1.

1 INTRODUCTION
Business always starts and ends with the customers and hence the customers must be
treated as the king of the market. The development of the business is based on profit, status,
images etc. and also the business depends upon the customers. Hence, it is necessary for all the
organizations to meet the customers’ expectations. Customer satisfaction is a wide concept and
involves such factors as the quality of product, the quality of the service provided, the
atmosphere of the location where the product or service is purchased, and the price of the
product or service.

Businesses often use customer satisfaction surveys to measure customer satisfaction.

These surveys are used to collect information about customer satisfaction. Typical areas
addressed in the surveys include quality of product, value of product relative to price- a function
of quality and price, time issues, such as product availability, availability of sales assistance and
delivery time, atmosphere of store, such as cleanliness, organization, service personnel issues,
such as politeness, attentiveness, and helpfulness, convenience, such as location, and hours of
operation.

Customer satisfaction is essential for business success in today’s marketplace. And also,
it plays an vital 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”. Customer satisfaction is a highly personal assessment.

Customer satisfaction is a measure of post purchase behaviour of the customers.

If customer expectations meet with the perceived value of goods and service then customer is
satisfied but if the perceived value of goods and service is less than the customer
expectations than customer is dissatisfied and if the perceived value exceeded the expected value
of the goods and service than the customer is delighted. In addition, customers generally
want the best possible product or service for a low cost.

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1.2 MEANING OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Business always starts and closes with customers and hence the customers must be
treated as the King of the market. All the business enhancements, profit, status, image etc of the
organization depends on customers. Hence it is important for all the organizations to meet all the
customers’ expectations and identify that they are satisfied customer.

Customer satisfaction is the measure of how the needs and responses are collaborated and
delivered to excel customer expectation. It can only be attained if the customer has an overall
good relationship with the supplier. In today’s competitive business marketplace, customer
satisfaction is an important performance exponent and basic differentiator of business strategies.
Hence, the more is customer satisfaction; more is the business and the bonding with customer.

Customer satisfaction is a part of customer’s experience that exposes a supplier’s

behavior on customer’s expectation. It also depends on how efficiently it is managed and how
promptly services are provided. This satisfaction could be related to various business aspects like
marketing, product manufacturing, engineering, quality of products and services, responses
customer’s problems and queries, completion of project, post delivery services, complaint
management etc.

Customer satisfaction is the overall essence of the impression about the supplier by the
customers. This impression which a customer makes regarding supplier is the sum total of all the
process he goes through, right from communicating supplier before doing any marketing to post
delivery options and services and managing queries or complaints post delivery. During this
process the customer comes across working environment of various departments and the type of
strategies involved in the organization. This helps the customer to make strong opinion about the
supplier which finally results in satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

Customer’s perception on supplier helps the customer choose among the supplier on basis
of money value and how well the delivered products suit all the requirements. The supplier’s
services never diminishes after the delivery as customer seeks high values post marketing
services which could help them use and customize the delivered product more efficiently. If he is

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satisfied with the post marketing services then there are good chances for supplier to retain the
customers to enhance repeated purchases and make good business profits.

It is necessarily required for an organization to interact and communicate with customers

on a regular basis to increase customer satisfaction. In these interactions and communications it
is required to learn and determine all individual customer needs and respond accordingly. Even if
the products are identical in competing markets, satisfaction provides high retention rates. For
example, shoppers and retailers are engaged with frequent shopping and credit cards to gain
customer satisfaction, many high end retailers also provide membership cards and discount
benefits on those cards so that the customer remain loyal to them.

Higher the satisfaction level, higher is the sentimental attachment of customers with the
specific brand of product and also with the supplier. This helps in making a strong and healthy
customer-supplier bonding. This bonding forces the customer to be tied up with that particular
supplier and chances of defection very less. Hence customer satisfaction is very important
panorama that every supplier should focus on to establish a renounced position in the global
market and enhance business and profit.

1.3 DEFINITION OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction is defined as metric used to quantify the degree to which a

customer is happy with a product, service, or experience. This metric is usually calculated by
deploying a customer satisfaction survey that asks on a five or seven-point scale how a customer
feels about a support interaction, purchase, or overall customer experience, with answers
between "highly unsatisfied" and "highly satisfied" to choose from.

Customer satisfaction is a term used to describe a scenario when an exchange meets the
needs and expectations of its user. It captures the provision of goods or services that fulfill the
customer’s expectations in terms of quality and service in relation to the price paid. Customer
satisfaction, as a business term, can also be used to measure how the supply of products or
services surpasses customer expectations.

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 Satisfaction is as a judgment following a consumption experience - it is the consumer’s
judgment that a product provided (or is providing) a pleasurable level of consumption-related
fulfillment (Oliver).

Most research confirms that the confirmation or disconfirmation of pre-consumption

expectations is the essential determinant of satisfaction. This means that customers have a certain
predicted product performance in mind prior to consumption.

During consumption, customers experience the product performance and compare it to

their expected product performance level. Satisfaction judgments are then formed based on this
comparison. The resulting judgment is labeled positive disconfirmation if the performance is
better than expected, negative disconfirmation if it is worse than expected, and simple
confirmation if it is as expected. In short, customers evaluate product performance by comparing
what they expected with what they believe they received.
Philip Kotler defines customer satisfaction as a 'person's feeling of pleasure or
disappointment which resulted from comparing a product's perceived performance or outcome
against his/her expectations'.

1.4 THEORIES OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Many theories have been used to understand the process through which customers form
satisfaction judgments.

1.4.1 Assimilation Theory

Assimilation theory is based on Festinger’s (1957) dissonance theory. Dissonance theory

posits that consumers make some kind of cognitive comparison between expectations about the
product and the perceived product performance. This view of the consumer post-usage
evaluation was introduced into the satisfaction literature in the form of assimilation theory.
According to Anderson (1973), consumers seek to avoid dissonance by adjusting perceptions
about a given product to bring it more in line with expectations. Consumers can also reduce the
tension resulting from a discrepancy between expectations and product performance either by
distorting expectations so that they coincide with perceived product performance or by raising

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the level of satisfaction by minimizing the relative importance of the disconfirmation
experienced.

1.4.2 Contrast Theory

Contrast theory was first introduced by Hovland, Harvey and Sherif (1987). Dawes et al
(1972) define contrast theory as the tendency to magnify the discrepancy between one’s own
attitudes and the attitudes represented by opinion statements. Contrast theory presents an
alternative view of the consumer post-usage evaluation process than was presented in
assimilation theory in that post-usage evaluations lead to results in opposite predictions for the
effects of expectations on satisfaction. While assimilation theory posits that consumers will seek
to minimize the discrepancy between expectation and performance, contrast theory holds that a
surprise effect occurs leading to the discrepancy being magnified or exaggerated. According to
the contrast theory, any discrepancy of experience from expectations will be exaggerated in the
direction of discrepancy. If the firm raises expectations in his advertising, and then a customer’s
experience is only slightly less 94 than that promised, the product/service would be rejected as
totally un-satisfactory. Conversely, under-promising in advertising and over-delivering will
cause positive disconfirmation also to be exaggerated.

1.4.3 Negativity Theory

This theory developed by Carlsmith and Aronson (1963) suggests that any discrepancy
of performance from expectations will disrupt the individual, producing ‘negative energy’.
Negative theory has its foundations in the disconfirmation process. Negative theory states that
when expectations are strongly held, consumers will respond negatively to any disconfirmation.
“Accordingly dissatisfaction will occur if perceived performance is less than expectations or if
perceived performance exceeds expectations.

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 This theory developed by Carlsmith and Aronson (1963) suggests that any discrepancy
of performance from expectations will disrupt the individual, producing “negative energy.”
Affective feelings toward a product or service will be inversely related to the magnitude of the
discrepancy.

1.4.4Dissonance Theory

A decidedly different outcome is offered by applying Festinger’s Theory of Cognitive

dissonance. Applying Festinger’s ideas to affirmation and disconfirmation of expectation in
satisfaction work, one concludes that customers might try to eliminate any dissonant experiences
(situations in which they have committed to an apparently inferior product or service).
Dissonance theory would predict that a customer experiencing lower performance than expected,
if psychologically invested in the product or service, would mentally work to minimize the
discrepancy. This may be done either by lowering expectations (after the fact) or, in the case of
subjective disconfirmation, positively increasing the perception of performance.

1.4.5 Cognitive Dissonance

Theory Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two

contradictory ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people
have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and
behaviours, or by justifying or rationalizing them. The phenomenon of cognitive dissonance,
originally stated by Festinger in 1957, has been quickly adopted by consumer behaviour
research.

“Described as a psychologically uncomfortable state that arises from the existence of

contradictory (dissonant, non-fitting) relations among cognitive elements (Festinger 1957)
cognitive dissonance revealed high exploratory power in explaining the state of discomfort
buyers are often in after they made a purchase.

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1.5 LEVELS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Basic Needs (Dissatisfiers)
• A service that the costumer takes for granted. He expects it to be present in the product.
• Absence of this need will lead to dissatisfaction for the customer but the presence of it
will not lead to any satisfaction as such.
Performance needs (satisfiers)
• It is a need or want of the customer which he specifically asks for.
• Better the performance more will be the satisfaction of the customer.
• These factors becomes the benchmarks in the competitive market.
Excitement Needs (delighters)
• A delighter is an unspoken or unexpected requirement of a customer.
• It leads to very high level of satisfaction or customer delight.
• Absence of delighters does not result in customer dissatisfaction while its presence will
enhance customer satisfaction.
1.6 FACTORS AFFECTING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Customer satisfaction is the overall impression of customer about the supplier and the
products and services delivered by the supplier. Following are the important factors that could
affect customer satisfaction:

 Department wise capability of the supplier.

 Technological and engineering or re-engineering aspects of products and services.
 Type and quality of response provided by the supplier.
 Supplier’s capability to commit on deadlines and how efficiently they are met.
 Customer service provided by the supplier.
 Complaint management.
 Cost, quality, performance and efficiency of the product.
 Supplier’s personal facets like etiquettes and friendliness.
 Supplier’s ability to manage whole customer life cycle.
 Compatible and hassle free functions and operations.

The above factors could be widely classified under two categories i.e. suppliers behavior and

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performance of product and services. The supplier’s behavior mostly depends on the behavior of
its senior subordinates, managers and internal employees. All the functional activities like
customer response, direct product and maintenance services, complaint management etc. are the
factors that rely on how skillful and trained the internal and human resources of the supplier are.
The second category is regarding all the products and services.

This depends on the capability of supplier to how to nurture the products and service
efficiently and how skilled the employees are. It’s all about how the skills are implemented to
demonstrate engineering, re-engineering and technological aspects of the products and services.
The quality and efficaciousness of the products is also an important factor that enables compatible
and hassle free functions and operations. This bears to lower maintenance and higher life of the
product which is highly admired by the customers.

If the product is having some problem or compatibility issues and requires frequent
maintenance and support than the customers could get irritated and possibilities of sudden divert is
there which lead to supplier’s financial loss. In the same way if the product is expecting huge
amount of financial and manual resources then customers could get a feeling of dissatisfaction and
worry. However, if these aspects are handled efficiently by giving class services and dealing with
complaints effectively then dissatisfied customers could be converted into long time satisfied
customers and retaining them becomes easy.

It is practically impossible for the supplier to provide all the above explained features. There
are always some positive as well as negative features in products and services which could lead to
delight or irritate customers. The final opinion is the sum of overall experiences which a customer
percept. But it is also true that more the positive aspects, the more the customer is satisfied. Hence
the aim of the supplier should be always to enhance these positive feelings among all the
customers to increase customer satisfaction.

The supplier must identify how to enhance these positive aspects to maximum level by
analyzing the customer’s data and information using CRM system. The individual liking and
disliking of customers differ from customer to customer. It is hence required to target a customer
and identify individual requirement to make them satisfied.

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 Having discussed the above factors that affect customer satisfaction we can say that higher
the satisfaction level, higher is the sentimental attachment of customers with the specific brand of
product and also with the supplier. This helps in making a strong and healthy customer-supplier
bonding. This bonding forces the customer to be tied up with that particular supplier and chances
of defection are very less. Hence customer satisfaction is very important panorama that every
supplier should focus on to establish a renounced position in the global market and enhance
business and profit.

1.7 SOURCES OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Great Service Great Product

Provide a level of Staying a half-step ahead of

hospitality and service customer needs and fulfilling

their wants.
that leaves a strong

lasting impression

Great Environment

Delivering comfortable
sophisticated store environment
that generates a sense of
excitement

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1.8 METHODS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Managing customers’ satisfaction efficiently is one the biggest challenge an organization face.
The tools or methods to measure customer satisfaction needs to be defined sophisticatedly to
fulfill the desired norms. There are following methods to measure customer satisfaction:

1. Direct Methods: Directly contacting customers and getting their valuable feedback is
very important. Following are some of the ways by which customers could be directly
tabbed:
a. Getting customer feedback through third party agencies.
b. Direct marketing, in-house call centers, complaint handling department could be
treated as first point of contact for getting customer feedback. These feedbacks
are compiled to analyze customers’ perception.
c. Getting customer feedback through face to face conversation or meeting.
d. Feedback through complaint or appreciation letter.
e. Direct customer feedback through surveys and questionnaires.

Organizations mostly employ external agencies to listen to their customers and provide
dedicated feedback to them. These feedbacks needs to be sophisticated and in structured format
so that conclusive results could be fetched out. Face to face meetings and complaint or
appreciation letter engages immediate issues. The feedback received in this is not uniformed as
different types of customers are addressed with different domains of questions. This hiders the
analysis process to be performed accurately and consistently.

Hence the best way is to implement a proper survey which consists of uniformed
questionnaire to get customer feedback from well segmented customers. The design of the
prepared questionnaire is an important aspect and should enclose all the essential factors of
business. The questions asked should be in a way that the customer is encouraged to respond in a
obvious way/. These feedback could received by the organizations can be treated as one of the
best way to measure customer satisfaction.

Apart from the above methods there is another very popular direct method which is surprise
market visit. By this, information regarding different segment of products and services provided

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to the customers could be obtained in an efficient manner. It becomes easy for the supplier to
know the weak and strong aspects of products and services.

2. Indirect Method: The major drawback of direct methods is that it turns out to be very
costly and requires a lot of pre compiled preparations to implement. For getting the
valuable feedbacks the supplier totally depends on the customer due to which they looses
options and chances to take corrective measure at correct time. Hence there are other
following indirect methods of getting feedback regarding customer satisfaction:
a. Customer Complaints: Customer’s complaints are the issues and problems
reported by the customer to supplier with regards to any specific product or
related service. These complaints can be classified under different segments
according to the severity and department. If the complaints under a particular
segment go high in a specific period of time then the performance of the
organization is degrading in that specific area or segment. But if the complaints
diminish in a specific period of time then that means the organization is
performing well and customer satisfaction level is also higher.
b. Customer Loyalty: It is necessarily required for an organization to interact and
communicate with customers on a regular basis to increase customer loyalty. In
these interactions and communications it is required to learn and determine all
individual customer needs and respond accordingly. A customer is said to be loyal
if he revisits supplier on regular basis for purchases. These loyal customers are the
satisfied ones and hence they are bounded with a relationship with the supplier.
Hence by obtaining the customer loyalty index, suppliers can indirectly measure
customer satisfaction.

1.9 WHY DISSATISFACTION IN CUSTOMERS?

When the suppliers are unable to entertain customers or their business strategies fail to build
a good relationship with customers, they probably end up with customers’ dissatisfaction. There
can be many reasons for the customers to become dissatisfied. Some of these reasons are:

1. Taking example of India, most of the population here are vegetarian. They do not require
a bigger space in their refrigerator for deep freeze option. But still, following foreign

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 trend of making refrigerators most of the manufacturers are providing huge capacity deep
freezers. If the people are not able to use this space or option, it is waste for them.
Obviously they feel dissatisfied with this.
2. Vacuum cleaner, one of the modest innovative equipment which was invented to reduce
manual household works on just click of a button. It is a huge success in European
countries where the environment is dusty as compared to other parts of the world and the
cost for managing household work is pretty expensive. But in countries like United Stated
where the environment is very different and dust free, there is no need for installing this
equipment in house as it would be kept uselessly in house. In India the environment is lot
dusty but the cost exempted for managing the household work is very cheap and
affordable, so why people will go and buy a vacuum cleaner and invest a lot of money in
that, if they can hire a manual cleaner boy without investing much. If they buy a vacuum
cleaner and later on feel that it is turning out to be expensive and tedious deal then it
brings dissatisfaction among them.
3. The eating tradition in India is very much different from other countries. In Europe,
people usually eat continental food and they have habit of appetizing the main course
with bread, so they usually keep a small plate (normally called quarter plate) in the left
hand side so that the bread is available to eat in between with left hand. In India, people
prefer ‘Roti’ (Indian version of bread) and they like to eat it with right hand so they want
the small plate to be kept on right hand side. But in India, most of the good restaurants
are influenced by European traditions and keep on serving the small plates on left hand
side on the table. This creates uneasiness for the people to eat food which leads to
dissatisfaction.
4. Problem also occurs when the customers get wrongly customized products. This is
because of the communication gaps between supplier and customers and forcing the
customer to become dissatisfied due to this.
5. Apart from delivering good and quality products it is equally important for the suppliers
to provide excellent post deal services. For example, a customer bought a Fax machine
from a supplier and suddenly something went wrong and the machine stopped sending
fax at the time when there was an urgent fax to be sent. Customer called the supplier and
asked for urgent support but none of the executive at the supplier’s side was available for

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 fixing this issue. Customer finally took some local vendor’s help to fix as it was very
urgent. Such a situation can develop an irritating gesture for customers against the
supplier and to his dissatisfaction.

Apart from the above examples many more similar reasons could lead to customer’s
dissatisfaction. It is very important for the supplier to concentrate on customer’s needs and
provide him the required products and services. If desired measures are not taken, customer’s
dissatisfaction could possibly build poor relationships between the two parties which could break
anytime.

1.10 HOW TO INCREASE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION?

In a business world where customer acquisition costs are sky-rocketing, small and
medium businesses must focus on building a customer experience to increase customer
satisfaction. Some of the ideas are pointed below:

a. Treat your customers like they are your boss:

 Thank all your customers for their business

 Go out your way to help customers
 Try to impress your customers as if you want a pay raise
 Think about your paycheck every time you talk to a customer
 Keep your promises and integrity
 Focus on measuring customer satisfaction

b. Build customer loyalty to increase customer satisfaction:

According to Jeffrey Gitomer, the eminent American author and business trainer,
’’Customer satisfaction is worthless whereas Customer loyalty is priceless. Businesses should
focus their efforts on creating loyal customers that are sticky and not easily influenced by
competitors.

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c. Avoid making these customer retention mistakes:

No business is immune to unhappy customers. In fact, even companies with the best
customer service in the world will still lose up to 9% of their customers to competitors by
ignoring customer feedback, taking customer feedback to personally, or using long, boring
customer feedback surveys.

d. Set customer expectations early:

Setting expectations too high, making ridiculous promises to push a deal over the line, etc
are the common mistakes that kills the customer satisfaction. There’s no better feeling than as a
customer to have your expectations exceeded.

e. Learn how to survey your customers the right way:

A customer feedback survey is the best way to find out how satisfied your customers are,
find ways to improve your product or service, and identify customer advocates who really love
your product. A quick and relevant survey will help increase survey response rates.

f. Tap into social media to track and monitor customer satisfaction so you can keep your
customers happy:

Social media provides a great opportunity to increase customer satisfaction. Use social
media monitoring tools to keep track of positive and negative feedback, and resolve them
accordingly. It can also be used to monitor brand mentions and sentiment, as a customer support
channel, and to hold Q&A sessions with customers.

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2.1INTRODUCTION

This literature review attempts to discuss the various literature related to working
environment which has impact on working conditions, employee performance, spacious
environment. Through this review, literature is re-packaged and analyzed as a way of bringing
new insights into the problem studied.

Suganthi and Renuka (2016) focused on data collected through convenience sampling
of 200 consumers of Maruti Suzuki Swift car users of Udumalpet Taluk. Later the data was
analysed with statistical tools like mean and the hypothesis was tested by using Chi-Square
analysis. Maruti Suzuki Swift is most preferred brand by the majority of the customer. It is going
to pose great challenges to other small cars in India. Most of the customers are satisfied with the
mileage and fuel efficiency of the car and they preferred Maruti Suzuki Swift.

Akhila and Thayyullathi (2015) in his study on customer satisfaction toward Maruti
Suzuki in Coimbatore found that majority of the respondents were using SUV (Sport utility
vehicle) type cars. They found that Maruti Suzuki cars were the best and fast moving brands.
There were increasing trend because of easy handling, safety, security and high performance,
which makes the advanced technologies to adopt new model.

Parthian and Rajendran (2014) study was carried on customer preference toward
Maruti Suzuki. Main aim of this study was to understand the mind of customers whether they
was eager and satisfied to handle. Even though most of the customers were satisfied with present
model and service, few customers were not satisfied about the facilities provided by the car. If
the Maruti car service providers give enough attention regarding this, they can ensure a large
level of customer preference.

Rana and Lokhande (2013) study showed that in March 2008 Maruti Suzuki’s sales
were Rs.21221 crore which was more than March 2007 by Rs. 21.559. The industrial sales of
Maruti Suzuki in the year March 2008 were Rs.20070.9 crore which is 23.26% greater than
previous year. It concluded that in today’s scenario the success of company lies in structuring
and restructuring the marketing strategies and continuous innovation of product and service.

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 Singh and Srivatava (2013) study showed various factors affecting customer satisfaction
towards Maruti Suzuki. Exceptional customer service results in greater customer retention,
which in turn results in higher profitability. Customer loyalty is a major contribution to
sustainable profit growth. Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how
successful the organization is at providing products or services to the marketplace. It also
concluded that all the factors considered in the study have significant effect on the overall
satisfaction of the customers. It conducted that satisfaction levels for pricing attributes (such as
Car price, discounts and service charges) are generally lower than product related attributes.

Ranjith and Snekalatha (2013) focused on the customer’s brand loyalty and satisfaction
towards Maruti car. Maruti Suzuki India Limited is India’s leading & largest passenger car
manufacturer which accounting for nearly 50 per cent of the total industry sales. Customer
loyalty is a major contribution to sustainable profit growth to achieve success. This study found
that Maruti Udyog Ltd has various brands of car, but majority of respondent prefer Omni. They
are satisfied with price, band, image, convenience, appearance quality and require less
maintenance cost.

Ioana Dumitriu (2013) conducted a study concerning customer loyalty in the auto
market. The objective was to study the dimensions of loyalty viz. satisfaction, re-acquisition, and
recommendation, and to see if there were any correlations among the three dimensions. 593
customers were taken as sample for the survey. Simple random sampling technique was used to
select the sample. The analysis showed that there was statistically significant correlation between
satisfaction and repurchase, between satisfaction and recommendation and between
recommendation and repurchase. The researchers concluded that loyalty is a powerful marketing
tool and the three dimensions are interrelated.

Nataraj S and Dr. N.Nagaraja (2012) conducted a research on “Customer satisfaction

in automobile industry – an Indian online buyers‟ perspective of car manufacturers‟ websites”.
The objective of the study was to reveal the online behaviour of today’s auto Customers.
Exploratory research was undertaken and a structured questionnaire was designed and sent to 50
online customers. Customers consider “quality of content” and Ease of navigation” as the most
significant factors. The researchers concluded that online landscape evolves rapidly with the

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emergence of powerful Customer-to-Customer tools like blogs, discussion forums, social
networking sites and virtual worlds.

Lohana and sharma (2012) conducted a study on "customer satisfaction towards

Hyundaicars in Nanded city" with the objectives is to identify the customer preferences
and parameter about the Hyundai cars. They have taken the sample of 60. They concluded from
the study that 50% customers are satisfied with the overall performance of their vehicle.
The customers are satisfied with the fuel efficiency, brand image, after sales service and
economy in purchase etc.

Dr. V. Senthilkumar (2012) conducted a research on the effects of customer service and
product quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty to clarify the relationship among four
variables of customer service quality, product quality, customer satisfaction and customer
loyalty. For this a well designed questionnaire was administered using five point Likert scale. 52
customers were surveyed using this questionnaire. The data analyses revealed that customer
service and product quality have been influential on customer satisfaction. The researcher
concluded that there is a positive and meaningful relationship between customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty.

Rao and Kumar (2012) revealed study on "Customer satisfaction towards Tata
Motors - Astudy on Passenger cars in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh" with the objectives
to study the customer satisfaction with the usage of vehicles, after sale service, key area of
strength, pricing affects, service and quality. They taken the sample of 100 respondents and used
the percentage technique. They concluded from the study that majority of customers are
satisfied with the safety, dealer service, customer relationship and availability of spares etc.

Sharma, Kiran Sharma and Khan (2011) conducted "A study and analysis of
customersatisfaction of Tata motors in Jaipur, Rajasthan with the objectives to find out
the satisfaction among the customers, market performance and market position of Tata motors.

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They taken the sample size of 100 customers in Jaipur city and concluded from this study
that 73% people feel that safety are affordable whereas 12% do not agree, 74% believe that
attractive discount are offered but 26% are not satisfied with the discount offered , but the
overall opinion about Tata Motors is very good.

Singh (2011) revealed a study on " An empirical review of the product and
customer satisfaction of Tata commercial vehicles" to find out the quality of service ,
performance of Tata motors and to know the consumer perception towards Tata motors with
the sample size of 100 customers and used the statistical techniques tables, bar charts etc. This
study concluded that consumer prefer the Tata commercial vehicles due to its better
quality, brand image, easy availability of service stations, spare part quality etc.

Ganesh and Soundarapandiyan (2011) conducted a study on "i10 Hyundai

Chennai:customer satisfaction level" with the sample size of 150 customers and tools
used percentage analysis, chi square and multiple regression analysis. The objectives of the study
was to identify the post purchase behaviour and customer satisfaction level and find the
effectiveness of after sales service of customer of Hyundai i10. They revealed from the study
that customers are satisfied with the car after purchase because its gives the feel of luxury
to customers and a convenience of smaller car in crowded area. It’s most stylish as
compared to others.

.Pallawi B. Sangode (2011) conducted a comparative study on Service Quality of Maruti

Suzuki and Hyundai Dealers in Nagpur. The objectives of the study were (i) To understand and
categorize the factors influencing service quality (ii) To find out the variables which can be
defined under each factor (iii) To compare Maruti and Hyundai showrooms in terms of quality.
For this a survey was conducted using convenience sampling method. 40 respondents who were
users of Maruti and Hyundai cars were taken for the study. From the analysis it was found that
there is a significant difference between the service quality provided by Maruti and Hyundai
dealers.
Mahapatra, kumar and Chauhan (2010) mentioned a study on "customer
satisfaction,dissatisfaction and post purchase evaluation: an empirical study on small size

18
passenger cars in India" with the main objectives to examine the satisfaction and impact on
future purchase decision and explore the performance of different attributes in automobile
in giving satisfaction to customer with the sample size of 150 customers and they used the
multiple regression techniques and they revealed from this study that customers are highly
satisfied with the performance of attributes like pickup, wipers, etc. and other attributes
like pollution, engine, quietness, battery performance, and pick up influence the consumer
future purchase decisions and consumer give the more importance to these factors.

Ranganathan (2005) has conducted a study on consumer markets and buying behaviors of
cars and found that most of the respondents are focused towards "mileage" in a car. They were
suggested that Hyundai cars should be designed in such a way that the actual fuel efficiency
obtained is the same as that being promised people have rated the pricing to be reasonable, but
resale value of santro is very low as compared to other brands.

Rajan, Vijaya (2005) in their study mentioned that easier and faster mobility of people
and goods across the region, countries and continents is a cherished yeatning of mankind. The
automobile industry, particularly the light commercial vehicle segment potential for facilitating
this mobility with reference to both passengers and freight movement is enormous. Wheels of
development across the globe would have to be powered by this industry.

Subhadip Roy (2005) in his article “An overview of brand valuation” identified that the
need for brand valuation, the source of the brand value and the different methods of brand
valuation practiced in the market place. The author suggested that it should be kept in mind that
for most of the companies the major assets is the brand, and so whatever measure is taken up for
assessing the brand value, care should be taken to see that it actually preserves the brand
value of the success.

David Vinjamuri (2005) in his article “What s in a name? Brand comes to the nonprofit
world” Identified that explores how to brand a nonprofit organization. The author suggested that
into two dimensions. First to understand the costs and the time involved in branding. Secondly it
was important to choose your guides carefully.

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 V.K.Kaushik and Neeraj Kaushik [south west haryana] in their study on brand
preference and recommendations on various cars. Hyundai and maruthi dominates this market
region. Consumers in this region are influenced by friends, family, and relatives rather than by
dealer and sales persons. Consumers are happy with its performance, quality, dealer networks,
after sales services provided and they are ready to recommend it to others also. Brand name, fuel
efficiency and price were found to be primary determinant for buying cars in this region.

Chidambram Etal (2004) in his opinion the consumer given more importance to fuel
efficiency than other factors. They believe that the brand name tells them something about
products quality, utility, technology and them he likes. The consumers satisfied with their cars
for high fuel efficiency, good quality, technology durability and reasonable price.

Hawkins Etal (2004) has conducted the study on life style produce needs and desires.
It's ultimately affected the decision making of each consumer feelings and emotions are very
important in consumer purchase decisions and also have an effect on the satisfaction.

K.Vidhyakala (2000) has conducted a study on comfortable family car in Coimbatore

city market survey for cars in Coimbatore city for Chandra Hyundai. The finding was that a
tremendous market existed the santro cars for comfortable family car.

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3.1 ABOUT HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Co. has grown into the Hyundai Motor Group,
which was ranked as the world’s fifth-largest automaker since 2007.
Hyundai Motor, which exported its first independently-made vehicle, the Pony, in 1976,
now exports over one million high-quality vehicles ranging from sedans, SUVs, trucks and
buses.
In 2010, Hyundai Motor sold about 3.6 million cars worldwide, up 16.3 percent from
2009. Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest automaker, sold 659,565 cars in the Korean
domestic market in 2010, reaching a market share of about 45 percent. Outside Korea, the
company sold about 2.9 million cars in 2010 in over 186 countries through some 5,300 dealers.

3.2GLOBAL OPERATIONS

Employing over 78,000 people worldwide, Hyundai Motor is implementing a new global
policy aimed at localization. This includes product development, design, sales, marketing, and
consumer services to satisfy local customers’ tastes as well as that of the global market.

3.3 INDIA
Hyundai Motor India (HMI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor, is the
second-largest carmaker in India. Hyundai opened its second plant in India in February 2008, a
decade after it began operations in the country. The US$1 billion new plant, which was
completed in a record 13 months, doubles Hyundai Motor’s capacity in India to 600,000 units a
year. The new plant is located within the same 525 acre plot in Sriperumbudur, in the state of
Tamil Nadu, adjacent to the first plant.
The new plant is dedicated largely to the production of Hyundai Motor’s latest offerings
in India the i20 and the i10, winner of the most prestigious ‘Car of the Year’ awards from the
leading automotive magazines and TV channels like Business Standard Motoring, CNBC-TV18,
NDTV Car & Bike and Overdrive magazine.
Building the i10 (A-segment) and i20 (B-segment) cars for world markets, the Indian
subsidiary is Hyundai’s de facto global hub for small car production.

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 In 2009, Hyundai opened a US$25 million R&D center in HITECH City in Hyderabad,
India. The new facility will enable Hyundai to respond even more quickly to changing customer
needs across the world and will serve as an important platform for the development of compact
cars.
As Tata and Mahindra concentrated on commercial utility vehicles, Maruti Suzuki had an
absolute monopoly over the small passenger car market. Hyundai released their first model, the
Hyundai Santro on 23 September, 1998. This model was a runaway success. Within a couple of
years, Hyundai Motor India Limited became the second largest manufacturer of automobiles in
India, a position they hold even in 2018.

The Santro Xing is the most famous model that ruled the Indian roads for a long time.
Hyundai discontinued the production of the Santro Xing in 2014. However, the company has
come up with a revised version of the Santro in 2018. Today, there are 13 models of Hyundai
new cars on the roads in India. Through this journey, Hyundai introduced various vehicles and
some of them are still functioning on road with repeated iteration in them with time. One of the
oldest model is Hyundai Accent, which is in its latest avatar with the name Hyundai Verna.
Though, the Accent name is now given to a new sedan car based on Hyundai Grand i10, but it is
spelled as Hyundai Xcent. Currently, Verna is among the best selling C segment sedans, while
Hyundai Creta is doing great in compact SUV segment.

3.4 MODELS OF HYUNDAI MOTORS INDIA

 Hyundai Accent Set with improved engine machinery, high-tech design and security features,
Hyundai Accent spells style, opulence, control and top performance.

 Hyundai Tucson 60,000-mile basic guarantee, multipurpose interior, revamped 2005 Kia
Sportage, five doors, etc are some of the features that Hyundai Tucson boast of. A compact
intersect SUV, Tucson can be altered between two-wheeled drive and four-wheeled drive.

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 Hyundai Elantra India's foremost Luxury Sedan, Hyundai Elantra takes pride of its stylish
exteriors and lustrous design. The technical specifications of the car includes Traction Control
system, Automatic and improved Brake Force and self regulating suspension system.

 Hyundai Sonata Embera A fifth generation Sonata car, Hyundai Sonata Embera is efficient,
chic and has an advanced suspension system. The car is famous for its superb pick-up and
speed.

 Hyundai Getz Recognized for its European appeal, Hyundai Getz is an amalgamation of
comfort, expertise and functionality.

 Hyundai Verna Made of contemporary, stylish and sparkling surface, Hyundai Verna is
displays grace and flamboyance. Sporty yet luxurious, Verna is rated high in performance level.

 Hyundai Santro Xing Recognized for its power competence and consistency, Hyundai Santro
Xing, is an improved version of Hyundai Santro that comes with added characteristics for
Indian families.

 Hyundai Terracan Grandiose and tough, Hyundai Terracan 2.9CRDT is designed to glide off-
road. An indisputably impressive car it can be switched between two-wheeled drive and four
wheeled drive.

3.5 MARKET PRESENCE

Hyundai Motor India Limited introduced their first passenger car, the Santro, in 1998 as
an alternative to the Maruti Suzuki vehicles. This Hyundai car model was an instant success with
many first-time drivers preferring to go for the Santro. Even today, the Hyundai Santro and
subsequently the Hyundai Eon are the favourite vehicles of first-time buyers.

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By the year 2000, Hyundai earned the distinction of becoming the second largest manufacturer
and seller of passenger cars in India after Maruti Suzuki. Today, with a market share of 16.3%,
Hyundai retains the second spot. It is closing on the gap with Maruti Suzuki continuously over
the years. Statistics point out that Hyundai had sold more than 530,000 vehicles in the year 2017-
18.

Hyundai has two car manufacturing units in India, both in Tamil Nadu. The first plant started
operations in 1996 in Irungattukottai. Hyundai opened its second plant nearby, in
Sriperumbudur. Both these plants put together can manufacture 700,000 vehicles annually.
Indians have some emotions attached to this brand as well. Not very long ago, the old version of
the Hyundai Santro was the least expensive of Hyundai all cars. Today, the revamped version
comes with additional features, making it more expensive than the Hyundai Eon, the car that had
replaced the Santro as the basic model.

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