota.
(f) TATA
(g) Mahindra.
(h) Skoda
(i) Ford
2) Which model of cars would you like to purchase in near future ?
Model Name ………………………………………………………
3) Please indicate relative importance of the following factors, which you will
consider before purchasing your new car?
Sl.
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Attributes
Very
Important
Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
116
Important
Not so
important
g)
h)
i)
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service
4) What mode of finance will you prefer for purchasing a new car ?
(a) Cash
(b) Bank finance
(c) Private finance
(d) Others
5) Do you want avail any promotional scheme while purchasing the new car ?
(a)
Yes
(b)
No
If yes please indicate the relative importance of the following promotional
scheme.
(Please put a tick in each row)
Sl No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Scheme
Very
important
Important
Price discount
Exchange offer
Free gift
Installment facility
Interest free installment
Thanking you,
117
Not so
important
TOPIC: “Retail Coverage”
The report is an earnest endeavor made to understand the present market scenario of FMCG
in Shimla region and simultaneously ascertain visibility and availability of ITC products. I
was required to conduct a market study to see the coverage by ITC products and bring out
the potential and loyal retailers so that the company could maintain the market leadership in
the existing business scenario in the FMCG market.
During the course of study I visited around 200 retail stores and conducted personal
interviews with the retailers to find out major competitors of ITC. I also used observation
technique to ascertain penetration of the ITC products and the market potential for the new
products. Also interviews were conducted to determine major competitors in FMCG.
1
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objective of the summer training is to ensure that I as a management student develop in
real life experience for handling the specific project and also to develop all understanding of
the various management activities related to the area of my specialization. This training
gives us a substantial corporate exposure and also serves as a useful tool of interaction with
the corporate sector.
The project has been derived from the field of Marketing and is entitled as “Retail coverage
of ITC’s products”.
The main objective of the study is:
To know the retail coverage of ITC products.
Identify the major competitor of ITC FMCG products in the
market.
To check the competitor’s market strategies.
Estimate market potential for ITC FMCG products.
2
PREAFACE
Today almost all the major co-operation is actively marketing their
product beyond their original homeland borders. So, companies must rethink
their marketing strategies instead of continuing with their existing strategy.
Today company work in a war zone of rapidly changing competitive
environment technological advances, changing govt. politics diminishing
customer loyalty and so on.
Now a day world of stiff competition, the companies with existing
marketing strategies need to be changed in a manner so as to cope up with its
rapidly changing competitive environment, technical up gradation, varying
govt. policies, rules and regulation during customer loyalty etc. in the last few
years the information need to conduct a business has grown rapidly.
So, in this context, the Maruti Suzuki is also facing a stiff competition in
the market from its competitors and for this the company is gearing up
themselves to face the competition and conduct a good business taking
successful business decision for more accuracy and timeliness.
As the part of the partial fulfillment of the MBA course a project has been
incorporated in the curriculum during which a study to be under taken in an
organization mainly to take out the newly acquired knowledge and skill from an
actual work situation and take book and classroom teaching give us through
back ground of different functional area devoid of practical experience to how
those area to be administered and managed respectively. This report has given
up an opportunity to gain an inside into a practical applicability of management
concept and theory, learning faster and developed better ability to analysis
3
problems and in decision that contribute significantly for better use of resource
available to the management.
With this view to understand the concept, I have undertaken a project
study in Maruti Suzuki, which has equipped me to prepare a report with a
proper solution of the problem face by the organization.
This area of work has chosen by me as this had all the ingredient of
marketing research and other aspect of marketing as well the report offer a
Glimpse of various stage at project work in order to serve purpose of the study
in systematic manner and hope that the findings and recommendation will go
along way in helping in organization.
4
Table Contents
Executive Summary:
(i)
Page No.
Introduction
4
(ii) Aims & objective
5
(iii) Methodology
6
(iv) Analysis
6-7
(v) Conclusions
7-8
(vi) Recommendations
8-9
Part : I
An Overview of the Company
(i)
Introduction
11 - 27
(ii) History of the Organisation and products
28 - 47
(iii) Special future
48 - 58
(v) Competitors details
59- 63
Part : II
Project Overview
(i)
Introduction
65 - 77
(ii) Objective
78 - 80
(iii) Methodology
81 - 83
(iv) Analysis
84 - 105
(v) Conclusions
106 - 107
(vi) Limitations
108
(vii) Recommendations
109 - 110
Part : III
(i)
Bibliography
111
(ii) Questionnaire
112 - 116
5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(i)
Introduction
Topic
Study on consumer behavior of car with special reference to Maruti Suzuki in
Tezpur.
Organization
Isum Motors Pvt Ltd.
Authorized Dealer, Maruti Suzuki.
Location Of Study
Tezpur
Institutional Guide
Anjan Baruah
Faculty member, Third eye College.
Organizational Guide
Amitab Dey
Sales Officer Isum Motors Pvt Ltd.
Duration
2 Months
6
(ii) Aims and Objectives
Primary :
To make a study on consumer buying behavior of car with special
reference to Maruti Suzuki in Tezpur area.
Secondary :
1. To study their satisfaction level of customers of different cars available in
Tezpur.
2. To study the importance of various attribute which effect the purchasing
decision of customers in regard of cars.
3. To study the awareness level of different cars in Tezpur.
4. To study the importance of dealer and their influence in marketing/sale
for cars in Tezpur.
5. To study consumers buying behaviours.
6. To find out the expectation of the existing possessing and prospective
customers of the company.
7. To study the impact of media on the customers.
8. To study the satisfaction level of the customers on overall performance
and after sale service of their existing cars.
9. To study different promotional scheme they expect for purchasing a new
car.
7
(iii)
Methodology
(i)
Preliminary study.
(ii)
Data collection
(iii)
Questionnaire Design.
(iv)
Sample size
(v)
Analysis
(vi)
Scope and Limitation.
(iv)
Analysis
The project was undertaken to study the consumer buying behavior of
motor car with special reference to Maruti Suzuki in Tezpur.
Major findings are: 1. Demographic profile i.e. Age, Occupation and monthly income of the
customer.
2. Regarding the awareness of different brands of motor cars all
respondents are well aware.
3. According to the most of the respondent the T.V. ads was the best
media in building awareness followed by the newspaper, friends,
colleague, majoring & family members.
4. Regarding importance of attribute before purchasing the motor car in
over all motor cars most of the customer gave importance on brand
image of the company. In case of Hyundai motorcars most of the
8
customer gave importance or fuel efficiency and look on style of the
car.
5. Regarding source of finance most of the customers gave important on
loan and installment facility.
6. Most of the customer gave most importance on high engine power.
(v)
Conslusion
This study was conducted to find out the consumer buying behaviour of
motorcars in special reference to the Maruti Suzuki in Tezpur. The findings and
analysis revealed many advantages as well as disadvantages for the Maruti India
Ltd.
Though the Maruti Suzuki is the faster growing company and leading in
the market facing a stiff competition from Hyundai and Tata motors in the
Tezpur.
It has been observed that Maruti Suzuki adopted many promotional
strategies and company’s marketing channel is also satisfactory.
Now a days people are most aware about after sales service. The dealers
also expect Maruti motorcars has overcome this problem and facilities should
be improved for meeting the after sales service requirement effectively.
The majority of customers expect loan or installment facilities. The
Maruti Suzuki has joined hand with State Bank Of India, and many Private
Banks to promote this facilities.
As most of the existing and prospective customers adults, Maruti should
introduces stylish Motor cars which compete its competitors product.
But Maruti to meet the expectations of new generation people who are the
prospect, or customers has recently introduce Ritz, SX4, AStar hoping to fulfill
the demand of the new generation.
9
As this study was conducted for educational purpose with the aim to give
necessary information to the organization, any mistake by the researchers
should be overlooked considering his inexperience in the field of marketing
research.
(vi)
Recommendations
Based on the findings drawn from the project’s analysis, certain
recommendation need to be made as regards to the future course of action for
Maruti Suzuki, which can go a long way in improving the Brand Awareness of
the Company in the Motorcars market. The main recommendations are:
1. Maruti should continue with its range of innovative products. At the same
time try to add value to its existing products so that it can cater to the
present day requirements. As the study reveals that majority of customers
are aged 20 – 40 years the needs and wants should be kept in mind while
designing new products.
2. There should be proper synchronization between order placed an delivery.
The distribution channel should be enhanced and the models should be
readily available in the market.
3. As the buying decision of the buyer has influenced by himself, company
should target them through demonstration and advertisement.
4. As the market for the financial institutions are increasing, the company
should target them through demonstration and advertisement.
10
5. Facilities should be provide to the dealers so that they can extend them to
the customers while purchasing this brand.
6. Increase in sales promotion budgets to develop a point of purchase
display and to participate to a greater extent in Trade shows and similar
kind of shows and this will motivate the non-users to try out the products.
7. The company can sponsor local cultural programmes like Bihu festival of
Assam holding Bihu competition at least once in a year and for attracting
the youth it may sponsor sports events also.
8. The company can make charitable donation to different organizations. It
can extend their helping hand to the people hotted by natural havoc like
flood, draught, earthquake etc. to win the hearts of the mass people which
will build a good image of the Company among them.
9. As the market for the financial institutions are increasing, the company
should come up with various schemes, which will induce them to
influence the customer for the product. This includes offering various
gifts, packages and financial incentives like higher commission as
compared to other four-wheeler companies.
10.Incentives and financial benefits provided to the dealers should be
maximized to maintain their level of satisfaction and motivation.
11
Part 1
An Overview of the company
12
INTRODUCTION
About the company:
Maruti Suzuki is one of India's leading automobile manufacturers and the
market leader in the car segment, both in terms of volume of vehicles sold and
revenue earned. Until recently, 18.28% of the company was owned by the
Indian government, and 54.2% by Suzuki of Japan. The Indian government held
an initial public offering of 25% of the company in June 2003. As of 10 May
2007, Govt. of India sold its complete share to Indian financial institutions.
With this, Govt. of India no longer has stake in Maruti Udyog.
Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in February 1981, though the
actual production commenced in 1983 with the Maruti 800, based on the Suzuki
Alto kei car which at the time was the only modern car available in India, its'
only competitors- the Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padmini were both
around 25 years out of date at that point. Through 2004, Maruti Suzuki has
produced over 5 Million vehicles. Maruti Suzukis are sold in India and various
several other countries, depending upon export orders. Models similar to Maruti
Suzukis (but not manufactured by Maruti Udyog) are sold by Suzuki Motor
Corporation and manufactured in Pakistan and other South Asian countries.
The company annually exports more than 50,000 cars and has an extremely
large domestic market in India selling over 730,000 cars annually. Maruti 800,
till 2004, was the India's largest selling compact car ever since it was launched
in 1983. More than a million units of this car have been sold worldwide so far.
Currently, Maruti Suzuki Alto tops the sales charts and Maruti Suzuki Swift is
the largest selling in A2 segment.
13
Due to the large number of Maruti 800s sold in the Indian market, the term
"Maruti" is commonly used to refer to this compact car model. Till recently the
term "Maruti", in popular Indian culture, in India Hindu's lord Hanuman is
known as "maruti", was associated to the Maruti 800 model.
Maruti Suzuki has been the leader of the Indian car market for over two
decades.
Its manufacturing facilities are located at two facilities Gurgaon and Manesar
south of Delhi. Maruti Suzuki’s Gurgaon facility has an installed capacity of
350,000 units per annum. The Manesar facilities, launched in February 2007
comprise a vehicle assembly plant with a capacity of 100,000 units per year and
a Diesel Engine plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 engines and
transmissions. Manesar and Gurgaon facilities have a combined capability to
produce over 700,000 units annually.
More than half the cars sold in India are Maruti Suzuki cars. The company is a
subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan, which owns 54.2 per cent of
Maruti Suzuki. The rest is owned by the public and financial institutions. It is
listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in India.
During 2007-08, Maruti Suzuki sold 764,842 cars, of which 53,024 were
exported. In all, over six million Maruti Suzuki cars are on Indian roads since
the first car was rolled out on 14 December 1983.
Pressure started mounting on Indira and Sanjay Gandhi to share the details of
the progress on the Maruti Project. Since country's resources were made
available by mother to her son's pet project. A delegation of Indian technocrats
was assigned to hunt a collaborator for the project. Initial rounds of discussion
were held with the giants of the automobile industry in Japan including Toyota,
Nissan and Honda. Suzuki Motor Corporation was at that time a small player in
14
the four wheeler automobile sector and had major share in the two wheeler
segment. Suzuki's bid was considered negligible.
In the initial rounds of discussion the giants had their bosses present and in the
later rounds related to the technical discussions executives of these automobile
giants were present. Osamu Suzuki, Chairman and CEO of the company
ensured that he was present in all the rounds of discussion. Osamu in an article
writes that it subtly massaged their (Indian delegation) egos and also convinced
them about the sincerity of Suzuki's bid. In the initial days Suzuki took all steps
to ensure the government about its sincerity on the project. Suzuki in return
received a lot of help from the government in such matters as import clearances
for manufacturing equipment (against the wishes of the Indian machine tool
industry then and its own socialistic ideology), land purchase at government
prices for setting up the factory Gurgaon and reduced or removal of excise
tariffs. This helped Suzuki conscientiously nurse Maruti Suzuki through its
infancy to become one of its flagship ventures.
Maruti Suzuki's A-Star vehicle during its unveiling in Pragati Maidan, Delhi. AStar, Suzuki's fifth global car model, was designed and is made only in India.
Besides being Suzuki's largest subsidiary in terms of car sales, Maruti Suzuki is
also Suzuki's leading research and development arm outside Japan
Relationship between the Government of India, under the United Front (India)
coalition and Suzuki Motor Corporation over the joint venture was a point of
heated debate in the Indian media till Suzuki Motor Corporation gained the
controlling stake. This highly profitable joint venture that had a near
monopolistic trade in the Indian automobile market and the nature of the
partnership built up till then was the underlying reason for most issues. The
success of the joint venture led Suzuki to increase its equity from 26% to 40%
in 1987, and further to 50% in 1992. In 1982 both the venture partners had
15
entered into an agreement to nominate their candidate for the post of Managing
Director and every Managing Director will have a tenure of five years.
Initially R.C.Bhargava, was the managing director of the company since the
inception of the joint venture. Till today he is regarded as instrumental for the
success of Maruti Suzuki. Joining in 1982 he held several key positions in the
company before heading the company as Managing Director. Currently he is on
the Board of Directors. After completing his five year tenure, Mr. Bhargava later
assumed the office of Part-Time Chairman. The Government nominated Mr.
S.S.L.N. Bhaskarudu as the Managing Director on 27 August 1997. Mr.
Bhaskarudu had joined Maruti Suzuki in 1983 after spending 21 years in the
Public sector undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited as General
Manager. Later in 1987 he was promoted as Chief General Manager, 1988 as
Director, Productions and Projects, 1989 Director, Materials and in 1993 as
Joint Managing Director.
Suzuki Motor Corporation didn't attend the Annual General Meeting of the
Board with the reason of it being called on a short notice. Later Suzuki Motor
Corporation went on record to state that Mr. Bhaskarudu was "incompetent" and
wanted someone else. However, the Ministry of Industries, Government of India
refuted the charges. Media stated from the Maruti Suzuki sources that
Bhaskarudu was interested to indigenise most of components for the models
including gear boxes especially for Maruti 800. Suzuki also felt that Bhaskarudu
was a proxy for the Government and would not let it increase its stake in the
venture. If Maruti Suzuki would have been able to indigenise gear boxes then
Maruti Suzuki would have been able to manufacture all the models without the
technical assistance from Suzuki. Till today the issue of localization of gear
boxes is highlighted in the press.
16
The relation strained when Suzuki Motor Corporation moved to Delhi High
Court to bring a stay order against the appointment of Mr. Bhaskarudu. The
issue was resolved in an out-of-court settlement and both the parties agreed that
R S S L N Bhaskarudu would serve up to 31 December 1999, and from 1
January 2000, Jagdish Khattar, Executive Director of Maruti Udyog Limited
would assume charges as the Managing Director. Many politicians believed, and
had stated in parliament that the Suzuki Motor Corporation is unwilling to
localize manufacturing and reduce imports. This remains true, even today the
gear boxes are still imported from Japan and are assembled at the Gurgaon
facility.
For most of its history, Maruti Udyog Limited had relatively few problems with
its labour force. Its emphasis of a Japanese work culture and the modern
manufacturing process, first instituted in Japan in the 1970s, was accepted by
the workforce of the company without any difficulty. But with the change in
management in 1997, when it became predominantly government controlled for
a while, and the conflict between the United Front Government and Suzuki may
have been the cause of unrest among employees. A major row broke out in
September 2000 when employees of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) went on an
indefinite strike, demanding among other things, revision of the incentive
scheme offered and implementation of a pension scheme. Employees struck
work for six hours in October 2000, irked over the suspension of nine
employees, going on a six-hour tools-down strike at its Gurgaon plant,
demanding revision of the incentive-linked pay and threatened to fast to death if
the suspended employees were not reinstated. About this time, the NDA
government, following a disinvestments policy, proposed to sell part of its stake
in Maruti Suzuki in a public offering. The Staff union opposed this sell-off plan
on the grounds that the company will lose a major business advantage of being
subsidised by the Government.
17
The standoff with the management continued to December with a proposal by
the management to end the two-month long agitation rejected with a demand for
reinstatement of 92 dismissed workers, with four MUL employees going on a
fast-unto-death. In December the company's shareholders met in New Delhi in
an AGM that lasted 30 minutes. At the same time around 1500 plant workers
from the MUL's Gurgaon facility were agitating outside the company's
corporate office demanding commencement of production linked incentives, a
better pension scheme and other benefits. The management has refused to pass
on the benefits citing increased competition and lower margins.
Maruti Suzuki offers 15 models, Maruti 800, Alto, WagonR, Estilo, A-star, Ritz,
Swift, Swift DZire, SX4, Omni, Eeco, Gypsy, Grand Vitara. Swift, Swift DZire,
A-star and SX4 are maufactured in Manesar, Grand Vitara is imported from
Japan as a completely built unit (CBU), remaining all models are manufactured
in Maruti Suzuki's Gurgaon Plant.
Suzuki Motor Corporation, the parent company, is a global leader in mini and
compact cars for three decades. Suzuki’s technical superiority lies in its ability
to pack power and performance into a compact, lightweight engine that is clean
and fuel efficient.
Nearly 75,000 people are employed directly by Maruti Suzuki and its partners.It
has been rated first in customer satisfaction among all car makers in India from
1999 to 2009 by J D Power Asia Pacific.
Pressure started mounting on Indira and Sanjay Gandhi to share the details of
the progress on the Maruti Project. Since country's resources were made
available by mother to her son's pet project. A delegation of Indian technocrats
was assigned to hunt a collaborator for the project. Initial rounds of discussion
18
were held with the giants of the automobile industry in Japan including Toyota,
Nissan and Honda. Suzuki Motor Corporation was at that time a small player in
the four wheeler automobile sector and had major share in the two wheeler
segment. Suzuki's bid was considered negligible.
Maruti Suzuki has two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India. [12]. Both
manufacturing facilities have a combined production capacity of 1,000,000
vehicles annually.
The Gurgaon Manufacturing Facility has three fully integrated manufacturing
plants and is spread over 300 acres. All three plants have a installed capacity of
350,000 vehicles annually but productivity improvements have enabled it to
manufacture 700,000 vehicles annually. The Gurgaon facilities also manufacture
240,000 K-Series engines annually. The entire facility is equipped with more
than 150 robots, out of which 71 have been developed in-house. The Gurgaon
Facilities manufactures the 800, Alto, WagonR, Estilo, Omni , Gypsy, Swift and
Eeco.
The Manesar Manufacturing Plant was inaugurated in February 2007 and is
spread over 600 acres. Initially it had a production capacity of 100,000 vehicles
annually but this was increased to 300,000 vehicles annually in October 2008.
The Manesar Plant produces the A-star, Swift, Swift DZire and SX4.
Four Wheeler Industry
Approximately 25 of Benz's vehicles were built before 1893, when his first
four-wheeler was introduced. They were powered with four-stroke engines of
his own design. Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under
license, now added the Benz automobile to his line of products. Because France
was more open to the early automobiles, more were built and sold in France
through Roger than Benz sold in Germany. From 1890 to 1895 Daimler and his
19
assistant, Maybach, either at the Daimler works or in the Hotel Hermann, where
they set up shop after falling out with their backers, built about 30 vehicles.
Benz and Daimler seem to have been unaware of each other's early work and
worked independently.
In 1890, Emile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing
vehicles with Daimler engines, and so laid the foundation of the motor industry
in France. George Selden of Rochester, New York, who applied for a patent on
an automobile in 1879, supposedly designed the first American car with a
gasoline internal combustion engine in 1877. In Britain there had been several
attempts to build steam cars with varying degrees of success with Thomas
Rickett even attempting a production run in 1860. Santler from Malvern is
recognized by the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain as having made the first
petrol-powered car in the country in 1894 followed by Frederick William
Lanchester in 1895 but these were both one-offs. [The first production vehicles
came from the Daimler Motor Company, founded by Harry J. Lawson in 1896,
and making their first cars in 1897.
In 1892, Rudolf Diesel got a patent for a "New Rational Combustion Engine".
In 1897 he built the first Diesel Engine. In 1895, Selden was granted a United
States patent(U.S. Patent 549,160 ) for a two-stroke automobile engine, which
hinderd more than encouraged development of autos in the United States.
Steam, electric, and gasoline powered autos competed for decades, with
gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the 1910s.
Every other day a new model of car is being launched in the country, how many
times you must have wished to change that old car of yours and buy a hot set of
wheels. However as you come back to earth, bitter reality bites you; realization
dawns in that you don't have such a big amount of money to invest in a new car.
Don't worry as several banks and financial institution have donned the role of
20
new age Santa Claus to make sure that your dream comes true. Today car loans
are not only available for brand new cars but they are also available for used
cars.
In this section we will try to provide you with an insight into automobile
financing so read on. State Bank of India which is one of the largest
nationalized banks in the country offers you the following advantages
Longer repayment periods up to 7 years
Low processing
No advance EMI along with the down payment effectively increasing the
amount of loan
Interest is calculated on the reducing balance method meaning every time
you repay an amount the interest is calculated on the remaining amount
and not on the one which is out standing at the beginning of the year.
The company gives a loan which is up to 2.5 times of one's net annual income,
with the minimum income cap of the applicant being 75000 rupees per annum.
The company sanctions loans for all new cars and for second hand cars which
are not more than 5 years old. The bank also provides loans to people who don't
have an account with the bank provided they furnish address proof, identity
proof and other relevant documents. For more details click http://www.sbi.co.in
UTI bank offers loans covering 85% of the cost of the vehicle plus registration
and insurance or 20 times the net monthly salary and you can repay the loan
with in a maximum period of 5 years or 60 monthly equated installments.
Car Insurance gives the necessary cover if one meets with some unforeseen
incident or an accident. Car insurance offers a number of benefits. A no claim
bonus is given to the policy holder if no claims are made. It is transferable as it
can be used even if one is changing the auto insurance company.
21
Used car owners shouldn't feel that they are sidelined. Used car insurances help
the second hand car owners greatly. Those who can't afford the luxury cars and
their high prices are opting for used cars.
The Indian automobile industry is the tenth largest in the world with an annual
production of approximately 2 million units. Indian auto industry, promises to
become the major automotive industry in the upcoming years and the industry
experts are hopeful that it will touch 10 million units mark.
Indian automobile industry is involved in design, development, manufacture,
marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. There are a number of global automotive
giants that are upbeat about the expansion plans and collaboration with
domestic companies to produce automobiles in India.
The major car manufacturers in India are Maruti Udyog, Hyundai Motors India
Ltd., General Motors India Pvt. Ltd., Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., Toyota
Kirloskar Motor Ltd., Hindustan Motors etc.
The two-wheeler manufacturers in India are Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India
(Pvt.) Ltd., TVS, Hero Honda, Yamaha, Bajaj, etc. The heavy motors including
buses, trucks, auto rickshaws and multi-utility vehicles are manufactured by
Tata-Telco, Eicher Motors, Bajaj, Mahindra and Mahindra, etc.
Quick Facts:
First Indian to own a car in India was Jamshedji Tata.
First woman to drive a car in India was Mrs. Suzanne RD Tata.
The passenger car and motorcycle segment in the Indian auto industry is
growing by 8-9 percent.
Commercial vehicle will grow by 5.2 per cent.
22
The first automobile in India was rolled in 1897 in Bombay.
India is a potential emerging auto market.
Motorcycles contribute 80% of the two-wheeler industry.
Unlike the USA, the Indian passenger vehicle market is dominated by
cars (79%).
India is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world.
India's motorcycle segment will grow by 8-9 percent in the coming years.
11. India is the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the
world. 12. India has the number one global motorcycle manufacturer. 13.
In Asia, India is the fourth largest car market.
The new chapter in the automobile industry is that of used cars. The massive
demand of used cars indicates that cars are becoming increasingly popular.
Those who can't afford the luxury cars and their high prices are opting for used
cars. In today's time, customers are conscious and diligently investing on car
dealership. Car buyers are investing heavily a lot of time for both to sell a car
and buy car. There's also a number of car websites that have offering detailed
information on new car prices, used cars, car reviews, Chevrolet cars, jaguar
cars and luxury cars.
At present major Indian, European, Korean, Japanese automobile companies are
holding significant market shares. In commercial vehicle, Tata Motors
dominates over 60% of the Indian commercial vehicle market. Tata Motors is
the largest medium and heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer.
Among the two-wheeler segment, including scooters and mopeds- motorcycles
have- major share in the market. Hero Honda contributes 50% motorcycles to
the market in which Honda holds 46% share in scooter and TVS makes 82% of
the mopeds in the country. In the three wheeler industry in India, Piaggio holds
23
40% of the market share. Bajaj is the leader by making 68% of the threewheelers.
Car manufacturers in India dominate the passenger vehicle market by 79%.
Maruti Suzuki is the largest car producer in India and has 52% share in
passenger cars and is a complete monopoly in multi purpose vehicles. In utility
vehicles Mahindra holds 42% share. Hyundai and Tata Motors is the second and
third car producer in India.
Ransom E. Olds.
The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was
debuted by Ransom Olds at his Oldsmobile factory in 1902. This assembly line
concept was then greatly expanded by Henry Ford in the 1910s. Development
of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to the hundreds of small
manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments
included electric ignition and the electric self-starter (both by Charles Kettering,
for the Cadillac Motor Company in 1910-1911), independent suspension, and
four-wheel brakes.
Although various pistonless rotary engine designs have attempted to compete
with the conventional piston and crankshaft design, only Mazda's version of the
Wankel engine has had more than very limited success.
Since the 1920s, nearly all cars have been mass-produced to meet market needs,
so marketing plans have often heavily influenced automobile design. It was
Alfred P. Sloan who established the idea of different makes of cars produced by
one company, so buyers could "move up" as their fortunes improved. The makes
24
shared parts with one another so larger production volume resulted in lower
costs for each price range. For example, in the 1950s, Chevrolet shared hood,
doors, roof, and windows with Pontiac; the LaSalle of the 1930s, sold by
Cadillac, used cheaper mechanical parts made by the Oldsmobile division.
25
Cars by Price Range
Under Rs. 3
Lakhs
Maruti 800, Alto, Omni
Reva
Ambassador
Fiat Palio
Hyundai Santro, Getz
Chevrolet Opel Corsa
Maruti Zen, Wagon R, Versa, Esteem, Gypsy
Ford Icon & Fiesta
Tata Indica, Indigo XL, Indigo Marina
Chevrolet Swing, Optra Magnum, Tavera
Hyundai Accent, Elantra
Mahindra Scorpio
Maruti Baleno
Toyota Innova
Tata Safari
Mitsubishi Lancer, Mitsubishi Cedia
Honda City ZX
Mahindra Bolero
Hyundai Sonata Embera
Toyota Corolla
Ford Mondeo & Endeavour
Chevrolet Forester
Skoda Octavia & Combi
Honda Civic
Rs. 3-5 Lakhs
Rs. 5-10 Lakhs
Rs. 10-15 Lakhs
Rs. 15-30 Lakh
Honda CR-V
Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara
Terracan & Tucson
Mitsubishi Pajero
Audi A4
Opel Vectra
26
Honda Accord
Mercedes C Class
Toyota Camry
Audi A6, A8 & Audi TT
BMW X5, 5 Series & 7 Series
Mercedes E Class, S Class, SLK, SL & CLS-Class
Porsche Boxster, Cayenne, 911 Carrera & Cayman S
Toyota Prado
Bentley Arnage, Bentley Continental GT & Flying
Spur
Rolls Royce Phantom
Maybach
Rs. 30-90 Lakhs
Above Rs. 1 Crore
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The following links gives the complete picture of Indian Auto Industry:
The first auto vehicle rolled out in India at the end of 19th
century. Today, India is the the 2nd largest tractor and 5th largest
commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world. Hero Honda with
Automobile History
1.7M motorcycles a year is now the largest motorcycle
manufacturer in the world.
On the cost front, OEMs eyeing India in a big way to source
products and components at significant discounts to home
Industry Investment market. On the revenue side, OEMs are active in the booming
passenger car market in India.
Industry Growth
Vehicle Production
Auto Export
Auto Companies
The passenger car and motorcycle segment in Indian auto
market is growing by 8-9 per cent. The two-wheeler segment
will clock 11.5% rise by 2007. Commercial vehicle to grow by
5.2 per cent.
India is the 11th largest Passenger Cars producing countries in
the world and 4th largest in Heavy Trucks. Maruti Udyog Ltd. is
the leading 4-wheelers manufacturer. Hero Honda is the leading
2-wheelers manufacturer.
Passenger vehicle exports have grown over five times and twowheeler exports have reached more than double. Exports of auto
components, whose manufacturing costs are 30-40 per cent
lower than in the West, have grown at 25% a year between 2000
to 2005.
Hero Honda is the largest manufacturer of motorcycles. Hyundai
Motors India is the second largest player in passenger car
market. Tata Motors is the fifth largest medium & heavy
commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world.
Know about the number of vehicles registered as Transport or
Vehicle Distribution Non-Transport in the Indian states and Union Territories.
Associations
Get all the contact details of Automobile Association of Upper
India (AAUI), Automotive Research Association of India
(ARAI), Automobile Association of Southern India (AASI),
Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India
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(ACMA) and more
Sales and Service Network
Maruti Suzuki is one of the companies in India which has unparalleled sales and
service network. As of 2009 it currently has 681 dealerships across 454 cities.
To ensure the vehicles sold by them are serviced properly, Maruti Suzuki has
779 dealer workshops, 1,945 Maruti Authorized Service Stations and 30 Express
Service Stations on 30 National Highways across 1,314 cities in India.
Service is a major revenue generator of the company. Most of the service
stations are managed on franchise basis, where Maruti Suzuki trains the local
staff. Other automobile companies have not been able to match this benchmark
set by Maruti Suzuki. The Express Service stations help many stranded vehicles
on the highways by sending across their repair man to the vehicle.
29
Historical timeline
1909 – Suzuki Loom Works founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture,
by Mr. Michio Suzuki.
1920 – Reorganized, incorporated, and capitalized at 500,000 yen as
Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. with Michio Suzuki as president.
1952 – 'Power Free' motorized bicycle marketed.
1954 – Company name changed to Suzuki Motor Co.,Ltd.
1955 – Lightweight car Suzuki Suzulight (360 cc, 2-stroke) front wheel
drive, marketed helping to usher in Japan's light-weight car age.
1961 – Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. established by separating the
loom machine division from the motor works and lightweight truck
'Suzulight Carry' marketed.
1962 – Suzuki won the 50 cc class championship at the Isle of Man TT
1963 – U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp., a direct sales subsidiary, opened in Los
Angeles.
1965 – 'D55'(5.5 hp, 2-stroke) outboard motor marketed and makes early
inroads and Fronte 800 marketed.
1967 – Thai Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. established as a local assembly plant.
1968 – Carry full-cab van marketed.
1970 – LJ-Series 4X4 marketed.
1971 – Ts185 Enduro marketed.
1971 – GT750 motorcycle marketed.
1973 – Suzuki Canada Ltd., opened in Ontario, Canada.
1974 – P.T. Suzuki Indonesia Manufacturing established in Jakarta,
Indonesia, entry into medical equipment field by marketing the Suzuki
Motor Chair Z600 motorized wheelchair, expansion into the housing field
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initiated with Suzuki Home marketing two models of prefab 'Mini-House'
and three types of storage sheds.
1975 – Antonio Suzuki Corp., a joint venture for knockdown production
and sales, established in Manila, the Philippines.
1976 – GS-Series motorcycles marketed.
1977 – LJ80 4x4 vehicle marketed and exports of GS1000H motorcycle
began.
1979 – Alto marketed.
1979 – SC100 marketed in the UK.
1980 – Suzuki Australia Pty. Ltd. established in Sydney, Australia and
entry into general purpose engine field by marketing three electric power
generator models.
1981 – Business ties with General Motors (U.S.) and Isuzu Motors, Ltd.
(Japan) signed.
1982 – 4X4 production began at PAK Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. in Karachi,
Pakistan and won maker championship for 7th consecutive year at the
World Road Race Grand Prix 500.
1982 – SC100 Discontinued in favour of Alto.
1983 – Enters into a partnership with Maruti Udyog Ltd. to produce cars
in India.
1983 – Cultus/Swift 1.0-liter passenger car marketed and 4X4 production
started at Maruti Udyog Ltd. in New Delhi, India.
1984 – Suzuki New Zealand Ltd. established in Wanganui, New Zealand
and began export of Chevrolet Sprint to the United States. Car production
technical assistance contract signed with China National Aerotechnology
Import & Export Beijing Corporation. Operation of Suzuki Motor GmbH
Deutschland began in Heppenheim, Germany.
1985 – SUZUKI of AMERICA AUTOMOTIVE CORP. established with
the introduction of the Samurai, and the GSX-R750 motorcycle with an
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oil-cooled engine marketed and scooter production started at Avello S.A.
of Spain. Agreement with Santana Motors to produce Suzuki cars in their
Linares factory in Andalusia, Spain.
1986 – American Suzuki Motor Corp. is formed merging U.S. Suzuki
Motor Corp and Suzuki of America Automotive Corp.
1987 – Cultus/Swift production began in Colombia and total aggregate
car exports reached 2 million units.
1988 – Escudo/Vitara 4x4 marketed and total aggregate car production
reached 10 million units..
1989 – CAMI Automotive Inc. established and began operation in
Ontario, Canada. Swift GT/GLX and Sidekick sales begin in the United
States.
1990 – Corporate name changed to Suzuki Motor Corporation.
1991 – Car production started in Korea through technical ties with
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Ltd and Cappuccino 2-seater
marketed.
1993 – Passenger car production/sales began at Suzuki Egypt S.A.E.,
opening ceremony for new car production plant held at Magyar Suzuki
Corp. in Esztergom, Hungary and Wagon R passenger car marketed.
1994 – Maruti Udyog Ltd. of India total aggregate car production reached
1 million units.
1995 – Total aggregate motorcycle export reached 20 million units
1996 – Start of production in Vietnam (Motorcycles and automobiles)
1997 – Achieved 10 million cumulative automobile sales for overseas
market and 4-stroke outboard motors win the Innovation Award at The
International Marine Trade Exhibit and Conference (IMTEC) in Chicago.
32
1998 – Suzuki and General Motors form strategic alliance and Chongqing
Chang'an Suzuki Automobile Co., Ltd. received official approval from
the Chinese government for production of passenger cars.
1999 – Aggregate motorcycle production reaches 40 million units and
Jiangxi Changhe Suzuki Automobile Co., Ltd. receives official approval
from the Chinese government for production of commercial vehicles.
2000 – The company commemorates the 80th anniversary, aggregate car
production at Kosai Plant reaches 10 million units and Suzuki production
starts at General Motors de Argentina S.A.
2001 – Aggregate Launch of Suzuki Liana/Aerio. worldwide sales of SJSeries reaches 2 million units, production of Alto reaches 4 million units
and Suzuki achieves "Zero-Level" target of landfill waste
2002 – Achieved 30 million cumulative automobile sales for worldwide
market and America's #1 warranty: 100,000/7-year powertrain limited
warranty.
2003 – Suzuki is #1 in Kei car sales for the 30th consecutive year and
Twin, the first hybrid Kei car in Japan, marketed.
2004 – Aggregate domestic automobile sales reach 15 million units.
2005 – Swift was awarded the 2006 RJC Car of the Year.
2006 – New XL7 is marketed particularly to the North American market;
and GM divested, selling 92.36 million shares and reducing their stake to
3%.
2008 – Suzuki introduces its first production fuel-injected motocross
bike; and GM divested its remaining 3% stake in Suzuki.
2009 – Suzuki introduces its first production pickup truck called the
Equator. Volkswagen AG and Suzuki reach a common understanding to
establish a close long-term strategic partnership
2010 – Volkswagen AG completed the purchase of 19.9% of Suzuki's
outstanding shares.
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Maruti Poducts
1. 800 (Launched 1982)
2. Omni (Launched 1984)
3. Gypsy (Launched 1985)
4. WagonR (Launched 2001)
5. Alto (Launched 2000)
6. Swift (Launched 2005)
7. Estilo (Launched 2006)
8. SX4 (Launched 2007)
9. Swift DZire (Launched 2008)
10. A-star (Launched 2008)
11. Ritz (Launched 2009)
12. Eeco (Launched 2010)
Discontinued Car Models
1000 (1990–1994)
Zen (1993–2006)
Esteem (1994–2008)
Baleno (1999–2007)
Versa (2001–2010)
Grand Vitara XL7 (2003–2007)
May Launch
34
Maruti Cervo
1.Maruti 800 :- It is a city car manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India. It is a
rebadged version of an old model of the Suzuki Alto. Over 2.5 million Maruti
800's have been sold since its launch in 1984. The same car is sold in Pakistan
as the Suzuki Mehran with a much older 1980s era Suzuki SS80 carburetor
based engine. The 800 has undergone some minor face lifts but overall it still
remains the same as it was in 1984. The car has reported slipping sales in recent
times, mainly due to the introduction of the Alto at a comparable price. The car
produces approximately 37 bhp (28 kW; 38 PS) of power and runs on 12 inch
wheels. Curb weight is 650 kg (1,433 lb) and 4 passengers (including the driver)
fit in. Top speed is in the region of 125 km/h (78 mph) and the car is known to
deliver fuel economy better than 20 km/l (47 mpg) on clear and plain roads.
Maruti Suzuki had earlier launched a version with a 4 valves per cylinder
engine producing 45 bhp (34 kW; 46 PS) coupled with a 5-speed manual
transmission (currently found in the Suzuki Alto) but discontinued it after a
couple of years.
The Maruti 800 is still popularly hailed in India as "the smallest car in
production" due to its relatively tightly spaced interior. Its main competitor is
the cheaper Tata Nano (123,000 compared to 184,641 Rupees) which has an 8
percent smaller exterior size and a 23 percent larger interior space. Maruti 800 the first choice for all those who want a 'value for money car' that is little on
pocket and big in performance. Maruti 800 is safe, economical and easy to drive
car(with a small turning radius of 4.4 m) in congested road conditions. Since its
launch in December 1984, Maruti 800 has gone through various changes in
styling, structure and technology.
For years Maruti 800 has remained the right opening car for people who look
for low cost of ownership and fuel efficiency. It is a car perfectly made for the
35
Indian roads. It goes in any location, be it in town, around town, highways, busy
streets, narrow lanes anywhere and everywhere.
In order to make the car more attractive, new engine has been installed in M800.
The M800 E 2 AC has been a major success.
Variants, Price and Mileage
The car is available in Standard and A/C versions in metallic and non-metallic
colors. It is available in the price range of around Rs 2 lakhs.
Engine
The engince produces approximately 37 bph (28 kW) of power. It consists of 4gear, 4-stroke, and 800 cc water cooled engine having three two-valvescylinders. The pistol displacement is 796cc. Maruti800 has a fuel tank of
capacity of 28 liters for petrol.
Safety
Thanks to the presence of specially allocated crumble zone which absorbs the
impact of accident, Maruti 800 ensures safe journey. It is equipped with front
and rear seat belts to provide more safety.
36
2.Maruti Omni :- It is a microvan manufactured by Indian automaker Maruti
Suzuki. The first version of Maruti Omni had 796 cc engine, same as the Maruti
800 city car. This was the second vehicle to be launched by Maruti, one year
after the 800, in 1984. Later version of the Omni includes the:
Omni (E), released in 1996, 796 cc engine, 8 seater capacity vehicle
Omni XL - 1999, same engine, modified with a higher roof.
Omni Cargo LPG - 2004, created to answer the growing popularity of this
car being used as an inter-city cargo vehicle.[1]
Omni LPG - 2003, same 796 cc engine, added with a factory fitted LPG
Kit, authorised by the Indian RTOs (Regional Transport Offices). This
makes it the most economic 4 wheeler in India, as far as the driving costs
are concerned.
Omni Ambulance - A Modified E version into an ambulance vehicle. This
is the most common type of ambulances found in Indian cities.
37
3.Gypsy :- It is manufactured in India by Maruti Suzuki. It was introduced in
the Indian market in 1985 with the 970cc F10A Suzuki engine and was an
instant hit in the civilian market as well as with law enforcement. It was
codenamed MG410 that stood for Maruti Gypsy 4 cylinder 1.0 litre engine.
Initially, it was only available as a soft-top; but a bolt on hardtop was later
introduced to the public after the aftermarket hardtops became extremely
popular. It instantly replaced Premier Padmini as the quintessential Indian rally
car due to its performance, reliability, tunability and the go-anywhere capability.
The carburetted F10A engine made 45bhp and was mated to a 4 speed gearbox.
The 4WD transfer case had 2 speeds. It had a freewheeling mechanism
[1]
on the
front axles made by Aisin to unlock the front axles from the hub when 4WD is
not used; It reduced rolling resistance, thereby improving fuel efficiency.
However, many owners of the Gypsy who constantly complained about the poor
fuel consumption never knew about this novel feature.
The two major complaints of the vehicle in the civilian market were poor fuel
consumption and poor ride quality especially in the rear seats. The suspension
was indeed harsh with live axles and leaf springs all around. It features almost
no creature comforts, like power-windows and power-assisted steering.
38
4.WagonR :- WagonR The Suzuki Wagon R is a kei car first introduced in
Japan in 1993, and is still in production by Suzuki. The R stands for recreation.
It is one of the first cars to use the "tall wagon" design in which the car is
designed to be unusually tall with a short bonnet and almost vertical hatchback
and sides in order to maximise cabin space while staying within the kei car
dimension restrictions.
The Wagon R has been the best-selling kei car in Japan since 2003 and in 2008,
Suzuki expected to produce its three-millionth Wagon R.
It has been a profitable car for Suzuki even in the International market, mainly
since introducing the car in India. The car comes with a variety of trim levels.
These include the LX (sans power steering), Lxi (power steering), VXi (fully
loaded) and the AX (automatic). The car is available with a 5-speed manual
transmission and seats 4 (including the driver) comfortably.
The Wagon R's bread-box shape did not immediately cut ice with the Indian
consumer and the car saw slow sales initially. Recently New version of
WangonR has been launched with more upgraded features. Wearing an
innovative and sporty looks Maruti Suzuki Wagon R is enjoying good market
position in small car segment. India's leading auto maker Maruti Udyog Ltd
(MUL) has designed Wagon R with ample and convertible inner space, finely
crafted panels and the power of a low friction 64 bhp engine. Available in three
variants (LX, LXi, VXi) Wagon R has everything that small car lover looks for.
'Blue Eyed Boy' - The New Wagon R
Maruti has re-lauched its second best selling model to compete in present
competitive car market. The new WagonR is roomier with larger cabin space,
increased leg-room for all passengers and larger boot. Other major highlighs
39
includes fitment of a new L-shaped front suspension for improved ride comfort,
tiltable steering, electrical outside rear view mirror, superior AC for faster
cooling and tubeless tyres. Externally, the new Wagon R flaunts a new grill and
bigger and sweeping headlamps with blue tint giving it a refreshing new look.
The new K10B engine marks the technical advancement and ensures a high
mileage of 18.9 kmpl. The new cool colors are bound to get you attracted
towards this smart boy of maruti. Available in three variants viz LX, LXI and
VXI, this re-loaded new Wagon R can make it to your garage in Rs 3.28 - 4.14
lakhs.
5. Alto:- The Maruti Alto is the Indian-built Suzuki Alto version, manufactured
by Maruti Suzuki in India. It was launched in the local Indian market on
September 27, 2000 although the Alto nameplate was very successfully being
used to export the Maruti Zen to Europe from India since around 1994having
captured over 40% market share in Belgium and 33% in Netherlands by 1998. It
is the best-selling hatchback in India. Since 2006, It is India's largest selling car
and crossed the 1 million production figure in February 2008 becoming the 3rd
Maruti model to cross the million mark in India after Maruti 800 and Maruti
Omni and 4th overall joining Hyundai Santro. Besides being exported to Europe
from 1994-2004, it has also been exported to several other countries. In the
small hatchback car segment of India, Maruti Suzuki Alto gives 'maximum'
comfort and safety features with 'minimum' price tag. The most economical
petrol engine powered with 32-bit computer technology delivers great output of
47 bhp. Available with number of convenient and security features, Maruti
Suzuki Alto has become like a hot cake in its segment.
Maruti Suzuki Alto, is tagged as the Best Selling car of India from last three
years. One of the hottest selling compact cars in the Indian market, Alto has an
40
efficient engine system and better mileage. Maruto Alto is targeted at middle
class families living in cities because of high fuel economy and affordability.
Least maintenance cost and variety of vibrant colours make it true value for
money.
The car has high tensile steel side door beams to guard against the front, rear
and side collision impact. The looks are tough but accommodating, having more
Boot Space than other cars. The AC of the vehicle is ideal for India's tropical
climate
6. Swift :- Swift debuted at the Paris Auto Salon in September 2004. This
generation of the Swift marked a significant departure with the previous Cultusbased models, with Suzuki re-designing the vehicle as less of a "low price
alternative" subcompact and more of a "sporty" subcompact.The Swift's design
and driving characteristics focused on the European market with its chassis
refined through a road-testing program across Europe.
Available with 1.3 (92 PS (68 kW; 91 hp)) and 1.5 (102 PS (75 kW; 101 hp)) L
petrol engines, the new Swift is Suzuki's new "global car", produced in
Hungary, India, Japan, Pakistan and by Chang'an in China. Maruti Suzuki Swift
is rocking the hatchback car segment of India and has become the blockbuster
model since its launch. Swift is cool, stylish and dressed powerfully. Big
dimensions, great fuel economy, larger fuel tank capacity, European style looks,
eye-catching interiors and above all the support of large Maruti service network,
makes Suzuki Swift a thrilling car that has emerged as a tough competition for
Hyundai
and
41
Tata.
Maruti Suzuki Swift, the car of the year, was launched in May 2005. It is a new
kind of compact car with a fresh approach to design and development. The
Swift is more eye-catching, more spacious, more refined and more user-friendly.
It is a whole lot of enjoyable to drive than anything else in the compact-car
category.
7.Estilo :- The First Generation MR Wagon is currently sold in India as "Maruti
Suzuki Estilo", where it was known until 2009 as the "Maruti Zen Estilo". This
transition has brought about a steady decline in sales for this model though the
redesign has brought significant improvement in performance and styling over
the car's Japanese variants.
The first generation model went on sale on December 4, 2001, featuring
Suzuki's K6A kei car engine, in either naturally-aspirated (40 kW / 54 hp) or
turbocharged (44 kW / 60 hp) versions, available with either front-wheel drive
or all-wheel drive. In all versions, the transmission was a 4-speed transmission
with column shift. A hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle based on the firstgeneration MR Wagon was presented in 2005, using technology co-developed
with General Motors. Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo is a flamboyant model launched
by India's leading auto company Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) replacing the
Zen model. Zen Estilo, with its sporty looks, roomy space, true riding comfort
and competitive price tag, would definitely make its style statement in the small
car segment in India posing a tough call for other players like Hyundai and Tata.
Estilo is all set to compete against the Hyundai Santro, Tata Indica and possibly
can eat into the sales of its own model, the Swift. Maruti Udyog launched the
Zen Estilo to cater to a slightly upmarket customers then that of the Maruti 800
had. Estilo is powered by 1.1 l MPFI engine that delievers a power of 64 bhp @
6200 rpm. Zen Estilo wears an aerodynamic body in unique bean shape with
42
stunning body line. Just step inside Zen Estilo which is soft-plush from inside
and sleek-dynamic from outside, would shape your world in new dimension of
comfort, style and performance.
8.SX4:- SX4 Maruti Suzuki launched SX4 sedan with the 1.6-litre gasoline
engine (without VVT) in 2007. Currently, the SX4 comes equipped with the
1.6-litre gasoline engine (with VVT). Minor cosmetic differences can be seen
between the Indian version and others sold elsewhere. For the 2010 model year,
SX4 five-door hatchback is available with a 1.6-litre DOHC VVT petrol engine,
2.0-litre DOHC engine and 2.0 litre DDiS engine (16 valve, 135 PS & 320 Nm
torque) on the AWD version. The 1.6 litre DOHC VVT engine revised to the
new CO2 emission control standards Euro 5 regulations. The engine gets also
slight performance increase (from 102 to 107 bhp). (The US-market 2.0 litre
engine from 143 to 150 bhp) and lower fuel consumption.
The car is offered either a six-speed manual, 4 speed automatic transmission for
1.6 litre engine cars, or CVT automatic transmission with paddle shifters for 2.0
litre I4 engine cars.
The 2010 model also gets front (ventilated) and rear (solid) disc brakes, 6
airbags (front, side and curtain), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), and
Electronic Stability Program (ESP), optional in 1.6 litre models.
The 2010-model SX4 saw changes to the grille, taillights, instrument cluster,
climate controls, and door trim, as well as a restructured cargo hold, and allwheel-drive models add new rear skid plates. "Men are back" amongst the cars.
Maruti Suzuki SX4-the strong, masculine body outline, generous power of 102
bhp, plush and luxurious interiors with steering mounted controls - are some of
the unmatched features in sedan car segment, that the SX4 flaunts. Dressed with
43
contemporary European design styling and the economical and responsive M
series petrol engine, driving the Sx4 is like a dream come true.
In an attempt to strengthen its position in the of Sedan cars market, Maruti
Udyog Ltd. has launched its premium model bearing name SX4. After Maruti
Suzuki Swift, SX4 is the second international model being launched in India.
Suzuki SX4, is an A3 segment sedan car, with a perfect combination of style,
performance, safety and comfort. There are two versions of Suzuki SX4: Vxi
and Zxi that gets power from latest and efficient 1.6-litre M-Series engine
delivering impressive 102 BHP of power.
Maruti Suzuki SX4 is packed with strong features like independent suspension
system, Anti Lock Braking System (ABS), matching color bumpers, electrically
adjustable outside mirrors, fine quality fabric seats, power windows, rear seat
center armrest and adjustable head rests in the front and rear seats are few to
name for a smooth, comfortable and safe ride.
Having the price tag of between Rs. 6-6.5 Lacs, Maruti Suzuki SX4 will provide
tough competition to its rivalry models like Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna, Honda
City, and Indigo XL.
A new SportBack model offers a lowered sport-tuned suspension, body kit, rear
spoiler, and also removes the roof rack found on the normal crossover SX4. The
2010 SportBack also includes many standard features otherwise optional.
44
9.Swift Dezire:- It is the new entry level sedan from Indian automaker Maruti
Suzuki. Launched on March 26 2008, Maruti Swift DZire is based on the
popular Suzuki Swift platform. The Swift DZire replaces Maruti Suzuki’s
popular entry level sedan, Maruti Suzuki Esteem, production of which was
discontinued in late 2007. Maruti Suzuki has introduced Swift DZire only in the
Indian market.
Swift DZire is a result of an indigenous project started in 2005 to design a threebox notchback version of the Swift. Some changes have been made to the car’s
overall styling to seamlessly integrate the boot. The wheelbase remains the
same. The car weighs about 30-35 Kgs more than the Swift hatchback. Few
modifications in the rear suspension have been done to cope with the additional
weight of the boot and improve the ride quality for the rear passengers.
Adjustments in the rear seat inclination have been made to improve the rear seat
comfort and legroom.
The car is pitted against the other entry level sedans in the Indian market, such
as the Mahindra Renault Logan and the Tata Indigo.
The Swift DZire has become infamous for delivery delays as the number of cars
being booked is large. The price of the car and the features offered are very
attractive compared to the entry-level sedan competition (in India), resulting in
large number of bookings. The diesel version of the Dzire, in particular, had
delivery times extending from 4 to 6 months
10.A star :- A-star (Launched 2008) The 7th Generation is known in India as
the Maruti Suzuki A-Star, but is also known as the Suzuki Celerio or Nissan
Pixo in other places worldwide. It was launched in December 2008 by the IndoJapanese auto maker Maruti Suzuki. It is the next generation Suzuki Alto and is
45
exported worldwide. It is available in European markets as Nissan Pixo. The car
was rolled out to the Indian customers in December 2008 and exports began in
April 2009. A-Star means Alto-Star.
With a totally new body and engine, Maruti hopes to bring freshness to the
Indian car market, of which it already holds a major share. Initial reviews have
been positive. It has a fresh new dashboard, with a unique protruding
tachometer besides the usual meter cowl (only in the ZXi trim). It is the fourth
model after Swift, SX4 and Grand Vitara which has helped Maruti to make
stylish cars, something which it was unknown for during older models.
Though the drive is comfortable for the front row, rear seating is a little small
for taller passengers. The interiors have been reported to be a bit cramped as
compared to the Hyundai i10, its closest competitor. It has the new K10B series
engine, which Suzuki says is technically highly developed and gives a balance
of fuel efficiency and power. The ZXi is the fully loaded version with all the
expected features like power windows, central lock, ABS, rear wiper, fog lamps,
CD player, airbags etc. Indian car market leader Maruti Suzuki has launched AStar in the hatchback car segment in which the company holds ruling position
with 55% market share. Maruti has unveiled A Star as a next generation model
of its another model Alto which is already selling greatly in the segment. Scroll
down to know more about the sporty and striking features of all new A Star Car.
India's largest automaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited has unveiled its much
awaited hatchback car, A Star in the Indian auto market. A Star was first
showcased in the Indian auto expo in New Delhi, as a concept car and after
launch A Star from Maruti would be its fifth car model slated to be exported in
the International market as well. Maruti Suzuki A Star, the all new entrant into
the hatchback car segment in India, promises to become the most fuel-efficient
car in its category with an exceptional mileage of 20 kmpl. The launch of A Star
46
Car, which is the eighth consecutive car launch by Maruti, denotes the key
positioning of the market leader in the A2 car segment with 55% market share.
The all new Maruti Suzuki A Star features a sporty-designer looks and equipped
with state-of-the-art technology that promises to deliver a wonderful driving
experience. A Star houses a brand new KB series 998 cc engine under its hood
that delivers 67 PS @ 6200 rpm and an exceptionally good torque of 90 Nm @
3500 rpms. Being light in weight this engine lowers the vibration or noise and
provides more fuel-efficiency in every litre. The A Star has been launched as the
next generation model of Alto car car and would be built completely at the
company's facility at Manesar, Haryana.
11.Ritz:- Ritz (Launched 2009) The Suzuki Splash is a city car introduced in
model year 2008 and jointly developed between Suzuki Motor Corporation and
Opel — which will also market their version as the Agila. It debuted as a
concept car at the 2006 Paris Auto Show and the production model debuted at
the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Splash is slotted below the Swift in the
lineup, and uses a shortened wheelbase version of its chassis.
The car was launched with two petrol engines, a 3 cylinder 1.0 litre and 4
cylinder 1.2 litre Family 0, and a 4 cylinder version of Fiat's MultiJet diesel
engine. Unlike its predecessor, the Wagon R+, the Splash has five seats as
standard.
47
12.Ecco:- Eeco (Launched 2010) When it comes to performance, the Maruti
Suzuki Eeco is a thrilling surprise. Because under its hood, and in your hands lie
unique features and unmatched benefits that add up to giving you a delightful
driving experience.
Maruti Suzuki Eeco is equipped with a powerful 1200cc BS IV compliant
engine that delivers 73 bhp @ 6000 rpm, with a torque of 101Nm @ 3000 rpm.
The engine incorporates a range of advanced technologies, and has been tuned
for performance at low and mid range speeds with emphasis on fuel efficiency
and drivability.
The suspension system of the Maruti Suzuki Eeco has been designed and
developed for best-in-class driving comfort, with balanced handling for Indian
roads in both plain and rough terrains.
For the first time, Maruti Suzuki has introduced Diagonal Shift Assistance
(DSA) for smoother gear shifting.
48
May Launch
Maruti Cervo
India's largest auto manufacturer, Maruti is planning to launch another small car
model Maruti Cervo in entry level segment in the Indian auto market. This car is
to balane Maruti's market share in loe level segment cats which has been
effected due to Tata Nano. Maruti Cervo will be priced in the range of Rs 1.5 to
2 lacs with ample features and performance parameters to overtake the
companys most popular models Maruti 800 and Maruti Alto along with Tata
Nano.
Maruti Suzuki Cervo has a sleek and beautiful look in a compact structure. Easy
handling in congested traffic and city roads makes it an easy drive. Features like
power steering, AC as standard, body colored bumpers,body colored door
handles and outside mirrors make Maruti Cervo a true value for money. Safety
features like ABS and Airbags take Cervo into the category of competitive
hatchbacks like Hyundai i10, Chevrolet Spark etc.
49
Special Features of Maruti Suzuki
Maruti Insurance
Launched in 2002 Maruti Suzuki provides vehicle insurance to its customers
with the help of the National Insurance Company, Bajaj Allianz, New India
Assurance and Royal Sundaram. The service was set up the company with the
inception of two subsidiaries Maruti Insurance Distributors Services Pvt. Ltd
and Maruti Insurance Brokers Pvt. Limited.
This service started as a benefit or value addition to customers and was able to
ramp up easily. By December 2005 they were able to sell more than two million
insurance policies since its inception.
You do not have to pay the repair charges to the extent the same is payable by the
Insurance Company. Just pay for the compulsory excess and applicable depreciation
(both are as per motor tariff) and walk away with the repaired vehicle - Rest is settled
directly between the dealer and the Insurance Company.
Its like "Free Roaming" - You get Maruti insurance services across India at all Maruti
authorized dealer. These services include buying new policy, effecting renewals,
endorsements issuance and claims settlement.
Maruti Insurance ensure a hassle-free and fair claim settlement. Whatever is payable by
standards is paid by the Insurance Company. The customer is not forced to bear the undue
differential cost of repair/ replacement. All transactions are completely transparent. No
hassles of personal involvement or follow up with surveyors/ insurance co. etc. No
botheration of depositing the salvage with insurance co. No compromise on repair50
replacement-parts that need replacement are replaced and not repaired to minimize repair
bills.
With Maruti Insurance you don’t compromise on the quality of repairs as you are not
forced to go to a roadside workshop. The damaged vehicles are repaired at Maruti
authorized dealer workshops that are equipped with the best facilities and infrastructure.
This ensures quality repairs with Maruti Genuine spare parts and trained technicians.
Towing assistance is provided for getting the vehicle to the dealer workshop, in case the
vehicle is immobile after accident. This facility is available free of cost upto Rs 1500/-.
This limit can be increased at customer preference by paying extra premium at the time
of policy issuance.
If you are renewing with Maruti Insurance for the first time, the entitled no claim
bonus(NCB) is easily transferred to Maruti Insurance policy at the time of renewal.
The customer does not have to wait for the policy document, which sometimes takes
months to get delivered from the Insurance Company. With Maruti Insurance, the policy
is issued instantly through the Internet.
Maruti Finance
To promote its bottom line growth, Maruti Suzuki launched Maruti Finance in
January 2002. Prior to the start of this service Maruti Suzuki had started two
joint ventures Citicorp Maruti and Maruti Countrywide with Citi Group and GE
Countrywide respectively to assist its client in securing loan. Maruti Suzuki tied
51
up with ABN Amro Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Limited, Kotak Mahindra,
Standard Chartered Bank, and Sundaram to start this venture including its
strategic partners in car finance. Again the company entered into a strategic
partnership with SBI in March 2003 Since March 2003, Maruti has sold over
12,000 vehicles through SBI-Maruti Finance. SBI-Maruti Finance is currently
available in 166 cities across India. Maruti has entered into agreements with
several finance institutions to arrange for finance for its customers. Under the
program, lucrative financial deals are offered for the customers. The consortium
of companies is comprised of State Bank Group, Citicorp Maruti, ICICI Bank,
HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Sundaram Finance, Magma Leasing Ltd,
Cholamandalam Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra Finance Services.
Features The interest rates offered by Maruti Finance are 0.25% to 0.5% lower
than
those
available
in
the
market
across
all
credit
profiles.
Maruti Finance offers value added services like extended warranty for the 3rd
and 4th years, which can be bundled along with the Maruti Finance loan.
Loans for insurance and accessories are built into the EMI's, keeping the whole
deal simple and hassle-free.
The customer get all his car needs – Car, Finance, Accessories, all under the
same
roof.
Citicorp Maruti Finance The joint venture was set up by Maruti with Citibank
in May 1998. A wide range of flexible and customised financing options at
affordable rates are available to prospective customers for buying a Maruti car.
Maruti Countrysid GE Capital, HDFC and Maruti Udyog Limited came
52
together to set up Maruti Countryside in 1995. The entity offers innovative
finance schemes for the purchase of Maruti cars.
SBI Maruti Car Loans The country's largest bank and the largest car maker
have joined hands to make car finance affordable. The group offers low interest
rates and there is no processing fee or hidden costs. Loan is made available on
the basis of the car's on-road price, not ex showroom price. The repayment
period is upto seven years.
Maruti TrueValue
Maruti True service offered by Maruti Suzuki to its customers. It is a market
place for used Maruti Suzuki Vehicles. One can buy, sell or exchange used
Maruti Suzuki vehicles with the help of this service in India. As of 2009 there
are 315 Maruti True Value outlets. Maruti True Value is India No.1 organized
pre-owned car brand .True Value is venture of India’s largest automobiles
manufacturer “Maruti Suzuki India Ltd”.
Maruti True Value business expands the family of Maruti customers, providing
reassurance to existing Maruti customers about resale of their cars and further
emphasizes Maruti s Commitment towards enhancing customer satisfaction by
continuous association during the vehicle ownership life cycle.
No one knows your Maruti car better than Maruti - based on this premise,
Maruti chanalises its expertise to ensure that transactions in pre owned cars are
transparent and fair. Through that, the company endeavors to extend the
relationship and emotional connect that it enjoys with the customer.
True Value has transparent and fair evaluation process, which is currently
missing in the largely unorganized market for pre-owned cars. Maruti True
53
Value processes and systems ensure that the seller gets the right price and is
paid promptly.
Under True Value, the seller has the option to be paid in cash, or get a True
Value car in exchange or a brand new Maruti Suzuki car in exchange. True
Value category cars bought by Maruti True Value dealers are taken to state-ofthe-art workshops.
True Value Category cars are refurbished in state of art workshops using Maruti
Genuine Parts and by skilled technicians. These cars are then sold through
maruti True Value outlets.
As a mark of confidence, and to provide reassurance to customers, every vehicle
bought under Maruti True Value is inspected and certified by Maruti Engineers
and the Car carries a one-year warranty and three free services. Convenient
finance options are also offered to buyers of Maruti True Value cars.
Accessories
Many of the auto component companies other than Maruti Suzuki started to
offer components and accessories that were compatible. This caused a serious
threat and loss of revenue to Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki started a new
initiative under the brand name Maruti Genuine Accessories to offer
accessories like alloy wheels, body cover, carpets, door visors, fog lamps, stereo
systems, seat covers and other car care products. These products are sold
through dealer outlets and authorized service stations throughout India. Maruti
Genuine Accessories (MGA) is a new initiative to offer you high quality
accessories at competitive prices. We follow world Class engineering and
design processes to develop each and every item of MGA. Many of these items
54
are imported from Suzuki, Japan. Every MGA item has perfect mechanical and
electrical compatibility with the vehicle and offers you unmatched performance.
Company’s welfare activities for the employee:
Medical facilities:
For providing domiciliary treatment to the employee and their dependent
a dispensary and a full time doctor is the plant.
Group Accident insurance scheme:
Employee covered under ESI is automatically under the company group
accident insurance scheme.
Provision of loans:
Loan can be obtain by member for purpose such as construction of house,
marriage etc.
Service Award:
In appreciation of the long term association the company gives service
awards as a mark of honour to the employee.
Training Activities:
The company is concerned with personal growth a development of the
employee & sponsor for various learning and developmental programme.
Transportation:
There have provision for transportation facility for the employee.
55
TPM:
Total productivity maintenance mean to achieve high level of
productivity through total participation of all people inside the
organization and with them maintain the time service by developing self
managing in the people a practice.
Economic development:
The programmed enables people below the poverty line in these adopted
villages to earn their livelihood by involving them in activities that generates
income.
Infrastructure Development
The Company is actively involve in the community development of the
villages by providing infrastructure facilities such as housing, sanitation, road,
drainage, shelter, medical center and natural resource management.
Network at Maruti
Maruti Suzuki India has one of the largest sales and service network in
India spanning 454 cities and comprising of 681 dealers. Maruti Suzuki is
making its domestic sales network stronger day by day to reach out to its
growing number of customers in each and every part of the country. Most of the
Maruti dealership all equipped with 3S facilities, which means that sales,
service and spares facility are offered under one roof. CHENNAI, Team Maruti,
56
comprising company’s top officials, have a job at hand. To target cities and
markets where the company has not got its due share, and strengthen its
presence.
To achieve that, the company has been encouraging its existing dealers to open
new outlets. And it doesn’t seem to be a tough job to accomplish considering
that MUL had rolled out new initiatives like finance, insurance and TrueValue
(used car business) through its dealers.
“Our new initiatives and new businesses have started bearing fruit and it
(dealership) has turned out to be a much bigger business that merely selling
cars,” said Jagdish Khattar, MD, Maruti. Several of the company’s dealers have
invested Rs 4-8 crore on new dealership outlets. And in the next three months,
the company expects to add at least 20 more outlets this way. The company
targeted nine cities, including Mumbai and Bangalore, to strengthen its
presence.
“If they are not prospering from the business, they will not be keen to make
such huge additional investments,” Mr Khattar pointed out. “We are really now
focusing on states where we are not getting our due share,” he said. The
company particularly targeted nine cities, including Mumbai and Bangalore,
across the country to strengthen its presence.
In addition, it also resorted to “price rationalisation” for its models in places like
South India. For instance, if the company had brought down the prices of a few
of its models last year in south, it has again given a 7% reduction in price over
and above the 7% excise duty cut “to get better volumes” from the South this
57
year.
The results are already there. While the company’s ‘B’ segment cars — Zen,
Alto and Wagon R grew by 9-10% in the first 11 months of the current fiscal,
the growth of these models in the south were much higher at 14% for Zen, 79%
for Alto and 55% for Wagon R.
The focus is also spreading the ‘TrueValue’ used car network across the country.
While the network will be 50-outlet strong by the end of the month, it will be
100 by the end of this year. “The objective is to cover more cities through
TrueValue than the new car outlets of our nearest competitor,” Mr Khattar
asserted. Kinji Saito, director (marketing and sales), MUL said that there are
more buyers (waiting to buy used cars through TrueValue) than sellers. “We
need to enthuse them through exchange or customer loyalty programme and
help them to upgrade,” Mr Khattar added.
Four-wheeler dealers more satisfied compared to two-wheeler dealers
According to the findings of the 2004 Dealer Satisfaction Study released by
market information provider - TNS, Honda Motorcycle & Scooters (HMSI) and
Honda Siel Cars (HSCI) rank highest in dealer satisfaction with their principals
in the Two and Four-Wheeler industry segments, respectively.
The study represents the responses of 1238 dealers (which included 846 twowheeler dealers and 392 four wheeler dealers) on the key areas of product,
management relationship, profit & margin, order & delivery, sales & marketing
58
activities, after-sales & parts support, warranty, sales representatives, after-sales
representatives, and training support. Depending on the respondent's
convenience, a combination of face-to-face, telephonic, or self-completion
interviews were conducted for this study. Over 150 cities including metros,
mini metros, state capitals, and other smaller towns were covered for the study.
The study was fielded from October 2004 through December 2004. The 2004
Dealer Satisfaction Study is the second in the series by TNS specialist division,
TNS Automotive.
In contrast, the four-wheeler manufacturers do a remarkable job in almost
doubling their 'partner' dealers in 2004. Honda Siel has significantly increased
the proportion of "Partners" from 38% in 2002 to 70% this year. Also of
significance is the drop in 'uninvolved' dealers - from 34% in 2002 to 22% this
year at the overall level. The challenge for the manufacturers lies in converting
the 'hostage' dealers into 'partners', since, at 28%, they form a very large section
of the dissatisfied dealer community.
A well developed transport network indicates a well developed economy. For
rapid development a well-developed and well-knit transportation system is
essential. As India's transport network is developing at a fast pace, Indian
Automobile Industry is growing too. Also, the Automobile industry has strong
backward and forward linkages and hence provides employment to a large
section of the population. Thus the role of Automobile Industry cannot be
overlooked in Indian Economy. All kinds of vehicles are produced by the
Automobile Industry. The automobile industry in India—the tenth largest in the
world with an annual production of approximately 2 million units—is expected
to become one of the major global automotive industries in the coming years. A
number of domestic companies produce automobiles in India and the growing
presence of multinational investment, too, has led to an increase in overall
growth. Following the economic reforms of 1991 the Indian automotive
59
industry has demonstrated sustained growth as a result of increased
competitiveness and relaxed restrictions. India Automobile Industry includes the
manufacture of trucks, buses, passenger cars, defence vehicles, two-wheelers,
etc. The industry can be broadly divided into the Car manufacturing, twowheeler manufacturing and heavy vehicle manufacturing units.
The small car market in India is increasing by leaps and bounds. The indigenous
market for small cars now occupies a substantial share of around 70% of the
annual car production in India of about one million. The main players in the car
market like Tata Motors and Maruti Udyog are fiercely competitive and more or
less all the automobile companies in India that have forayed into the production
of small cars are trying to out-do each other in terms of design, innovation,
pricing, and technology, in order to gain control of the small car market in India.
The biggest players in the Indian small car market are engaging in a healthy
competition, which has intensified since the Indian government decided to boost
the small car sector. In this regard, a reduction in the excise duties has been
thought of. Even the engine capacities are expected to be raised to 1500cc. The
new small cars in India cars may even be fueled by gasoline and diesel in the
future. With all these facilities, it has been estimated that the indigenous car
market is going to move beyond the 3.5 million mark very soon.
60
Competitor Detail
So many inferences to be drawn from these stats that if I put something,
someone would howl as to why I have missed something else. Still, some very
quick observations:
1.Distinct slowdown in 2007-08 (FY2008).
2. Maruti’s share has remained the most consistent across 2003-08: 46-47%.
Over the same period, Hyundai down marginally, and so is Tata.
3. Pt.2 needs to be combined with the fact that growth during last 5 years has
been higher in bigger segment (cars and MUVs). That means +for Honda and
Toyota; and growth limitation on Maruti, Hyundai, and Tata.
4.That still leaves a lot of room for these 3: the Indian market will still retain a
small car one (with a gradual shift upwards). The small, compact, and Omni
share of total domestic sales has remained at around 65% for last few years.
5. The bigger segment is growing fast but still very low % of total. That should
change in the next decade.
6. Hyundai has dominated exports. That is a +for the country. On the other
hand, no one has found success in exporting bigger cars. They may export to
fellow LDCs (Bangladesh, etc) but not to competitive markets of US, Europe,
and Japan. Could that change soon? Not soon, though people are trying. As of
61
now, only M&M and Tata have some plans, but those involve a radical quality
improvement, which will not happen tomorrow (liability laws have made them
very cautious). Toyota and Honda have the products, but then they also have
factories worldwide. Possibly India could be used as a regional hub. Suzuki
exports small cars, and its big cars do not sell much anywhere.
7. High growth for One month or quarter or even a year do not make a
successful company, as Fiat and GM have found it (have data prior to 2002
also). Even the 3-year growth can be misleading (when read in isolation). Refer
only Skoda. It was anyway growing at a good rate but selling around 1000 prior
to Fabia. Now it sells 1900-2000. That means a 100% growth. Similarly for
Logan/M&M; Spark/GM.
8. Most important for survival (as any business would be aware) is profits. No
profits and selling at a loss soon leads to extinction. The really good profitable
years were till FY2007. From 2003-07, although steel, aluminium, plastics
prices all increased; higher volumes enabled healthy growth in profits and
returns. That has changed in 2007-08 with higher costs continuing, but volume
growth slowing down. For comparison, I am posting the operating margin and
return on networth for major companies which have publicly available financial
results for FY2007 (first figure is margin and second is return):
Maruti: 13.5%, 25.4%; margins increasing FY2004-07
Tata: 10.5%, 30.9%; stable margins
HM: operating losses from 2003-04 onwards
Hyundai: 8.3%, 20.4%; declining margins from 2001-02 onwards, though
margins have been stable during 2005-07.
Honda: 11.2%, 30.8%, stable margins
M&M: 8%, 33.3%; stable margins.
62
Four – Wheeler
As in the two-wheeler segment, manufacturer related aspects are critical
"Motivators" where performance is below average. Segment leader,
Honda Siel has scored above average in 'Concern for dealer profitability'.
This clearly brings out the importance of these attributes with respect to
the overall satisfaction.
The impact of 'Effectiveness of brand/product positioning' on
commitment is relatively lower among 4-wheeler dealers. 4-wheeler
manufacturers are also delivering as per their dealer expectations on this
aspect.
'Fair settlement of warranty claims' & 'Communication to dealer in case
of delay', which were hygiene areas for 2-wheeler dealers have moved to
the motivator segment for 4-wheeler dealers.
'Sales & service training support' has a greater impact on commitment
among 4-wheeler dealers as compared, to 2-wheeler dealers.
A well developed transport network indicates a well developed economy. For
rapid development a well-developed and well-knit transportation system is
essential. As India's transport network is developing at a fast pace, Indian
Automobile Industry is growing too. Also, the Automobile industry has strong
backward and forward linkages and hence provides employment to a large
section of the population. Thus the role of Automobile Industry cannot be
overlooked in Indian Economy. All kinds of vehicles are produced by the
Automobile Industry. The automobile industry in India—the tenth largest in the
world with an annual production of approximately 2 million units—is expected
to become one of the major global automotive industries in the coming years. A
number of domestic companies produce automobiles in India and the growing
presence of multinational investment, too, has led to an increase in overall
63
growth. Following the economic reforms of 1991 the Indian automotive
industry has demonstrated sustained growth as a result of increased
competitiveness and relaxed restrictions. India Automobile Industry includes the
manufacture of trucks, buses, passenger cars, defence vehicles, two-wheelers,
etc. The industry can be broadly divided into the Car manufacturing, twowheeler manufacturing and heavy vehicle manufacturing units. The major Car
manufacturers are,
1
2
3
4
1. Hindustan Motors
5
2. Maruti Udyog,
6
3. Fiat India Private Ltd
7
4. Ford India Ltd
8
5. General Motors India Pvt. Ltd
9
6. Honda Siel Cars India Ltd
10
7. Hyundai Motors India Ltd
11
8. Skoda India Private Ltd
12
9. Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd
13
14
The two-wheeler manufacturing is dominated by companies like TVS,
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (Pvt.) Ltd., Hero Honda, Yamaha, Bajaj, etc.
The heavy motors like buses, trucks, defense vehicles, auto rickshaws and other
multi-utility vehicles are manufactured by Tata-Telco, Ashok Leyland, Eicher
Motors, Bajaj, Mahindra and Mahindra,etc. Following India‘s growing
openness, the arrival of new and existing models, easy availability of finance at
relatively low rate of interest and price discounts offered by the dealers and
manufacturers all have stirred the demand for vehicles and a strong growth of
the Indian automobile industry.
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15
Small Car Market in India
16
The small car market in India is increasing by leaps and bounds. The
indigenous market for small cars now occupies a substantial share of around
70% of the annual car production in India of about one million. The main
players in the car market like Tata Motors and Maruti Udyog are fiercely
competitive and more or less all the automobile companies in India that have
forayed into the production of small cars are trying to out-do each other in terms
of design, innovation, pricing, and technology, in order to gain control of the
small car market in India. The biggest players in the Indian small car market are
engaging in a healthy competition, which has intensified since the Indian
government decided to boost the small car sector. In this regard, a reduction in
the excise duties has been thought of. Even the engine capacities are expected to
be raised to 1500cc. The new small cars in India cars may even be fueled by
gasoline and diesel in the future. With all these facilities, it has been estimated
that the indigenous car market is going to move beyond the 3.5 million mark
very soon.
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Part : II
Project Overview
66
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Our society is a land of diversity. We see diversity at all level exist among
consumers, among nation, culture, food and taste among marketers and even
among consumers behavior theoretically perspective. However, despite
prevailing diversity in our society.
The term consumers behavior refers to the behavior that consumers
display in searching for purchasing, using, evaluating a disposing of product
and service that they expect will satisfy their needs. To study consumers
behavior to spend their available resource to understand and predict behavior in
the market place, it also promote understanding of the role that consumption
play in the lines of individuals.
Consumer behaviour study include the study what they buy, why they buy
it, when they buy, where they buy it, how often they buy it and how often they
use it. Consumer research takes place at every phases of the consumption
process, before the purchase, during the purchase and after the purchase,
consumer behaviour research goes far beyond these facts of consumer
behaviour and considered the uses of consumers make of the good they buy and
their subsequent evaluation.
Consumer behaviour is inter disciplinary, that it is based on concept and
theories about people that have been involved by scientist in such diverse
disciplines as psychology, sociology, social psychology, cultural anthropology
and economics.
Consumer behaviour has been an integral part of strategic market
planning. The belief that ethics and social responsibility should also be Integral
component of every marketing decision is a revised market concept.
The term consumer is often used to describe two different kinds of
consuming entitles the personal consumer and the organizational consumers.
The personal consumers buys goods and service for his/her own use for the
67
organizational encompasses for profit and non profit business, govt. agencies
and institution all of which must buy product, equipment and service in order to
run their organization.
Introduction to buying motives Consumer or buyer is the central figure of all
marketing activities. It is the consumer who determines the growth, prosperity
and even existence of a business enterprise. Hence the marketer should always
feel the pulse of customers. In order to understand the pulse of the customers,
the marketer needs to understand fully the working of buyers mind. It helps him
to plan his production and distribution to suit to the needs and convenience of
customers‘ .It also helps him to plan suitable marketing strategies. Thus it is
very essential for every marketer to know his customers buying motives.
Buying motives Motive is a strong feeling, instinct, desire or emotion that
makes a person to do something. When a motive makes a person to buy a
product, then it becomes a buying motive. Thus buying motive means the
influence and considerations which makes a customer to buy a particular
product. According to D.J.Duncan, ―buying motives are those influences or
considerations which provide the impulse to buy, induce action or determine
choice in the purchase of goods and services‖. Buying motives are mainly two
types, manifest motives and latent motives. Manifest motives are those motives
which are known to the customer and also ready to admit them.
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Consumer Behaviour: Turning to the Web and New C2C Tools
Consumers today have a multitude of sources from which to gather information
during the vehicle buying process, but the Internet tops the list. The web has
become a standard resource in the shopping process for eight out of 10
consumers when researching car purchases. However, the way they use it is
changing. As the web matures, vehicle buyers are visiting fewer sites and
focussing more on manufacturer and C2C websites and less on third-party
information sites and independent e-tailer sties.
Manufacturer Sites a Key Information Source
Just two years ago, information websites were identified as the number one
information source by web users responding to the Cars Online survey (tied
with family and friends and manufacturer specific dealer), named by 55% of
consumers. This year, they dropped to the number four source, named by 41%
of web users. In comparison, manufacturer sites are now the top source for
consumers who use the web when researching vehicles, named by 70% of
respondents. Two years ago manufacturer sites held the number three position,
named by 43% of web users. The use of dealer websites has remained steady,
with about half of web users turning to these sites.
Key Factors in Vehicle Choice
When it comes to making their final decision about which vehicle to buy,
consumers focus on factors such as reliability, safety, price and fuel economy.
At the bottom of the list are cash-back incentives, named by fewer than half of
consumers. The importance of incentives as a deciding factor has declined for
the past several years, indicating that consumers today seem less interested in
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gimmicks when it comes to their car purchases. Where consumers are in the
buying cycle can make a difference in how they rank the factors that influence
their vehicle choice. For example, additional warranty coverage is important to
consumers who are furthest away from the point of purchase; it was named by
69% of respondents who were 13 to 18 months from purchase. However, the
number declines as consumers get closer to actually buying the car: 55% of
respondents who were within three months of purchase said extra warranty
coverage was important. This reflects the fact that consumers will narrow down
the factors that really matter to them as they get closer to the point of purchase.
Demographic factors such as age and gender accounted for some variances. For
example, older consumers tend to put more emphasis on reliability and safety
than do younger respondents. Those in the 50-plus age group were also more
concerned with environmental issues and fuel economy. The youngest
respondents were most likely to rate the ability to research information on the
Internet as an important factor in their vehicle decision. Women tend to rate
most of the factors as more important than do men. The difference was most
pronounced for cash-back incentives, low financing, safety, environmental
issues, fuel economy and additional warranty coverage.
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Going ‘Green’: Fuel Efficiency Takes Centre Stage
Fuel efficiency and environmental issues have moved to the forefront in
consumers’ minds and in automotive industry forums thanks to factors including
global warming, fluctuating gasoline prices, and proposed legislation to increase
fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. This growing interest in so-called
green vehicles was evident in this year’s Cars Online research.
More than one-quarter of respondents said they currently own or lease a fuelefficient vehicle while almost half said they are planning to buy or thinking
seriously about buying a fuel-efficient vehicle. Not surprisingly, the numbers for
alternative-fuel vehicles were lower. Just 2% of respondents currently own an
alternative-fuel vehicle and 11% are planning to buy or thinking seriously about
buying one. The most common type of alternative-fuel vehicle represented in
the survey were gas/ electric hybrids, named by about half of current
alternative-fuel car owners.
Biodiesel vehicles were the second most common, named by 15%. The
alternative-fuel market remains in transition and it’s still too early to tell how it
will ultimately shake out, although sales are expected to continue to grow. For
example, J.D. Power and Associates predicts that U.S. sales of hybrid vehicles
will increase by 35% in 2007, compared with 2006.
Current ownership of fuel-efficient and alternative-fuel vehicles tended to be
quite consistent across gender and age groups, although the oldest consumers
were somewhat more likely to be seriously thinking about buying an
alternative-fuel car.
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CONSUMER BUYING vs. ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING
Final (or ultimate) consumers purchase for:
personal,
family, or
household use
Organizational consumers purchase for:
further production,
usage in operating the organization, and/or
resale to other consumers
Consumer Buying Behavior
The decision processes and acts of final household consumers associated with
evaluating, buying, consuming, and discarding products for personal
consumption
Consider the purchase an automobile. You generally will not consider different
options until some event triggers a need, such as a problem needing potentially
expensive repair. Once this need has put you "on the market", you begin to ask
your friends for recommendations regarding dealerships and car models. After
visiting several dealerships, you test drive several models and finally decide on
a particular model. After picking up your new car, you have doubts on the way
home, wondering if you can afford the monthly payments, but then begin to
wonder if instead you should have purchased a more expensive but potentially
more reliable model. Over the next five years, the car has several unexpected
breakdowns that lead you to want to purchase a different brand, but you have
been very happy with the services of the local dealership and decide to again
purchase your next car there.
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In this particular case, the following generic model of consumer decision
making appears to hold:
=====>need recognition
=====>information search
=====>evaluation of alternatives
=====>purchase decision
=====>postpurchase behavior
Now consider the purchase of a quart of orange juice. You purchase this product
when you do your grocery shopping once per week. You have a favorite brand
of orange juice and usually do your grocery shopping at the same store. When
you buy orange juice, you always go to the same place in the store to pick it up,
and never notice what other brands are on the shelf or what are the prices of
other brands. How is it that the generic model above works differently in this
second scenario? Why does it work differently? Why would we generally need
the ministrations of a sales person in the sale of a car, but we generally do not
need the help of a salesperson in the purchase of orange juice?
How can the marketer of orange juice get a consumer like you to exert more
effort into information search or to consider alternative products? How is it that
the marketer of your brand got you to ignore alternative competing brands?
What is the involvement of salespeople in sales promotions that might be
associated with products such as orange juice?
Consumer behavior researchers are not so interested in studying the validity of
the above generic model, but are more interested in various factors that
influence how such a model might work.
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GROUP INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Culture
the set of basic values, beliefs, norms, and associated behaviors that are learned
by a member of society
Note that culture is something that is learned and that it has a relatively long
lasting effect on the behaviors of an individual. As an example of cultural
influences, consider how the salesperson in an appliance store in the U.S. must
react to different couples who are considering the purchase of a refrigerator. In
some subcultures, the husband will play a dominant role in the purchase
decision; in others, the wife will play a more dominant role.
Social Class
A group of individuals with similar social rank, based on such factors as
occupation, education, and wealth
Reference Groups
Groups, often temporary, that affect a person's values, attitude, or behaviors
E.g., your behaviors around colleagues at work or friends at school are
probably different from your behaviors around your parents, no matter
your age or stage in the family life cycle. If you were a used car
salesperson, how might you respond differently to a nineteen year old
prospect accompanied by her boyfriend from one accompanied by two
girlfriends?
Opinion leader
A person within a reference group who exerts influence on others because
of special skills, knowledge, personality, etc.
74
o
You might ask the webmaster at work for an opinion about a
particular software application. Software manufacturers often give
away free beta copies of software to potential opinion leaders with
the hope that they will in turn influence many others to purchase
the product.
Family
A group of people related by blood, marriage, or other socially approved
relationship
ENVIRONMENTAL / SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
Circumstances, time, location, etc.
Do you like grapes? Do you like peas?
You might like grapes as a snack after lunch, but probably not as a dessert after
a fancy meal in a restaurant. You might like peas, but probably not as a topping
on your pancakes. Everyday situations cause an interaction between various
factors which influence our behaviors. If you work for tips (a form of incentive
related to commission) as a waiter or waitress, you must certainly be aware of
such interactions which can increase or decrease your sales.
If you are doing your Saturday grocery shopping and are looking for orange
juice, you are probably much more sensitive to price than if you stop at the
quick store late at night, when you are tired and cranky, after a late meeting at
the office. A prospect shopping for a new automobile while debating the
wisdom of a necessary expensive repair to his car might be more interested in
what cars are on the lot than in shopping for the best deal that might involve a
special order.
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INTERNAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Personality
A person's distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively
consistent and lasting responses to stimuli in the environment
We are each unique as individuals, and we each respond differently as
consumers. For example, some people are "optimizers" who will keep shopping
until they are certain that they have found the best price for a particular item,
while other people are "satisficers" who will stop shopping when they believe
that they have found something that is "good enough." If you are a salesperson
in a retail shoe store, how might you work differently with these two
personalities?
Lifestyle and Psychographics
lifestyle is a pattern of living expressed through a person's activities,
interests, and opinions
psychographics is a technique for measuring personality and lifestyles to
developing lifestyle classifications.
Motivation: Multiple motives
Consumers usually have multiple motives for particular behaviors. These can be
a combination of:
manifest
known to the person and freely admitted
latent
unknown to the person or the person is very reluctant to admit
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Note: different motives can lead to the same behavior; observing behavior is not
sufficient to determine motives.
TYPES OF CONSUMER PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESSES
Routinized
used when buying frequently purchased, low cost items
used when little search/decision effort is needed
e.g., buying a quart of orange juice once per week
Limited Problem Solving
used when products are occasionally purchased
used when information is needed about an unfamiliar product in a
familiar product category.
Extended problem solving
used when product is unfamiliar, expensive, or infrequently purchased
e.g., buying a new car once every five years
Under what sorts of conditions would the assistance of a salesperson be needed?
Not needed?
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POST-PURCHASE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Satisfaction
After the sale, the buyer will likely feel either satisfied or dissatisfied. If the
buyer beleives that s/he received more in the exchange than what was paid, s/he
might feel satisfied. If s/he believes that s/he received less in the exchange than
what was paid, then s/he might feel dissatisfied. Dissatisfied buyers are not
likely to return as customers and are not likely to send friends, relatives, and
acquaintences. They are also more likely to be unhappy or even abusive when
the product requires post-sale servicing, as when an automobile needs warranty
maintenance.
Cognitive dissonance
It has to do with the doubt that a person has about the wisdom of a recent
purchase
It is very common for people to experience some anxiety after the purchase of a
product that is very expensive or that will require a long term commitment. Jane
and Fred, for example, signed a one year lease on an apartment, committing
themselves to payments of $1500 per month. A week later, they are wondering
if they should have instead leased a smaller $900 apartment in a more rough
part of town; they are not sure if they really can afford this much of a monthly
obligation. Dick and Sally, on the other hand, ultimately rented the $900
apartment, and now are wondering if the savings in rent will be offset by noisy
and sometimes unsafe conditions in this neighborhood.
Perhaps neither couple would be experiencing this anxiety if their landlords had
given them just the smallest of assurances that they had made a good decision.
After a close on products that are expensive or that require a long term
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commitment, the salesperson should provide the prospect with some reasons to
be happy with the decision. Allow the car buyer to reinforce her own positive
feelings by calling her a week after the purchase to ask how things are going.
Call the new life insurance policy holder after two months to see if there are any
questions; a lack of questions can only help the buyer to convince himself that
he did the right thing.
The four-wheeler Market is even expanding and ever changing showing
new trends. Almost every day, we get to know about the launch of new model
by different company Sales. Their market strategy and also their selling policy.
But as the competitors gets intensified between the domestic and the
multinational brands. The company producing better product enjoy the benefit.
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Objectives
Tezpur is the most developed town in north bank and gateway to Arunachal
Pradesh and to capture this market and establish themselves as a leader is the
prime aim of all the companies so as to have an psychological impact on the
people and to have an edge over other four wheeler companies were not doing
great business in This region from the very beginning. It was so because the
prices of the product were high and the customer were not fully aware of proper
advertisement facility, which is key factor in influencing a consumer. Earlier
Maruti product was almost enjoying the monopoly market but now Hyundai and
TATA entered the market with various promotional schemes and changing the
market scenario.
Nowadays with the advent of financial scheme by the commercial Bank
and Hire purchase companies, the four-wheeler company has been given new
dimension. But with the introduction of new models, the greater market opened
up for all the motorcar companies, which ultimately led to a stiff competition
between the brands.
Today all the companies namely Hyundai, Toyota, Hyundai, TATA,
Skoda, Chevrolet, Ford, Mahindra etc. are trying to grab the market. Maruti is
enjoying good reputation in motorcar segment in Tezpur market for its after
sales service. According to research, Maruti is the largest car manufacture in
India.
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1. To study their satisfaction level of customers of different cars available in
Tezpur.
2. To study the importance of various attribute which effect the purchasing
decision of customers in regard of cars.
3. To study the awareness level of different cars in Tezpur.
4. To study the importance of dealer and their influence in marketing/sale
for cars in Tezpur.
5. To study consumers buying behaviours.
6. To find out the expectation of the existing possessing and prospective
customers of the company.
7. To study the impact of media on the customers.
8. To study the satisfaction level of the customers on overall performance
and after sale service of their existing cars.
9. To study different promotional scheme they expect for purchasing a new
car.
Various segments of Maruti are:
The entire model is being used in Tezpur, Maruti Motor is trying to reach
every nook and corner of the North East, it has dealers and sub-dealers in every
part of the North Eastern India. The service provided by them are quite
satisfactory to the consumers, which has helped them to achieve good reputation
in the market.
The four-wheeler companies have divided the market into various
segments, which have helped them to meet the demand more easily. Suppose,
the customer who demand a unique stylish car, for them Maruti has produced
SX4, Grand Vitara which is considered as one of the most extraordinary car in
the market.
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Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in February 1981, though
the actual production commenced in 1983 with the Maruti 800, based on the
Suzuki Alto kei car which at the time was the only modern car available in
India, its' only competitors- the Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padmini
were both around 25 years out of date at that point. Through 2004, Maruti
Suzuki has produced over 5 Million vehicles. Maruti Suzukis are sold in India
and various several other countries, depending upon export orders. Models
similar to Maruti Suzukis (but not manufactured by Maruti Udyog) are sold by
Suzuki Motor Corporation and manufactured in Pakistan and other South Asian
countries.
Today Maruti is coming up with various sales promotion works to induce
more sales in the city. They also spend a good lot of money in advertisement
like TV advertisements, Hoarding, Banner etc. This help to in increase the sales
of the product.
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METHODOLOGY
(1) Preliminary Survey: - The project study was undertaken general
discussion and informal interview with the customer both possessing and
prospective. The objective were set mainly to gain an idea about
consumers buying behaviors of cars.
(2) Data Collection: - The data were collected from primary sources. The
primary data were collected from the customer both possessing and
prospective. Surveying method through personal or direct interviews with
the help of questionnaire-designed specification for the purpose did this.
(3) Questionnaire Design:- Primary data was collected through well framed
questionnaire. The questionnaire had two parts, one part for possessing
customers and other part for prospective customer. Question was framed
keeping mind. The various information required as per the objectives.
Each question was directed towards getting information regarding Maruti
as well as other competitors. The questionnaire contained both open
ended and close ended question. Also question with multiple-choice
answers, degree of importance scale etc. were included. All effort were
made to that the questionnaire was simple and precise and also adequate
care was taken about the language, structure and format of
questionnaires.
(4) Sample Size: The sample was selected on the basis of simple random
sampling. A total 50 customer surveyed where 44 were processing and 6
were prospective customers.
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The total sample size in segmented under the following zones:
Zones:
1. Isum Motors.
2. Main Road, Tezpur.
3. M.D.Road.
4. Various business establishments in Tezpur.
(5) Analysis: The data collected from the customer were analysed using
different standard statistical tools and techniques each of the question
were analyzed to find out the purchasing behaviour of different cars with
reference to Maruti motors.
(6) Scope: The scope of the project is define by the objective of the study it
self. If the study was basically for the fulfillment at its objectives. This
means that scope of this project study is restricted to consumers buying
behaviours of Maruti cars among the other brand in the market.
Scope of this project is also restricted to the area of field survey in
Tezpur. The study does not include any other area like finance personnel
product etc.
(7) Limitations: With many point the study of this project suffered from
many limitation also, likewise as the sample is low I cannot analyze
many respondent, as the survey may also suffer from bais results.
(8) Recommendation: Recommendation were made or the based of finding
drawn from the project analysis.
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(9) Conclusion: Conclusion were made on the finding and analysis of the
survey.
85
ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
As the consumers play a key role in the today’s market; their preferences,
attitude and perceptions are of utmost value to the marketers keeping all the
objectives of the study in mind and to give a proper dimension to the study
undertaken, a comprehensive consumer survey was undertaken with the aid of a
well-framed questionnaire. The detail of the findings have been fragmented as:
Demographic profile segment: The analysis on demographic profile has been
done on the basis of Age group, Occupation and Monthly income:
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Q. No 3. Occupation Considered
This question was put forwarded to extract a profile factor of the respondent.
The prime objective of this question was to know the occupation of the
respondent. Though this it can be analysed that which segment of people have
like for which brands. This question helped to extract the background of the
customers owning and not owning cars.
Table No. 1.1
Occupation
Service
Business
Students
Others
Percentage
30%
40%
20%
10%
People
15
20
10
5
Diagram 1.1
From the responses obtained, it was found that the most of the Businessman
seemed to score high followed by service holder in possession of cars.
Q. No 4. AGE GROUP
87
The age group, which is one of the important roles in the buying behaviour of
the customer, was extracted through this question. It was attempted to cover
most of the age groups in various slabs.
Table No. 1.2
Age groups
20-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
Above 40 years
Percentage
2%
8%
24%
40%
26%
Diagram 1.2
Age Group
The responses revealed that maximum number of car possessed by respondents
in the age group of 36 – 40. Age group above 40 years followed it. The least
was found to be in the age group of 20-25 years.
Q. No 5. INCOME PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
88
Since the income of a respondent is also important in making decision to buy a
car, therefore, this question was framed to extract their level of income. The
slabs of income considered for the purpose were ranging from Rs.15,000/(minimum) and above Rs.45,000/-.
Table No. 1.3
Income slab
Rs.15,000 – Rs.25,000/Rs.25,000 – Rs.35,000/Rs.35,000 – Rs.45,000/Above Rs.45,000/-
Percentage
44%
30%
18%
8%
Diagram 1.3
Out of the total respondents, most of them were found to be in the income
slab of Rs.15,000 – Rs.25,000/- followed by respondents in the age group of
Rs.25,000 – Rs.35,000/-.
Q.NO. 6. AWARENESS ON BRANDS OF CARS
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The respondents in response to this question revealed the awareness about the
existing brands of cars in the market. To reveal it, they were given options of
various brands that are playing in the market of Tezpur.
Table No. 1.4
Brands
Hyundai
Maruti
Chevrolet
Toyota
Skoda
Ford
TATA
Mahindra
Percentage
100%
100%
76%
100%
70%
100%
100%
100%
Diagram 1.4
It is seemed that almost every brand is well aware by thr respondent.
Q. No. 7. MEDIA OF AWARENESS
An endeavor was made to know the source of information or the awareness of
different brands of existing cars in the market of Tezpur, to the customers. To
respond to this query, respondents were opted with various sources of media.
Table No. 1.5
Media
Newspapers
Percentage
82%
90
Magazines
T.V. Advertisement
Trade Fairs
Friends
Family Members
Others
64%
100%
20%
80%
64%
46%
Diagram 1.5
Of the different media, TV Advertisement ranked top in creating brand
awareness among the perceptual mindset of the customers, which in turn effects
the buying behaviour of a customer.
Q. No. 8. Do You Own a Car
Ownership of car was the chief extraction of this question. To this question only
88% of the respondents were found positive whereas the remaining 12% were
not in possession of a car of their own.
Table No. 1.6
Media
Yes
No
Percentage
88%
12%
91
Diagram 1.6
The question revealed that, of the 50 respondents only 44 of them owns a car
whereas rest 6 do not possess car.
PART A
Questions of Part A were targeted to those respondents who own a car.
These questions were put forwarded to know the brand of possessed by them,
attributes they look for, payment patterns etc. The deliberation of each questions
are discussed below separately below:
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Q No. 1. Most of the brands of cars existing in the market of Tezpur were given
to choose from by the respondents. Accordingly, respondents made their
responses favoring mostly for Maruti followed by Hyundai.
Table 2.1
Brands
Hyundai
Fiat
Maruti
Chevrolet
Toyota
TATA
Mahindra
Skoda
Ford
Percentage
27.27%
0%
40.90%
4.5%
0%
20.45%
4.5%
0%
2.27%
Diagram 2.1
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Q.No. 2. This question was attempted to extract the factors, which plays a
major role in the buying behaviour of the customers. It was attempted to cover
most of the factors to make this extract more effective and productive.
Table No. 2.2
Sl.
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
Attributes
Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service
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Very
Important
39
40
44
35
38
37
20
6
44
Important
Not so
important
5
4
5
6
6
18
19
4
1
6
19
In response to this question, as revealed by respondents, the attribute “fuel
efficiency” and “after sales service” ranked top followed by “financial
assistance
Diagram2.2
Q. No. 3. A major factor “Influence”, which induces a person to buy
anything (herein referred to as car) was revealed by the respondents through
their response to this question.
Table No. 2.3
Source of Influence
Self
Family
Friends
Colleague
Others
Don’t own a car
Percentage
48%
28%
10%
2%
0%
12%
Diagram No. 2.3
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From the responses obtained, it is found that self-motivation is the major
role in purchasing a car. Of the 50 considered respondents
Q. No. 4
The price factor and payment mode also plays a pivotal role in the
buying behaviour of a customer. Respondents, being customers to respective
companies, also looks for the most convenient mode of payment. Therefore, this
question was designed to know their preferred mode of payment.
In response to this query with four different options like (a) Cash
(b) Bank finance (c) Private finance (d) Others, respondents numbering 21
opted to go for Bank Finance, for the purpose of low and reducing balancing
method of charging interest, whereas 19 respondents opted to go for private
finance for their lesser paper work despite interest being flat. Of the rest 1 opted
for cash and remaining 3 opted for other modes of purchase.
Table No.2.4
Options
No of respondents
96
Cash
1
Bank finance
21
Private finance
19
Others
3
Diagram 2.4
Q. No. 5 This question was designed to know the overall performances that
were being experienced by the respondents from their cars. Also, an open-ended
part in question was offered to reveal the exact kind of problem that they have
experienced from their cars.
80% of respondents were satisfied with the overall performance of the car
whereas remaining 20% were partially or were not satisfied with their car’s
performance.
Table No. 2.5
Options
Percentage
Yes
80%
No
20%
Diagram No. 2.5
97
Q. No. 6 Another major factor playing the role in decision making of buying or
buying behaviour of respondents was “After sales service”. So, this question
was designed to know the satisfaction level on the after Sales service of
respective brands, received by the respondents, which in other words are
considered as the customers of respective brands.
Table No. 2.6
Options
Yes
No
Percentage
100%
0%
Diagram No. 2.6
98
Q. No. 7 This question was designed to know the next option, if any respondent
is willing to go for a new one. To this query, 27.27% respondents were
willing to go for latest model of cars whereas the remaining were happy
to be contended with what they have.
Table No. 2.7
Options
Yes
No
Percentage
27.27%
82.73%
Diagram No. 2.7
99
Q. No.8 In terms of technical feature expectation of the respondents, it was
found that all the technical feature are expected by the customers.
Table No. 2.8
Technical features
Sl. No.
No
Yes
1.
High engine power
100%
0%
2.
High fuel efficiency
95%
5%
3.
Brakes
100%
0%
4.
Tyres & Wheels
80%
20%
5.
Power Steering
98%
2%
6.
Suspension
100%
0%
100
7.
Power window
80%
20%
Diagram 2.8
Q.No.9. This question was targeted to extract if they recommend Maruti to
others. To this response 10 respondents out 12 (possessing Maruti
brands of cars) are recommending whereas remaining 2 are not doing
so.
Table No. 2.9
Options
Yes
No
No of respondents
10
2
Diagram No. 2.9
101
PART – B
This part was intended for those respondents who were not possession of
a four-wheeler car. To this part only 6 respondents responded.
Q.No.1 The never-ending choosy human beings were asked to extract their
preference of brands when they go for their new car. To this question
only two respondents preferred to go for Hyundai brand of cars whereas
3 opted for Maruti and remaining 1 opted for TATA.
Table No. 3.1
Brands
No of respondents
102
Hyundai
Fiat
Maruti
Chevrolet
Toyota
TATA
Mahindra
Skoda
Ford
2
0
3
0
0
1
0
0
0
Diagram 3.1
Q.NO.2 To know the specific model of cars that the respondents would like to
go for in near future are presented herein below in tabular form. The responses
were obtained in the form of an open-ended response.
Table No. 3.2
Models
Hyundai’s Santro l
Maruti’s Wagon R
Maruti’s 800
TATA’s Indica
No of respondents
2
1
2
1
Diagram No. 3.2
103
Q. No.3: This question was attempted to extract the factors, which plays a
major role in the buying behaviour of the customers. All the factors were found
to be important for the respondents.
Table No. – 3.3
Sl.
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Attributes
Price
Financial assistance / credit
facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
Brand image
104
Very
Important Not so
Important
important
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
h)
i)
Advertising
After sales service
6
6
Diagram 3.3
Q. No. 4: The price factor and payment mode also plays a pivotal role in the
buying behaviour of a customer. Respondents, being customers to respective
companies, also looks for the most convenient mode of payment. Therefore, this
question was designed to know their preferred mode of payment.
In response to this query with four different options like (a) Cash (b) Bank
finance (c) Private finance (d) Others, Out of a total of six respondents, one
respondent preferred cash, two respondents preferred Bank finance and three
respondents preferred private finance.
Table No. 3.4
Options
No of respondents
Cash
1
Bank finance
2
Private finance
3
Others
0
105
Diagram – 3.4
Q. No. – 5 : This question was framed to know about the respondents interest
on the various promotional schemes, and was found that out of 6 respondents
100% were interested for the different promotional schemes which is shown in
the following table.
Table – 3.5 (a)
Options
Yes
No
No of respondents
6
0
Table 3.5 (b)
Sl.No.
1
2
3
Scheme
Price discount
Exchange offer
Free gift
Very
Important
Not so important
Important
6
---
-4
3
-2
3
106
4
5
Installment facility
Interest free
4
6
2
--
---
installments
Diagram No. 3.5 (b)
CONCLUSION
Since Indian Automobile market is continuously in the prowl of surging as a
major car manufacturer, people are purchasing car as there is increase of income
of common people as well as change in tastes and preferences of consumers. It
is important for the car manufacturers and car dealers to be able to understand
the different factors affecting the extent in car purchasing behaviour. People are
more conscious about the on spot information provided about various cars who
serves according to the needs and wants of the customer. The type of technology
used and the wider reach of the service stations also affect the most on car
purchasing decision. While government obligations and various policies like
import duties, custom exemptions is seen as second most affecting driver of
purchase of cars. Factor 3 includes family needs; brand image; income level;
special family programs/events like Anniversary, Birthday; insurance facility;
credit card acceptance; car accessories affects customers car purchase decision
causing a variance of 3.080.This shows that importance of family decisions,
107
special occasions in family and the various services provided by car dealers.
includes installment payment facility; location of the car dealer shop; looks;
availability of service station showing customers accessibility to the service
provided. Factor 5 shows the impact of various promotional activities and extra
care taken by car dealers. Factors 6 shows the impact of suggestion provided by
family members and peers as well as price and after sales service provided.
includes the infrastructural benefits of the shop and the variety of cars it
stores .The last but not the least ones shows the impact of factors of technical
specifications of the car and the festive season offersThis study was conducted
to find out the consumer buying behaviour of motorcars in special reference to
the Maruti brand in Tezpur. The findings and analysis revealed many advantages
as well as disadvantages for the Maruti India Pvt Ltd.
Though the Maruti is the faster growing company and leading in the
market facing a stiff competition from Hyundai and Tata motors in the Tezpur.
It has been observed that Maruti adopted many promotional strategies and
company’s marketing channel is also satisfactory.
Now a days people are most aware about after sales service. The dealers
also expect Maruti has over come this problem and facilities should be
improved for meeting the after sales service requirement effectively.
The majority of customers expect loan or installment facilities. The
Maruti has joined hand with State Bank Of India and many private bank to
promote this facilities.
As most of the existing and prospective customers adults, Maruti should
introduces stylish Motor cars which compete its competitors product.
108
But Maruti to meet the expectations of new generation people who are the
prospect, or customers has recently introduce Ritz, SX4, WagonR hoping to
fulfill the demand of the new generation.
As this study was conducted for educational purpose with the aim to give
necessary information to the organization, any mistake by the researchers
should be overlooked considering his inexperience in the field of marketing
research.
LIMITATION
The study suffers from many limitations of this report are enumerated as the
following:
Firstly, being the whole project dependent on primary data, the study has gained
vulnerability.
Secondly, the survey was restricted only 50 respondents in whole Tezpur and as
such may not be true representative of the entire Tezpur.
Thirdly, the major constrain was the time factor, as the study have to be finished
within the stipulated time period.
Fourthly, lack of interest and unenthusiastic response may have allowed
biasness to creep this report.
109
Finally, lack of conclusions, which have been drawn, are subject to criticism at
any stages of its analysis and presentation. This report may not provide the best
possible market scenario and the efforts can always be made to have this project
report more effective and useful.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based
on the findings
drawn from
the project’s analysis, certain
recommendation need to be made as regards to the future course of action
Maruti India Pvt Ltd., which can go a long way in improving the Brand
Awareness
of
the
Company
in
the
Motorcars
market.
The
main
recommendations are:
1. Maruti should continue with its range of innovative products. At the same
time try to add value to its existing products so that it can cater to the
present day requirements. As the study reveals that majority of customers
are aged 20 – 40 years the needs and wants should be kept in mind while
designing new products.
2. There should be proper synchronization between order placed an delivery.
The distribution channel should be enhanced and the models should be
readily available in the market.
110
3. As the buying decision of the buyer has influenced by himself, company
should target them through demonstration and advertisement.
4. As the market for the financial institutions are increasing, the company
should target them through demonstration and advertisement.
5. Facilities should be provide to the dealers so that they can extend them to
the customers while purchasing this brand.
6. Increase in sales promotion budgets to develop a point of purchase display
and to participate to a greater extent in Trade shows and similar kind of
shows and this will motivate the non-users to try out the products.
7. The company can sponsor local cultural programmes like Bihu festival of
Assam holding Bihu competition at least once in a year and for attracting
the youth it may sponsor sports events also.
8. The company can make charitable donation to different organizations. It can
extend their helping hand to the people hotted by natural havoc like flood,
draught, earthquake etc. to win the hearts of the mass people which will
build a good image of the Company among them.
9. As the market for the financial institutions are increasing, the company
should come up with various schemes, which will induce them to influence
the customer for the product. This includes offering various gifts, packages
and financial incentives like higher commission as compared to other fourwheeler companies.
111
10. Incentives and financial benefits provided to the dealers should be
maximized to maintain their level of satisfaction and motivation.
Annexure
Bibiology
Name of the Author/Publisher
Year of Publication
Name of the Books
1. Kotler Philip
Eighth Edition (1994)
Marketing Management
Thirteenth
Modern Marketing
Edition(2003)
Second Edition (1990)
Principle and Practices
Research Methodology
2. RSN Pillai Bhagavathi
3 C.R. Kothari
Websites:http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.marutisuzuki.com
http://www.google.com
112
Questionnaire
Respected sir/madam,
I am Management (MBA) student at Sikkim Manipal University. I have been assigned
a project in the context of which I am conducting a study on “Customer’s buying Behavior”
on Maruti Car in Tezpur, I would like to request you kindly to spare a few minutes for
answering some questions. Your answers will be kept strictly confidential and will be used for
academic purpose only.
1.Name of the respondent:………………………………………………………
2. Address: ………………………………………… Phone no: ………………
3. Occupation: (a) Service
(b) Business
(c) Students
(d) Others
4. Age group.
(a) 20 to 25 years
(b) 26 to 30 years
(d) 36 to 40 years
(e) above 40 years.
5. Monthly income:
(a) Rs. 15,000 to 25,000/(b) Rs 25,000 to 35,000/(c) Rs. 35,000 to 45,000/(d) Above 45,000/113
(c) 31 to 35 years
6. What are the different brands of cars you are aware of?
(a) Hyundai
(b) Maruti
(c) Chevrolet
(d) Toyota
(e ) Skoda
(f) Ford
(g) TATA
(h) Mahindra
7. How did you aware of different brands of cars?
(a) News papers
(b) Magazines
(c) T.V. add
(d) Trade fairs
(e) Friends
(f) Family members
(g) others please specify………………………………………………..
8. Do you own a car?
(a) Yes
(b) No.
If yes please respond to Part A.
If no please respond to Part B.
PART A
(1) Which Brand of cars do you posses ?
(a) Hundai
(b) Fiat
(c) Maruti
(d) Chevrolet
(e) Toyota.
(f) TATA
(g) Mahindra.
(h) Skoda
(i) Ford
(2) How important were the following attributes before you decide to buy the existing
car?
Sl.
Attributes
Very
Important
Not so
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Important
Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
114
important
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
Durability
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service
Millage
(3) Who influence your decision in purchasing cars?
(a) Self
(b) Family
(c) Friends
(d) colleague
(e) Others.
(f) Don’t own a car
4) What was your mode of payment while purchasing the car ?
(a) Cash
(b) Bank finance
(c) Private finance
(d) Others
Please Specify ………………………………………………………….
5) Are you satisfied with the overall performance of your existing car?
(a) Yes
(b) No
If No, Kindly specify the problem ……………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
6) Are you satisfied with the after sales service of your car ?
(a) Yes
(b) No
If No, Kindly specify the problem ……………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
7) Are you planning to purchase a latest model of car ?
(a) Yes
(b) No
If Yes, Kindly specify the Brand ……………………………………………………
8) Which of the following technical features do you accept from your new car that
dose not exist in the old car?
Sl. No.
1.
Technical features
High engine power
115
Yes
No
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
High fuel efficiency
Breaks
Tyres & Wheels
Power Steering
Suspension
Power window
9) For the possessing customers of Hyundai cars, do you recommend others to
purchase Hyundai cars?
(a)
Yes
(b)
No.
PART B
1) Which brand of cars would you like to purchase in near future?
(a) Hyundai
(b) Fiat
(c) Maruti
(d) Chevrolet
(e) Toyota.
(f) TATA
(g) Mahindra.
(h) Skoda
(i) Ford
2) Which model of cars would you like to purchase in near future ?
Model Name ………………………………………………………
3) Please indicate relative importance of the following factors, which you will
consider before purchasing your new car?
Sl.
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Attributes
Very
Important
Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
116
Important
Not so
important
g)
h)
i)
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service
4) What mode of finance will you prefer for purchasing a new car ?
(a) Cash
(b) Bank finance
(c) Private finance
(d) Others
5) Do you want avail any promotional scheme while purchasing the new car ?
(a)
Yes
(b)
No
If yes please indicate the relative importance of the following promotional
scheme.
(Please put a tick in each row)
Sl No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Scheme
Very
important
Important
Price discount
Exchange offer
Free gift
Installment facility
Interest free installment
Thanking you,
117
Not so
important
