Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NEW DELHI
THESIS REPORT ON
SUBMITTED TO:
EXTERNAL GUIDE:
SUBMITTED BY
MONILA DAWAR
PGP/FW-2007-2009
ALUMNI ID NO.: DF79-M-0477
Monila Dawar ii
ABSTRACT
The automobile industry today is one of the most lucrative industry. Due to
the increase in disposable income in both rural and urban sector and easy
finance being provided by all the financial institutes, the passenger car sales
have increased at the rate of 25% per annum in June 2005-06 and at the rate
of 37% per annum in june 2006-07 . Further competition is heating up in the
sector with a host of new players coming in and other like Porsche, Bentley,
Audi, and BMW all set to venture in the Indian markets. One factor that could
help the companies in the marketing of their product is by knowing and
creating a personality for their brands. An attempt could be taken to answer
some of the questions regarding brand personality of selected cars in India by
conducting the market research. This comprehensive study is categorized into
parts, deals with introduction to brand personality, companies selected,
product and the industry.
One factor that could help the companies in the marketing of their products is
buying behavior of the consumers. The Buying Behavior of the customers can
be studied by knowing their perceptions about the cars in the market and
about the possible entrants in the market. One such technique is by knowing
and creating a personality for the brands. This personality sketching will help
in knowing what a customer (or a potential customer) thinks about a given
brand of car and what are the possible factors guiding a possible purchase.
Similarly, the idea of measuring the customer satisfaction will serve the same
purpose of determining the customer perception. Thus, by measuring the”
willingness of existing users of a car to recommend it to others” will help the
car manufacturers to chalk out the entire Customer Buying Behavior.
The thesis shall attempt to answer some of the questions regarding “how to
increase passenger car sales”, specially talking about our own Indian
automobile company Mahindra and Mahindra. By conducting a survey we
could know the brand personality of selected cars in India and many more
factors which could increase the passenger car sales. The market research
will be helpful for the new car entrant companies in India as well to find out the
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possible gaps between the customer expectations and the present market
offerings. This way Mahindra and Mahindra automobile Ltd will be able to
increase their share in the ever-expanding Indian market pie.
The research will track the customer satisfaction in the following two layers:
The customer satisfaction index will be calculated for the car brands taken
into consideration.It will be mainly a primary research and the information will
be gathered from both primary and secondary research. The study will
analyze the applicability of existing research concepts, theories, and tools for
evaluating consumer satisfaction.
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SIGNATORY PAGE
This is to certify that the Project Work entitled “Consumer Perception Study
with Respect to Mahindra & Mahindra Xylo” is a record of bonafide work
carried out by Monila Dawar under my supervision towards partial fulfillment
of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (P.G.D.M) programme of the
Indian Institute of Planning and Management, New Delhi.
SUMIT SADHWANI
PROJECT GUIDE
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Regards,
Sumanta Sharma
Dean (Academics)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management
New Delhi
Sumanta.sharma@iipm.edu
Phone: 011– 42789910,876
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THESIS SYNOPSIS
DETAILS OF THE STUDENT:
Batch : FW07-09
Specialization : FINANCE
Section : F5
Phone No : 9911843138
Email Id : Monila_dawar@yahoo.com
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:
Mahindra and Mahindra is the market leader in utility vehicles in India since
inception and currently accounts for about half of India’s market for utility
vehicles with a product portfolio that ranges from rugged, mass-transport
utility vehicles to personal segment sports utility vehicles like the Scorpio.
Mahindra has recently launched the Xylo, perhaps the most complete car with
luxury comforts to enter the Indian market with everything that today’s sedans
offer and much more. Available at 57 select Mahindra dealerships in January
and another 44 dealerships from February, the XYLO price range starts at Rs.
6,24,500.While the world-class Scorpio (declared to be the ‘Car of the Year’
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The scope of the study will be limited to analysis of only M&M Xylo in Delhi
using a set of questionnaire.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
Information Source:
Primary Sources:
Secondary Sources:
The Mahindra Xylo multi-utility vehicle (MUV) has been launched in January
2009. The Xylo comes with a 2.5l m-Eagle CRDe engine and is meant to
compete with the Toyota Innova. The Xylo range starts at Rs 6, 24,500 with
the basic model possessing features like HVAC, power steering and power
windows.
The Xylo is accessible at around 100 dealers. The diesel engine has a power
output of 112bhp and produces a maximum torque of 235Nm. Mahindra has
planned to produce 25,000 units of the Xylo annually. The Mahindra Xylo
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offers space all around such that even a six-foot tall person can stretch in
comfort in the third row.
Contact No : 09893665070
E-mail id : sumit.sadhwani@mahindra.com,
sumit.sadhwani@hotmail.com
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am deeply indebted to all who have inspired, guided and helped me in the
successful completion of the project. I owe debt of gratitude to them, who
were so generous with their valuable time and expertise.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Abstract 2-3
2 Acknowledgements 8
3 Table Of Contents 9
5 List Of tables 11
6 Introduction 14-18
14 Recommendations 90-92
15 Conclusion 93-94
16 References 95-102
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LIST OF FIGURES
Serial No. Figures Page No.
1 Major attributes of customer satisfaction 16
2 The buying Process 17
3 Three core elements of satisfaction 18
4-5 Indian Automobile Industry size& Indian 21
Automobile Industry product
6 Indian Automobile Manufacturers in India and 23
Plant Locations
7 Automobile Manufacturers Market Share 25
8 Domestic Sales of Cars 28
9 Information of Flow of supply chain 31
10 Showing the demand forecasting 32
11 Central Production and Planning Control 34
12 Inventory management 42
13 Showing the cost management 43
14 Research Project Steps 62
15 Motives of buying a car 64
16 Product specific reasons for buying a car 66
17 Liking for the interiors of the segment B cars 68
18 Cars interior’s parameters 69
19-20 Safety parameters of different cars 71-72
21-22 Car fuel efficiency parameters 73-74
23 Top speed of family car 75
24 Availability of parts of family car 77
25 Dealer related parameters for different 80
manufacturers
26-27 Brand image of the cars & perception of 81-82
different cars
28 Customer action :recommending car to friends 83
29 Segment wise customer perception 84
30 Demographic: Age wise perception 85
31 Monthly family income 86
32 Respondents objective buying a car brand 87
33 Recommending a car to your friends 88
34 Respondents ranking of brand and company 89
image
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LIST OF TABLES
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Chapter-1
INTRODUCTION
It is true fact that if you are satisfied you recommend to others. Word of mouth
and customer satisfaction play a very important role in determining market
perception about an automobile. It is the market perception that determines
the success of a company and so it is very important for the car
manufacturers to measure the “willingness of existing users of a product to
recommend it to others”. The same is a lot of interest to customers as well for
it helps them make the purchase decision. A car is one of the most significant
purchases that an Indian household makes and this thesis addresses the
most important question that perplexes car manufacturers:
“What makes the perfect car and how to increase the sales of the Mahindra
and Mahindra’s passenger car ?”
The thesis highlights the factors that influence the buying decision of a
consumer.
Price
Safety standard
Warranty scheme
Finance facility
Re-sale value
Is an Indian consumer ready for more? Which is the driving motive behind the
effective demand of the car? How the coming of new models like Honda’s
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Jazz is going to effect the buying decision of consumer and especially the
Tata 1 lakh car. In other words, from the spread of choices offered by various
manufacturers under various segments, of which one the customer will finally
turn the ignition on and drive. Customer satisfaction index: some of the most
advance thinking in the business world recognizes that customer relationships
are best treated as assets, and that methodical analysis of these relationships
can provide a road map for improving them, as somebody has said if you
cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.
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Product quality
Product packaging
Price
Values
+ Benefits -
Features - Attributes
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Problem
Recognition
Information search
Evaluation
Decision
Buy
Post Purchase
Dissonance
Dissatisfaction = Satisfaction =
Brand Rejection Brand Acceptance
Figure-2
“The fact that word of mouth sales are a big deal in this industry has also
helped. Industry players and market surveys reveal that 20-30 percent of
sales are through word of mouth”.
For knowing : How to increase passenger car sales ,it has undergone
through following:
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Industry observers predict that passenger vehicle sales will triple in five years
to about one million, and as the market grows and customer's purchasing
abilities rise, there will be greater demand for higher-end models which
currently constitute only a tiny fraction of the market. These trends have
encouraged many multinational automakers from Japan, U.S.A., and Europe
to enter the Indian market mainly through joint ventures with Indian firms.
India is increasingly becoming a global automotive hub both for the vehicles
and component industry. India is fast integrating itself into the world economy
and open to international automotive companies, who are increasingly
investing in India. The Indian automotive and component industry is looking to
increase the quality of production from existing levels, to develop new
products and to increase exports. In the long run India is well set to become a
key market for automotive and component manufacturers in terms of local
demand and as a base for export. Additionally, companies such as GM,
Daimler Chrysler, Toyota, Delphi and MICO/Bosch are utilizing India’s well
developed IT / software capabilities and have set up R&D hubs here for their
global operations.
INDUSTRY SIZE
The Indian two-wheeler Industry is one of the largest in the world, and is
expected to maintain robust growth in the future
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Automobile Industry in India is still in its infancy but growing rapidly. The
opportunities in the automobile industry in India are attracting big names with
the big purse and they are investing vigorously in infrastructure, design and
development, and marketing. Automobile industry in India is today poised for
the big leap.
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Passenger Vehicles
• Maruti Udyog
• Tata / Telco
• Mahindra / Mahindra
• Hindustan Motors
Car demand has seen a turnaround since mid 2001 thanks to heavy
discounts and cheaper finance. A large number of new models, both locally
assembled and imported, have also revitalized the market.
In terms of volumes:
• The A/B segments are where India’s strength and future lies. The A/B
segment accounts for over 65% of the total passenger vehicles
produced. Competition in this segment is stiff with Maruti the market
leader with around 55% market share. New models from Telco
(Indica), Hyundai (Santro) and Fiat (Palio) however are eroding
Maruti’s long standing dominance in this segment.
• The UV segment remains sluggish with growth at just over 1%. The
clear market leader, Mahindra (51.5% market share) posted increased
sales of 16% in the first 3 quarters of 2007/08. Toyota and Telco
domestic UV business remains flat.
Commercial Vehicles
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• Ashok Leyland
• Swaraj Mazda
This sector has received a huge boost with India’s massive demand from the
infrastructure sector (particularly roads), cyclical fleet replacement by fleet
owners and an upturn in the cement and steel sectors.
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0.604 Mn0.083 Mn
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Sw araj Mazda
Tata
8%
44%
Hyundai
18%
Tata
13%
Fiat
4%
Ford
3%
HM
2%
Maruti
55% Toyota Honda
0.3% Daimler
GM 2%
Chrysler Mitsubishi
Skoda 1%
0.2% 1% 1%
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The following Table-1, explains the growth of India Car Sale during the
aforementioned period.
Utility Vehicles
Multi-Purpose
Vehicles
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Mahindra & 13 0 0 0 0
Mahindra Ltd
Light Commercial
Vehicles
Passenger Carriers
Goods Carriers
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Chapter-2
COMPANY PROFILE
M&M AUTOMOBILELTD
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M&M soon branched out into manufacturing agricultural tractors and light
commercial vehicles (LCVs). It later expanded its operations to secure a
significant presence in many more important sectors. The company has now
transformed itself into a group that caters to the Indian and overseas markets
with a presence in vehicles, farm equipment, information technology, trade
and finance related services, as well as infrastructure development.
By 2005, M&M had become the largest producer of SUVs in India. The
company has recently started a separate sector, the Mahindra Systems and
Automotive Technologies (MSAT), to focus on developing components and
offering engineering services
In this thesis I have tried to describe how M&M has modified the structure of
the organization in order to implement a successful supply chain. The different
processes and initiatives taken across the supply chain of M&M have been
described below. M&M has obtained operational efficiency by keeping a
constant watchful eye on the developments on the supply chain. The
endeavor of the company to reduce its costs in order to increase the profit
margins has been described.
M&M is the leader for Utility Vehicles in India today. The company has been in
existence since 1994. The company also has presence in the Light
Commercial Vehicle market. The company’s commercial three wheeler
“Champion” does brisk sales in the country. The company has six plants
across the country. These plants are in the following cities
• Mumbai
• Nasik
• Igatpuri
• Haridwar
• Zahirabad
• Chennai
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The flow that has been shown below is the “flow of information”. The “flow of
materials” will be in a direction that is opposite to that of the flow of
information. Hence the flow of materials will start with the suppliers and the
final product, after assembling, will reach the dealers.
M&M uses SAP to keep track of the events that happen across the supply
chain.
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According to the design it is imperative for every dealer to record the sales
that have been achieved on a particular day on to the system. M&M hence is
taking a major initiative to make all of its dealers SAP enabled. For the
dealers who do not have the access to SAP it is mandatory to report the sales
of the previous day to the marketing office every morning. In such a manner
all the regional offices get the figures from the dealers everyday. All the
regional offices will then send these figures to the Marketing Head Office at
Worli. Here firstly, the dealers stocks are replenished. Proper delivery of the
products to every corner of the country where demand exists has to be seen
by the marketing department. Marketing also has to indulge in “demand
forecasting” so that the production planning can be carried out effectively.
This data is available for a number of years. The marketing department has to
track all the data over the years, considering sales achieved in the past for the
particular month for which forecasting is being done. Then by tracking the
data and then incrementing the sales which are expected considering the
growth rate the marketing department comes to a figure. This is the figure that
is forecasted and passed along. Then based on the demand and the expected
growth the expected sales are calculated. Also based on the figure obtained
from the marketing department the production planning and the further
processes are carried out. This is one of the most important functions of the
marketing department. From the supply chain point of view this is a very
essential and an indispensable function. It is the marketing department that
will give the figures for production to the production department. Why is
Demand Forecasting an Important Element in the Supply Chain ?
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However if the production of the vehicles happens at a rate that is faster than
the rate of sales then the finished good inventory will keep on increasing and
the money invested in the production of the vehicles will not get its returns in
the form of sales. If the rate of production of the vehicles happens at a rate
that is lower than the demand in the market then it might result in the loss of a
sale as the customer might buy a competitors product as the product that he
wants is not available. Also apart from the customer himself the distribution
network of the company would start losing faith in the company and this would
lead to dilution of the companies brand image internally and externally too
(due to bad publicity by the customers lost).
However automobiles are not a low involvement product. A person will not
buy an automobile everyday For companies who have products which have
low cost of production it makes sense for them to stock their products in to the
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The marketing department at M&M passes the expected sales figure to the
Central Production and Planning Control (CPPC). The function of the CPPC is
to take the projected figure from marketing and then break it up in to
aggregates.
CPPC: The CPPC will take the individual figures for each of the vehicles and
break them up in to numbers for various parts required for production. These
break ups are released by the CPPC on a monthly basis. The monthly plans
are released to the departmental PPC’s.
PPC: The departmental PPC’s play a very vital role as they are the one’s who
will carry out the further break up and pass it along to the procurement team.
Thus the figure received from the CPPC is then further broken up by the PPC
according to the requirement of the individual departments. The CPPC will
always release the plans according to the monthly requirement while the PPC
has to break them down and proceed with the weekly or the fortnightly
requirements for the parts. The PPC’s will then inform the procurement team
as well as the logistics team about the scheduled quantities.
The role of the departmental PPC is very important as he has to interact with
• CPPC
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• Procurement team
The role of the PPC is to inform the CPPC about the product availability and
the available of production capacity. It will also communicate those particular
components which require further production. Based on this the numbers
given by the CPPC and hence the exact numbers required for production will
alter. The PPC will then take inputs from the CPPC and release weekly or
fortnightly plans. The PPC releases the plans based on the responsiveness or
efficiency required from the particular vehicles.
PROCUREMENT TEAM: Once the figures and the production plans have
been made the details then have to be passed on to the procurement team.
They then have to ensure the smooth procuring of materials and also the
efficient delivery so that the inventory levels are maintained.
1. Procurement cell
2. logistics cell
4. PPC
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1. Procurement cell
At this point the vendor response cycles will start. The procurement team will
continuously communicate with the suppliers and keep the flow of materials
smooth. Any breakdowns or irregularities in the material flow will be managed
by the procurement team.
It is also the responsibility of the procurement team to set inventory targets for
each type of part. Daily the reports are tracked and the inventory levels
monitored so that production time is not lost due to the non availability of
materials.
The procurement team will also communicate with the suppliers on behalf of
the individual departments so that only they interact with the suppliers. The
communication channel of the procurement team is shown in the diagram.
The procurement team is always on the lookout for new suppliers and also the
optimum size to be given to each supplier to maintain a proper balance of
inventory supplier scheduling and supplier capacity.
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A few years ago each of the production units at M&M was a business unit and
hence the procurement of materials would be handled by each department
individually. This meant that if a supplier was common to two or more units
then there would be multiple people interacting with him for the material. Also
it meant that the costs would rise up as each unit would have their own
logistics and ordering costs. The inventory management was also done by the
individual units.
The structure has changed and today the SCM team has a representative
from each of the production unit. One person will keep track of parts of similar
type. He will communicate with all the suppliers who provide that part. There
is one person who coordinates between all the buyers (employees) and he is
the one responsible of keeping track of the inventory and generating reports.
Inventories are being greatly reduced in M&M and this has ensured
profitability by reducing the inventory carrying costs.
2. Logistics
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Allocating the vehicles to particular parts and products has to be done by the
logistics department.
Free delivery
In a free delivery format the supplier will bear the transportation and the
logistics costs. The company does not have to pay for the delivery from its
own pockets and hence the onus will be on the supplier to reduce his costs.
Ex-works
Here the costs of transportation of the goods are taken up by the company.
The company will arrange for the transporter and keep track of the materials
in transit. The logistics was earlier looked upon by the Transport and
Solutions Group (TSG). This group has been made in to a separate company
called Mahindra Logistics.
Milk Runs
Milk run deliveries are deliveries that bring products from multiple originating
locations to a single receiving location. Scheduling milk run deliveries is a
much more complex task than scheduling direct deliveries. Decisions must be
made about delivery quantities of different products, about the frequency of
deliveries, and most importantly about the routing and sequencing of pickups
and deliveries.
Outbound logistics
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Outbound logistics deal with the finished vehicles reaching the dealers. There
are three ways by which a vehicle can reach the dealer
• By road (Convoy)
• By car carriers
• By rail
Compared to last year there was 42% increase in revenue generation of scrap
(773 lacs for the period of Apr-06 to Dec-06 against 543 lacs in the same
period last year)
Vendor development
Vendor selection
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Key supplier
In M & M every raw material/part/component that they purchase has two key
suppliers. The supplier offering the best quality at lowest price and adhering to
the delivery schedules is selected as the key suppliers. The first key supplier
supplies approximately 60% of the material requirements and the other key
supplier provides for the remaining 40% of the materials. They have two key
suppliers because 1 supplier does not have the production capacity to meet
the requirements of the company. As also in case of shortfalls, emergency it is
essential to have two key suppliers instead of one.
Vendor evaluation
Quality – in an automobile industry if the quality of the raw materials like the
grade of sheet-metals, fabric,plastic, etc is not as prescribedthe final
producti.e. the quality of the vehicle produced will be hampered. So assuring
that the quality of raw materials is as per the requirement it is absolutely
essential to evaluate vendors on this ground. One way what M&M follows is a
six sigma quality check analysis on the bought out parts and evaluate the
vendor based on defects inparts per million.
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Vendor rating
In M&M they do not have a vendor rating method as such provided that they
have such a large supplier base it is difficult to rate them and they believe it to
be an added cost to their balance sheet.
Vendor motivation
M& M tire to motivates it’s vendors by arranging for vendor meets wherein an
official from M&M visits the vendors factory and appreciates them if
satisfactory and tries to resolve issues with vendors if any. It also arranges for
rewards and recognition wherein the top 10 suppliers are awarded. As also
shares are given to the suppliers as a token of appreciation. This helps a lot in
developing good supplier-buyer relationship.
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
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Each upstream element in the supply chain not only aggregates the inflated
demand changes of all the elements fed by it but also overreacts to these
demand changes and adds its own safety margins to take care of perceived
fluctuations in future demand from downstream elements.
This helps the company in maintaining the right levels of inventory and hence
prevents excessive investment of money in the raw materials. Apart from
reducing the carrying costs this also means that the company has more
money to invest and more liquid cash at their disposal.
A few years ago M&M was experiencing a lot of production loss due to non-
availability of materials. While some of the material was not available other
materials were being excessively stocked. This resulted in very high
inventories of materials. It was also observed that the costs of buying the
materials were very high and that in most of the modules the company was
overstaffed.
In the initial phases the TPM activities were meant to focus on the following
activities
The following two methods were used in order to manage inventory levels
better
• Kanban system
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There are two types of costs associated with materials these are
1. Manpower reduction
Manpower reduction was achieved through job clubbing, job elimination and
layout changes
This is a way to ease out excess people from the organization. Jobs can be
modified so that one person can take more responsibilities. Unnecessary
processes can be eliminated so that no employees are employed for carrying
those out.
M&M has done precisely that when they stopped inspecting the quality of the
material coming in by putting more importance on the suppliers by making him
accountable for his products.
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EOQ for them is on full truck load basis. They see to it that no transportation
vehicle comes half empty and it is utilized to its full capacity. But while
determining the EOQ the inventory levels in the stores are also considered.
Schedules: M&M's area offices update the demand plan on a weekly basis.
SAP-SCM can take into account regional demand variation, using its
optimizer capabilities to decide which plants will make what and synchronizing
the procurement schedules. M&M runs supply planning capability based on
the changing demand pattern, with results transmitted to MRP and posted to
the private vendor Web sites. This way the suppliers can keep up-to-date on
likely plant consumption. Vendors don't supply based on this information – the
rolling plan only alerts them to what they should be prepared for. All material
flow from the suppliers is pull based, triggered by actual consumption at the
plant end.
Physical stock- it is the stock that is being seen on the system and which
should tally with the physical stock in the stores of all the unused components,
parts, tools, etc.
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Bill of materials- for the production of any one part of the vehicle (engine,
wheel, axle) the number of raw materials used for its production will be
reduced automatically from the systems according to the number of units
produced. The bill of materials is the number of raw materials required for the
production of 1 part of the vehicle. If for example manufacturing an engine
requires 450 parts but bill of materials accounts for only 440 parts then the
system stock and the actual stock would not tally leading to shortfall in
inventory.
Safety stock- it shows the number of raw materials which are more than the
requirement and available in case of emergency.
STORES MANAGEMENT
The store in M&M is decentralized with each production unit having their own
stores. All the stores in each of the units are next to the road so that loading
and unloading becomes easier. Also the materials can be protected from
damage in this case.All the bought out parts and work in progress inventories
are kept in the stores.
The stores are divided into 3 sections depending upon its functions-
2. Main stores: main stores is where the raw materials are stored. The
COMB type layout is followed in the main stores.
Features of stores:
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Stock verification
Stock verification is done once a year on 31st January. On this day the
production is stalled, the entire SAP system is closed, material procurement
and dispatch is halted. All the employees from all the departments then
engage themselves in stock verification. Thus they follow fixed or periodic
inventory method.
Stock valuation
They follow actual price method of stock valuation for raw materials wherein
oldest stock is issued first. In this method materials are issued at actual cost
and are valued also at the same cost by keeping an account of the receipt of
all the raw materials.
Material handling
However, they were adequate in mass production with limited variety or low
volume production. Customers were tolerant of defects like scratches, dents
etc. With transformation of manufacturing systems to be lean, agile and highly
automated, things are changing. Increased competition increases variety of
components (for product customisation ), reduces lot size, varies product mix
continuously ( pull type manufacturing ).
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In M& M they have these aisles i.e roads constructed inside the plant for
identification of safe and danger zones
• In M&M plant a mezzanine floor has been put up all over the stores
and it is fire resistant. It also helps in optimum usage of the floor space.
• Lastly for all the material handling equipments they give proper training
to their personnel to avoid any mishaps and to carry out safe
operations.
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MAHINDRA XYLO
Making the Mahindra Xylo meant challenging the limitations of every car
before it. It meant determining the needs of our consumers. And pioneering
technologies to meet those needs. The Mahindra Xylo was meant to be built
around you, out of your needs.
And it took 160 engineers to do just that. Engineers that were handpicked
from across the country. Each of them regarded as an expert in their own field
of automobile development. These engineers spent time with customers
across the country, observing their interaction with vehicles. They identified
need gaps and invented solutions to fill in these gaps. And the result was
India's first car to be built inside out. Every need was catered to, every
requirement met. And once the interiors were done, the exteriors began.
A lot of research and development has gone into bringing the Mahindra Xylo
from the drawing board to 'on road'. And every manufacturing process has
been optimised to handle this special car's special requirements. Like the
body assembly procedures that are fully automated to ensure incredible levels
of accuracy. So you can be sure that extra thought and effort have gone into
making the Mahindra Xylo perfect in every way
E2
Exterior
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• Coloured Handles & outside rear view mirrors & footstep end
caps – (N/A)
Interior
• Digital Clock
• 3 position lumbar support for front & middle captain seats – (N/A)
• Foldable arm rest in the middle and last seat with utility space – (N/A)
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Safety
• Tubeless tyres
• HVAC
• Power steering
• Tilt steering
• Central locking
• Illumination ring
• Power window
E4
Exterior
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• Coloured Handles & outside rear view mirrors & footstep end caps –
(N/A)
Interior
• Digital Clock
• 3 position lumbar support for front & middle captain seats – (N/A)
• Foldable arm rest in the middle and last seat with utility space – (N/A)
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Safety
• Tubeless tyres
• HVAC
• Power steering
• Tilt steering
• Keyless entry
• Central locking
• Illumination ring
• Power window
E6
Exterior
• Ski rack
• Fog lamps
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• Coloured Bumpers
• Coloured Grill
• Coloured Handles & outside rear view mirrors & footstep end caps
Interior
• Foldable arm rest in the middle and last seat with utility space
Safety
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• Tubeless tyres
• HVAC
• Floor console
• Power steering
• Tilt steering
• Keyless entry
• Central locking
• Illumination ring
• Power window
• Rear defogger
E8
Exterior
• Fog lamps
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• Alloy wheels
• Coloured Bumpers
• Coloured Grill
• Coloured Handles & outside rear view mirrors & footstep end caps
Interior
• Foldable arm rest in the middle and last seat with utility space
Safety
• Tubeless tyres
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• HVAC
• Floor console
• Power steering
• Tilt steering
• Keyless entry
• Central locking
• Illumination ring
• Power window
• Rear defogger
What is that '1 big' design philosophy which was adopted for Xylo?
Driven by our Mantra of Customer Centricity; Xylo has been Co-created with
Customers. Understanding & fulfilling the latent needs of our target customers
has been the development plank of Xylo. The Project team members have at
every stage of the Project interacted with Customers understanding the Value
benefit for everything which has gone in the making of the Xylo. The whole
approach of designing the vehicle basis an "Inside - Out" philosophy signifies
that the Xylo has been crafted around the need of our Customers for a
Luxurious, comfortable Car which makes a Style statement which the new
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Ingenio was never to be the Brand name; it was coined as a Project name
and was inspired by one of our Customer Centric initiative called "Ingenious
Drive" which was at full stream when this Project was announced. Though in
case of Scorpio we did continue with the Project name as the Brand name as
it made terrific sense in continuing with the Project name given the Product
values & positioning. In this case we believe that Xylo has perfect fit with what
values the Product would offer to its Customers.
What does the new Brand name mean & its significance?
What level of testing & validation has been carried on the Xylo?
For Xylo we did a lot of upfront "Virtual Validation" with over 1500+ CAE
simulations for "First Time Right Design & Development". All the lessons
learnt from our earlier Projects were also incorporated in the making of the
Xylo. This coupled with having World - Class Vendor partners on board early
in the Project has helped us develop the Product in a true Global sense. Apart
from Virtual Validation we also have tested the vehicles for "Real World
Usage Profile" across the world from extensive trials throughout India to South
Africa, Germany and many other countries to expose the vehicle to extreme
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conditions. Over 100 prototype vehicles have covered nearly a million kms of
stringent testing & validation.
Has Xylo been designed for the Global markets and would it be
launched across the World?
Xylo has been Co-created with Customers from all the Target countries.
Project team members have traveled and conducted over 1100+ customer
interactions. Spending a "Day in the Life" of the Customers to understand and
deliver the latent needs of the customers. This coupled with Global
development practices like QFD supplemented by a ReFinE process have
helped us create a true Global vehicle. We are currently evaluating which all
markets would we be launching the Xylo in. In overseas markets where we
already have a presence, Xylo would definitely help us consolidate our
position.
Xylo is being launched in 4 variants. E2, E4, E6 and E8. The prefix E is drawn
from the Engine name m-Eagle.
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BRAND PERSONALITY
Based on the premise that brand can have the personalities in much the same
way as humans, brand personality describe brands in terms of human
characteristics. Brand personality is seen as valuable factor in increasing
brand engagement and brand attachment, in much the same way as people
relate and bid to other people. Much of the work in the area of brand
personality is based on translated theories of human personality and using
similar measures of personality attributes and factors. Brand personality refers
to the set of human characteristics we associated with the brand. A common
way of determining this is to reply on the metaphor: “If the brand was a
person, what would he/she be like?” we then list and group the traits to
describe the brand as, for example: caring, approachable and trustworthy.
However, there is a lot more we can do.
Because many people interact with brands as though they were other people,
it is important to understand what a brand personality consists of, and how its
characteristics can be used to affect the relationship between the brand and
its user. Knowing and understanding the brand personality gives a good
insight into this relationship, and into peoples’ attitudes towards the brand,
and is also as important guide to communicating the brand.
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People’s personalities are determined largely through the value and beliefs
they have, and other personality characteristics they develop. An example of
value or belief is honesty. Many people believe in being honest in everything
they do and say. An example of characteristic is confidence. This is not a
belief, but more of a behavior. There are, of course, many value/beliefs and
characteristic that a person may have, but there are some that are particularly
likeable. It is these likeable values and characteristics that people are
inevitably attracted. Examples of these include dependability, trustworthiness,
honesty, reliability, friendliness, caring, and fun-loving.
There are about two hundred words that describe personality characteristics,
and these can be used for putting personality into brands. To illustrate how
people think in personality terms when making judgments about brands, here
are the results of consumer research into how people feel about tow
companies. When asked question: “if these companies are people, how would
you describe them?” their replies were:
Company A Company B
Arrogant Modest
Efficient Helpful
Distant Approachable
Disinterested Interested
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A further point of interest arising out of this research is that people tend to
prefer brands that fit their self-concept. Everyone has views about themselves
and how they would like to be seen by others. And they tend to like
personalities that are similar to theirs, or to those whom they admire. Thus,
creating brands with personalities similar to those of a certain group of
consumers will be an effective strategy. The closer the brand personality is to
the consumer personality (or one which they admire or aspire to), the greater
will be the willingness to buy the brand and deeper the brand loyalty.
Brand personality traits are formed and influenced by any direct or indirect
contact that the consumer has with a brand. A brand, unlike a person, cannot
think, feel or act. A brand has no objective existence at all; it is simply a
collection of perception on the mind of the consumer. Consumers accept the
marketing actions to humanize brands. One explanation fort this can be found
in the theories of animism, which suggest that there exists need by people to
anthropomorphize objects in order to facilitate interaction with the nonmaterial
world. Anthropomorphize occurs when human qualities are attributed to non
human objects, e.g. brands. Consumers easily assign personality quality to
inanimate objects like brands in thinking about the brands as if they are
human characters.
In a direct way, personality traits are associated with a brand by the people
associated to that brand. One direct way to form and influence brand
personality is user imaginary. User imaginary is defined as the set of human
characteristics associated with the typical or stereotype user of the brand.
Associations with the company employees or CEO and the brand’s product
endorsers are also direct ways by which brand personality traits are formed
and influenced. The personality traits that of the people associated with a
brand are transferred directly to the brand. The theories of animism describe
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another process mechanism that directly explains the specific ways in which
the vitality of the brand can be realized (Fournier, 2004). Spokespersons that
are used in advertising can have personalities that fit those of the brand they
advertise. Over time, the personalities of the spokesperson are transmitted to
the brand. The brand-person associations can also have a more personal
nature. Brands can be associated with person who use or used that particular
brand, for example a close friend or a family member. Also, brands received
as gifts can also be associated with the person from whom the gift was
received. These person associations serve to animate the brand as a vital in
the minds of the consumers. Obviously, this aspect is much less under the
control of the marketers.
Indirectly, the brand personality is created by all the elements of the marketing
mix. Betra, Lehman and Singh suggest that the personality of a brand is
created over time, by the entire marketing mix of the brand - “its price (high or
low, odd or even), retail store location (imaginary associations), product
formulation (ingredients, benefits), and product form (solid/liquid. Etc.),
packaging details (color, size, material, shape), symbol; used an all phases of
the brand communication, sales promotion, and media advertising”.Another
form of animism explains how brand personality is created in a more indirect
way. This form of animism involves complete anthropomorphization of the
brand object itself. Human qualities of emotionality and thought are
transferred to the brand. This is achieved with the help of the marketing
actions, especially advertising. For example, the brand character of M&M in
the M&M commercials has the capacity to laugh and joke.
One of the advantage of the brand personality is that based on their distinctive
personalities, consumers are able to differentiate between brands. Another
advantage is that the consumer can interpret the brand’s image in such a way
that it is personally more meaningful. Brand personality encourages more
active processing on the part of the consumer. Thus, the consumer put more
efforts in creating and using the brand personality. A further advantage of
brand personality is that life is given to a brand. By vitalizing a brand, another
perspective of brand personality can be examined, namely the role of a brand
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Original
Masculine
Sexy
Youthful
Rebellious
Individual
Free
American
Romantic
Sexually attractive
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Resourceful
Independent
Both profile appeal mostly to the emotional side of the people’s minds- to their
feelings and sensory function. This profiling approach aims to reinforce the
self-concept of the consumers and their aspirations. The approach is ideal for
brands that adopt a market-niche strategy, and can be extremely successful if
a market segment has a degree of global homogeneity, as is the case with
Levis.
Age – how long a brand has been on the market can affect its
personality. Thus new entrants such as Apple, MCI, and Saturn tend to
have younger brand personalities than brand such as IBM, AT&T, and
Chevrolets, and it as all too common far a major dominate brand to see
as strongly and old fashioned, a brand for older people.
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The brand personality construct can help brand strategies by enhancing their
understandings of people’s perceptions of and attitude towards the brand,
contributing to a differentiating brand identity guiding the communication effort
and creating brand equality.
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Are you what you drive? That is what are companies seem to be asking and
in the same breath trying to convince you about. In other words, are you the
Hyundai accent owner who commands immediate respect wherever she goes
(including fro the potential father-in-law) or are you the suave executive from
the Chevrolet ad who is ever ready to share a moment with loved one? With a
plethora of new models in the market, and generic benefits (such as space or
fuel efficiency) of a particular car segment hardly a distinguishing factor
between car models, marketer are increasingly differentiating on the
emotional pay-off a particular car model/brand provides to the customer. This,
of course, varies from the segment to segment and also on how long a
particular model has been in the market.
For instance, while advertising for entry level or smaller cars tends to focus
more on the rational or functional benefits of the vehicles, the differentiations
is increasingly on the emotional benefits when it comes to high end cars.
Generally, it has been seen as one move up the value chain, the
differentiation is more on the emotional pay-off. People buy car as an
extension of their personality rather than just features. A car, in India, helps
build up show off, social esteem value. The advertising would also vary
according to the segment which one is targeting,” he says. For instance, the
Chevrolet Optra ad (which depicts a young husband driving his wife to see the
moon on the occasion of Karvachauth) shows an Optra consumer as
someone who believes in family values and indulging loves ones.
“I find that typically profile of an Optra consumer is someone who is in the age
group of 35-45years and has a chauffer. He buys a car not only for himself but
also for the family and tries to make up, for not being able to spend enough
time, by indulging love ones”. The positioning goes well with the companies
catch lines of “for a special journey called life”.
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High end car maker Skoda auto too, through its advertising, attempts to
connect with its consumer on emotional level. “Car is the extension of the
personality and our advertising shows the consumer to be youthful, image-
conscious and even bit a macho. The campaign jointly made by Skoda’s
marketing department and ad agency IB&W not only communicates the
quality of the brand but an appreciation for the finer things in life. The target
Skoda consumer is a SEC A1, primarily male, businessman or someone in
the senior management,” says Shashank vaid, manger (marketing), Skoda
Auto India. Surely, image building does come higher in the consumer’s
scheme of priorities when buying a new car than ever before.
The importance of brand image has risen sharply in the last few years. At the
segment level, the increase in importance is greater for the mid-size cars,
indicating the relevance of brand among the more expensive market
segments. The manufacturer need to focus more o how consumers perceive
them as offering exciting cars and being committed towards them.
Contemporariness of model has a big impact on purchase decision. The
perception of the car in terms of its performance and design, quality, sales,
after sales, cost of ownership, apart from brand image, all impact upon the
purchase decision.”
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A case in point is the Maruti 800 campaign in which the kids who is playing
with a toy Maruti 800 exclaims to his dad (when asked how long will he keep
on running the car), “papa ki Kara, petrol khatam hi nahin Honda.” The ad
cleverly conveys that the car just keeps going on and on. It ends with the
voiceover telling us that Maruti Suzuki is most fuel-efficient car. However in
the small car segment, the rational benefits magic is not always applicable.
Take the case of Hyundai Santro, the advertising of which has evolved over
the years from initially conveying mainly the functional benefits of the model to
connecting with the consumer on an emotional level now. “When we launched
the Santro, we started with the positioning if the car being a complete family
car which was completely rational positioning. But then two things happened-
the product found acceptance in the market and the competition came up with
similar product in the market.
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Chapter-
Research question
The research question specifies the information the decision making needs.
The responsibility of the researcher is to make the researcher question as
specific and precise as possible. The researcher question asks what specific
information is required to achieve the research purpose, or answer the
research problem. If the research questions are answered by the research,
then the information should aid the decision maker.
Development of hypothesis
Defining the scope of the research or the research boundaries ensures the
desired precision or accuracy of the result.
• How
• What
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• Where
• When
• Why
The research objectives for the thesis undertaken can be defined as follows:
• Ultimately have to carve out the result that “how to increase sales of
Mahindra and Mahindra automobile”.
It is aimed to study the car market and buying behavior of the customer. The
project is analyzed the demographic, psychographic and buying
characteristics of the customers in buying the car. It includes the detailed
study of customers focusing on the various parameters that lead to identifying
and understanding the perception of the customer in buying the car brands.
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people, that we speak of them as a part of one’s life and identity, being used
to express one. Some would say that these brands have their own
personality, like: Mercedes, which can easily be associated with high status
and affluent owner. The brand perception, which can be defined as the set of
human characteristics associated with a given brand.
Because many people interact with brand as though they were other people, it
is important to understand what a brand perception consists of, and how its
characteristics can be used to affect the relationship between the brands and
its users. Knowing and understanding the brand perception gives a good
insight into this relationship, and into peoples’ attitudes towards the brand,
and is also an important guide to communicating the brand. Like apparel and
lifestyles brands, a car is extension of one’s perception. People buy cars
which either matches their personalities or those which provide them
opportunities of being perceived as somebody they aspire to be. This
becomes significant as consumers move up the value chain from small
compact cars to midsize and upwards.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A research process consists of stages or steps that guide the project from its
conception through the final analysis, recommendations and ultimate actions.
The research process provides a systematic, planned approach to the
research project and ensures that all aspects of the research project are
consistent with each other.
PRIMARY DATA
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SECONDARY DATA
Information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another
purpose. Sources include census reports, trade publications, and subscription
services. Data that have already been collected and published for another
research project (other than the one at hand). There are two types of
secondary data: internal and external secondary data. Information compiled
inside or outside the organization for some purpose other than the current
investigation. Data that have already been collected for some purpose other
than the current study. Researching information which has already been
published. Market information compiled for purposes other than the current
research effort; it can be internal data, such as existing sales-tracking
information, or it can be research conducted by someone else, such as a
market research company or the U.S. government. Published, already
available data that comes from pre-existing sets of information, like medical
records, vital statistics, prior research studies and archival data.
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Rese
Figure-14
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Chapter-
40
35
39
30
Figure-15: Motives of buying a car
15
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Q2. You decided to buy a car brand because of (rate best 3 factors from 1 to
3 in order of your preference)
Figure-16
Interpretation: Indian market is still the hard nut to crack for most of the
automobile manufacturers. Though the Indian car industry is among the
fastest growing car markets of the world still the Indian psyche is too complex
for the manufacturers to understand. The most important reason for buying a
car when it comes to B and C segment cars seems to be ‘value for money’.
32% of the respondents suggested that affordable prices are the most
important factor while purchasing a car. This is the reason for sticking to a
particular segment till the next substantial rise in the personal disposable
income. This reason is followed by ‘Value for money’ where the customers
look for the best product, best services and best repute all bundled in one with
the best deal they can strike. This explains the reason for the stagnant or
sudden growth in sale of B and C segment cars just before budget and near
occasions like Diwali.
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In
100%
3 3 3
1 1
80% 1
Figure-17
4
Interpretation: Interiors play a very important role in deciding the sale of a 4
4
car. Moreover, comfortable and exotic the interiors are more are the chances
Level of satisfaction
of its being popular among the customers. For this reason manufacturers
60%
spend billions of dollars every year on R&D to continuously improve the
interiors of their cars. Seats, leg room, dash board, armrests etc are few of the
options which count for the interiors. As the analysis show Getz scores
3
substantially high w.r.t. its counterparts on the account of music system 3
installed. Similarly, Indica V2 races far ahead as far as leg room is concerned.
3
However, M&M Pessenger Car fares badly on this front. Overall, almost all
40%
cars get a mixed response in this segment as far as the interiors are
concerned.
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Custom
100%
3 3 3
Satisfaction level ( in %age)
80% 3 3 3
Figure-18
4 4 4
60%
Interpretation: As one can see most of the respondents are quite happy with
the interiors of their respective cars. However, one striking point observed
here are that almost every car fares neutral on the adjustable front seat
headset. These cars have more leg room, come with attached music systems
3 4
(Verna fares the best among all cars on this front) combined with luxury
4
40%
features like TV screens, armrests at the back seat etc. Talking about
Mahindra and Mahindra’s Xylo it has a perfect blend of interior,it seems that it
has taken it from ‘D’ segment cars.A lavish interiors are always a akin for
good selling. 4 4 4
20%
4 4 4
0%
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no
go
m
Monila Dawar 65
Q4. Please rate your existing car in terms of understated Safety features on a
scale of 1 to 5
Custom
100%
Customer Satisfaction Level ( %age)
90% 3
4 5
80%
70%
Figure-19
3
Interpretation: It can be noted Passenger Cars Getz ,Swift and Indica V2
60% 4
fight neck to neck on almost every front, with Indica marginally better in
4
features like crossbars under the dashboard and Anti Brake systems. Most of
the cars in this segment fare relatively similar and very close to each other on
most of the fronts. 50%
3
40%
3 4
30%
1
1
20% 1
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10% 3 3 3
Monila Dawar 66
Custome
100%
90% 3 3 4
80%
Customer satisfaction level
70% 3
Figure-20 3 3
Interpretation: As one can see most of the respondents are quite happy with
the safety parameters of their respective cars. However, one striking point
60%
observed here are that almost every car fares neutral on the safety
parameters.
50% 4
4 4
40%
30% 1 1 3
20%
4 4
10% 4
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Customer S
100%
Customer Satisfaction Level ( %age)
90% 3 3
3
80%
70%
Figure-21 3
4
3
60%
Interpretation: The customer choice of the car highly depends upon the
performance and maintenance costs of the car. This is the reason why this
class of parameter was chosen for this study. And the results show that
50%
Hyundai Passenger Car’s could give hints as how to increase pickups,
stability at high speeds and optimum fuel efficiency. M&M Passenger Car can
4
40%
fare out as the best car in its segment as most fuel efficient car of all.
3best on the terms like mileage but it
Similarly, M&M Passenger Car fares the
4
lags behind with few. So this segment shows a mixed bag of response for the
Fuel efficiency and30%
mileage parameter. Indica V2 performs consistently on all
the parameters and Getz fares really well on pick up whereas it fares badly on
fuel consumption. Considered this condition for Getz it should be seen as a
20%
red signal for the manufacturers so that Getz does not end up being like Fiat’s
Palio famous as a car for ‘drinking petrol.
4
3
10% 3
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Customer Sat
100%
90%
Customer Satisfaction Level ( in %age
4 4
80%
70% Fig-22
same it seems that most of the cars in this segment are placed much closed
to each other with very little difference here and there. Most of the cars are
50%
fuel efficient with respect to their weights and pick ups. Indigo fares as the
best car in terms of fuel efficiency. Baleno fares a little bit behind than its
counterparts as far as the stability at high speeds and mileage is concerned.
40%
3
3
30%
20%
3 3
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Figure-23
Interpretation: It suggests that the car having maximum speed more than
150kmph is no problem as it is only plus as one could easily increase its
speed when ever it is required. Customers want their cars to be fully equipped
with high speed systems.It also signals toward the thrill part as by adding
more thrill gears into their cars they can really move ahead.
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d. If any other
Parts and
90.00% accessories
available all over
80.00%
the country:11.42%
70.00% Parts and
60.00% accessories
available only is big
50.00% cities:2.85%
40.00% Unique parts should
be available on
30.00% demand:85.71%
20.00%
If any other:None
10.00%
0.00%
Figure-24
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by opening more dealerships and showroom so that all the parts could be
made available easily throughout India.
Q1. Please rate your Dealer on the understated parameters on the scale
of 1 to 5 where, 1 = Highly Satisfied, 2 = Satisfied, 3 = Neutral, 4 =
Dissatisfied, 5 = Highly Dissatisfied
• Distance ( Proximity)
• Advertisements (Promotions)
• Technical Facilities
• Cost of Service
• Availability of Spares
• Information Provided
• Service Time
• Charges
• Staff
• Car Handling ( Delivery & service)
• Assured Customer Transactions
• Ambience of Service Center
• Finance ( Credit) Schemes
Dealers are the middle men between a car manufacturer and its customers.
Dealer thus becomes the most important link in joining the company to its
customers as he is the person who will sell the product, will deliver it and will
keep on providing the after sales services to the customers as and when
required. So, it becomes necessary automatically to study dealer as a part of
customers’ satisfaction journey with the product called car!
Why M&M Passenger Car fares so well ahead of its competitors till date and
its the largest car company in India with the largest market share in A and B
segment is because during the protected regime it build a dealers network so
strong that its yet very difficult for most of the competitors to set up a network
as large as M&M Passenger Car. So wherever you go its not difficult to find a
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M&M Passenger Car service station and a M&M Passenger Car dealer. This
is how M&M Passenger Car has maintained relationships with its customers
and has been able to convert most of them into a repeat customer. So, dealer
network is something of such importance that while studying the customer’s
satisfaction profile its almost impossible to ignore it.
Custom e
100%
er Satisfaction Level ( in %age terms)
90% 2
4 4 4
80%
1
70%
2 3
4
60%
Figure-2
3
Interpretation: While buying a car, dealers ‘choice play a very important role
50%
3
in deciding the company and model’s choice. So dealers act as influencers on
4
the complete buying behavior of the prospective customers. Among all the
40%
listed factors M&M Passenger Car fares the best among all its counter parts in
terms of dealer density which is quite obvious. Also, the cost of service
4
30%
provided by M&M Passenger Car dealers is the lowest followed by Tata
Motors. Similarly, for B and C segment cars M&M Passenger Car emerges
out as the clear winner among the four car companies studied all thanks to
20%
the vast, extensive and well managed dealer system.
5 4
5
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10%
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5
Customer Perception ( Avg)
Figure-26
4
Interpretation: As per the analysis, Hyundai Passenger Car is the car whose
brand image is most preferred in the market. This is because of the reason,
that it’s from the house of Hyundai a South Korean company known for its
overall image. On the contrary Passenger Car Estilo and Aveo share the
same platform on the brand image. This can be attributed to the fact that both
3
these cars are relatively new on the block and market takes time to imbibe
and give the brand an image. This is established by the fact that TataIndica
Car and Swift are exactly the same as far as the image is concerned.
2 4
3
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1
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Cu
5
Customer Perception ( Avg)
Figure-27
4
Interpretation: As the analysis reveals GM’s Optra fares as the Best Car as
far as customers’ perception is concerned about the brand image of the car in
the C segment. This is because of the fact that GM itself commands an
amazing brand image among its customers. Accent and Verna both Hyundai
cars share the same position.
3
2 4
3
1
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80
73
70
60
Figure-28
50
Interpretation: It seems logical that satisfied customers will someday become
loyal customers, in other words there is a positive correlation between
Frequency
40
should expect more referrals and this is reflected in the analysis that 73%
customers say that they will refer their car to their friends even if they move to
other segment or other brand.
30
20
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40
35
30
Figure-29
25
Interpretation: The analysis shows that most people when moving to upper
segment will prefer a different manufacturer. And the next striking finding is
Values
that the customers will prefer both same and different manufacturers in the B
20
segment cars and there is not much difference in the C segment also. This 6
behavior is complex to understand as this are the customers who have given
whopping response for recommending their car to their friends. It’s the reason
why brand perception is so difficult to understand.
15 7
10
17
5 11
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DEMOGRAPHICS
agegroup
<21
21-35
36-55
>55
17
20
21
41
Figure-30
I surveyed around 50 people who belonged to various age groups. The survey
of 4 age groups was done. The four age groups were:
21 -35 years
36-54 years
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19
33
19
28
Figure-31
50000 - 1,00,000
1,00,001 – 2,00,000
Interpretation: Above graphs exhibits the income bracket of the sample size,
as evident the majority of the sample is in the income bracket of < 50,000 a
month income. Though none of the bracket is highly skewed, this enables the
study to be wide and not dependent on a set income class, which was a
fortunately desirable result of simple random sampling.
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CROSS TABULATION
Bar Chart
20 segm ent C ar B
E s t ilo
W agon R
S w if t
15 S a n tro
G e tz
I n d ic a V 2
Aveo
10 E s te e m
C
n
u
o
t
B a le n o
A ccent
V e rn a
5
I n d ig o M a r in e
I n d ig o
O p tra
0
Af
Af
va
Te
Co
Sa
m
an
ter
fo
lue
fe
m
hn
rd
uf
ty
fo
sa
i
a
ab
fo
ca
rt
ct
les
r
l
ur
le
Su
m
e
pr
on
se
r's
p er
ice
rv
ey
im
io
ice
s
r it
ag
y
e
ov
er
co
m
pe
t it
io
n
Figure-32
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bring delight on customer’s face for an example: Lavish interiors and excellent
fuel efficiency; then certainly Mahindra and Mahindra can surge-up its sales
by leaps and bounds.Recommend the car to your friend*ranking of Brand and
company .
Bar Chart
respondants' ranking of
40
brand and company
image
Very Low
Low
Neutral
30
High
Very High
20
C
n
u
o
t
10
0
yes no
Would you recommend your car to your friends
Figure-33
Interpretation: The graph shows that people who rank their car high or very
high on the brand image are the people who recommend their car to their
friend. This is something the car companies should look for as these people
may not be the brand loyal but are definitely the people who help a company
to reinforce the brand image propagated by the company. Ranking of Brand
and Image*Segment B and C car
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Bar Chart
Accent
4 Verna
Indigo Marine
Indigo
Optra
2
0
Very Low Low Neutral High Very High
respondants' ranking of brand and company
image
Figure-34
Interpretation: This graph shows that how brand image is useful in making
the choice of a car especially in the B and C segment. So, M&M Passenger
Car is the car whose brand image can be on the top and it could be the most
preferred car ,if technological advances of swift, WagonR and Indica will be
taken, to improve on all related aspects.
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Chapter-
RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the research and analysis done in this thesis brand personality
alone is not enough in many cases. Such as take case of Tata’s Grande it has
the brand personality made for the semi affluent group or say it was launched
as segment C car, but it could not live upto the expectation as people were
asking for more that were :better fuel efficiency, affordable price and looks to
die for. people who rank their car high or very high on the brand image are the
people who recommend their car to their friend. This is something the car
companies should look for as these people may not be the brand loyal but are
definitely the people who help a company to reinforce the brand image
propagated by the company. For an example :Zen was a segment –B car of
the Maruti udyog Ltd company and it was a hit car and why because the
customer liked its fuel efficiency qualities, its looks, affordability, and say it
was complete value to the money. Definately people helped the company to
reinforce the brand image by recommending it to others which they had aimed
at its inception. As per the analysis ,its evident that customer satisfaction
means retention of customers, and hence customers bring word of mouth into
play. Supposedly according to analysis the best way to achieve optimum
sales when your satisfied customers bring word of mouth into play. Customers
satisfaction is taken as an asset by many customer centric corporations.
Product satisfaction, After sales services satisfaction and relationships
satisfaction are the three core elements which customers are looking for.
Those who implied these elements, their cars are selling like hotcakes.
According to the analysis done, choice of car depends upon the factors such
as brand perception but is hugely influenced by extensive factors such as
price, service, and models available, financing options, its resale value,
sturdiness and looks, etc. Also the choice of the car is largely influenced by
the manufacturer’s image. Increase of sales could also be achieved by
showing technology advances. Car manufacturing companies research and
development department should also look at the disposable income of the
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citizens as analysis showing that most of them belonged to income group that
is below Rs.50000 per month and hence they want to buy a car, which can
suit their pockets. In this case ‘Xylo’ is the perfect example, the indigenous
company of Mahindra and Mahindra has shown greater research acumen. As
we all know that its (xylo) basic variant starts at Rs.6,75000 well within the
reaches of the income groups. Such types of research acumen will definitely
see increase in selling. The analysis also shows that most people when
moving to upper segment of the car will prefer a different manufacturer.As for
an example: Mahindra and Mahindra don’t have upper segment car for
affluent groups. In competition with its foreign counterparts such as Toyota,
GM, etc. It should also look to launch a upper segment car such as land
cruiser of Toyota company. So that the customer will remain loyal to the
company and increase in sales in its upper segment cars will also be seen.
On the other hand when talking about B or C segments cars customers, they
recommended for it and remained loyal, this also showed that how complex is
it to understand brand perception of the customers. Here one thing is for sure
that those who recommend their cars are satisfied customers. As per survey
another very important thing has come to the fore, and that is the availability
of the parts and accessories of the car. For an example :In India all the
regions are not well developed so many car manufacturing companies could
not able to open their showrooms and dealerships at remotest of the places.
On this front company like Mahindra and Mahindra can keep its nose ahead
by opening its dealership in remotest of areas and this will surge up the
selling.
Safety gears, Interior design, over all looks, Fuel efficiency, Maintenance cost
incurred, etc. All these factors are very important factors with Segment-B and
C as such type of cars usually in the Indian car market are bought by income
groups whose newly increased disposable salary can afford but they put
every step with great caution while buying the car. In this case a car which
has a perfect blend of all the above mentioned factors, could easily surge-up
the pace of the sales of the cars.
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A very important role is played by dealers, which can always prove to be the
main reason behind selling or none selling. It is evident by the analysis that
many important cases are being handled by the dealers and hence lead to the
customers satisfaction and retention. Such as advertisements (promotions),
providing technical facilities, cost of service, availability of spares, information
providing, services time, finance credit schemes, car handling during
servicing, etc .Customers are very clever they look for the distance proximity
of the dealership from their residing places as well. This thing also lead to
increase in sales or decrease in sales. So the dealership should be made
available if a company wants to increase its sales.
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Chapter-
CONCLUSION
To conclude, the results show that the companies are playing on the
peripheral cues to maintain their Total Relationship Management and connect
to the customers both present and potential. The companies are operating in
a highly aggressive and competitive global market place and this climate has
led to the emphasis on quality in all aspects. TQM focuses on integration and
coordination as well as the continuous improvement of all activities and
processes. Total Relationship Management (TRM) is a very recent marketing
strategy and philosophy. It focuses on and is concerned with all integrated
internal and external activities within and between the organizations. These
two terms are integrated by the manufacturers by building good quality
products and building good relationship with dealers and enhancing service
levels.
However, when studied from the point of view of a customer there seems to
be no major difference among the car brands in a segment as far as
performance is concerned. The brand perception is dependant mostly on the
peripheral cues depending upon the nature and quality of the service provided
along with the pricing, maintenance, availability of spare parts and related
issues. So, a question arises here that is this the end of road for the branding
of cars? Has the commoditization of cars has started and its time that
manufacturers must read the writing on the wall? It seems so! It seems as an
undercurrent sentiment is flowing and the perception of the customers is
changing according to it. So this might be the reason that despite Verna faring
so high on the performance parameters still lags on the account of converted
sales. The study shows that brand perception is something which starts
building up before a car is purchased and goes on with its use and is reflected
in the recommendations the customer makes to his acquaintances for the
same car. Also, its seen that the customer might not be using the car still he
holds the perceptions about it. Brand personality of a car is enforced by the
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Dealers, as per the study findings, play a very important role in building up
the brand perception of the cars. Since dealers are the connecting link
between the customers and the manufacturers thus becoming the most
important link in joining the company to its customers as he is the person who
will sell the product, will deliver it and will keep on providing the after sales
services to the customers as and when required. So, it becomes necessary
automatically to study dealer as a part of customers’ satisfaction journey with
the product called car! Their proximity to the customers, the service provided
by them and the relationship maintained by them with the customers helps the
car companies to establish and reinstate the brand personality communicated
by them to the customers.
Finally the major point that emerges out of this detailed study is a caution for
the car companies ,what are the do’s and what are the don’ts ?ultimately, “
how to increase passenger car sales?”, the answer lies within this result of
this research. It says that there is no doubt that Indian car market may be
growing with a double digit figure still the car companies have a long way to
travel to convince their customers about the brand personality of their cars
and how it suits the prospective buyers. Simply because it simply is not a
guarantee that how so ever good the customer might be holding the brand
perception and how so ever good the brand image may be it is not a
guarantee that it will convert into sale. Cars just like clothes and accessories
suit the style and persona of a person and since all cars will become
commodity someday the key to sell and excel in the market will lie with a
person who knows how to use the perceptions of the customers to its use and
sell the cars ‘coz ultimately only that car survives which sell.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sites Visited -
www.siamindia.com
www.autocarindia.com
www.overdrive.com
www.mahindraandmahindra.com
www.ibef.org
a. Book referred to
b. Journals
c. Magazines
Business Today
d. Internet
i. Sites
(1) www.marketingtimes.com
(2) www.maruti.com
www.google.co.in
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APPENDICES
QUESTIONNAIRE
For Customers:
Q1. Why you bought your present car? Please rank from the highest order of
preference
1. Increase in disposable income
2. Better safety at roads
3. Family needs
4. Increase in family size
5. Suits your lifestyle and personality
Q2. You decided to buy a car brand because of (rate best 3 factors from 1 to
3 in order of your preference)
1. Affordable price
2. Technical superiority over competition
3. Comfort
4. Manufacturer’s image
5. Value for money
6. Safety
7. After sale services
Product Satisfaction Level
Q3.Please rate your existing car in terms of understated Interior Design
features on a scale of 1 to 5 where
1. Highly Dissatisfied
2. Dissatisfied
3. Neutral
4. Satisfied
5. Highly Satisfied
Interior Type 1 2 3 4 5
Seats design
Leg Room
Dash Board
Interior Colour
Music System
Adjustable Front seat Headrest
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Q4. Please rate your existing car in terms of understated Safety features on a
scale of 1 to 5
Safety Parameters 1 2 3 4 5
Air Bags
Aerodynamic Shape
Parameter 1 2 3 4 5
Fuel Consumption
Mileage ( Km/ltr)
Pick Up
Top speed
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Q8. Please rate your Dealer on the understated parameters on the scale of 1
to 5 where
1. Highly Satisfied
2. Satisfied
3. Neutral
4. Dissatisfied
5. Highly Dissatisfied
1 2 3 4 5
Distance ( Proximity)
Advertisements (Promotions)
Technical Facilities
Cost of Service
Availability of Spares
Information Provided
Service Time
Charges
Staff
1 2 3 4 5
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• No
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