Zeon Auto Research Inc.

L. Shridharan Professor, IBS Hyderabad

Suziland is a prosperous country, belonging to the league of developed nations. With a population of 270 million, the countrys growth has been keeping pace with the population growth. Private automobile ownership is common. Zeon Auto Research Inc. is a leading market research organization in the country in the field of automotives. With global oil price under pressure of late, the domestic gasoline prices have also come under pressure in most countries. Suziland is no exception to this. This in turn has made the automotive buyers in Suziland sensitive to vehicle performance in terms of mileage per gallon. Mr. Peter A. Waterman, the CEO of Zeon, is keen to understand the factors which influence the vehicle performance in the perception of the buyers. He called, Ms. Elizabeth Williams, the Research Analyst at Zeon, and asked her to provide some insights into the issue of concern. He was also concerned about the difference between city performance and highway performance. Elizabeth designed a study and collected data on 90 vehicles of different models of different makes. The study provided data on a number of features and performance aspects of the vehicles as shown in the file Zeon.Data.xls. Having collected the data, Elizabeth now needs to identify the factors influencing the vehicle performance and report to Mr. Waterman. Elizabeth is a bit nervous on how to proceed. Could you please help her? Is there a difference in the influence on performance between city drive and highway drive?