A Study on Service Quality of Mahindra Vehicles with Special Reference to

Coimbatore City

Mrs. G. Poornima,
Asst. Professor, Department of Management Studies

AJK College of Arts & Science,

Coimbatore

Abstract
Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (M&MFSL) is a subsidiary of Mahindra
and Mahindra Limited, one of India’s leading tractor and utility vehicle manufacturers.
M&MFSL is one of India’s leading non-banking finance companies focused in the rural and
semi-urban sector. It is primarily in the business of financing purchase of new and pre-owned
auto and utility vehicles, tractors, cars and commercial vehicles. The company has 559 offices
covering 24 states and 4 union territories in India, with over 1.6 million vehicle finance customer
contracts since inception, as of June 30, 2011. M&M Financial Services Ltd has two
subsidiaries Mahindra & Mahindra Rural Housing Finance (MRHFL) and Mahindra Insurance
Brokers Ltd (MIBL).

Keywords: Mahindra, Financial, Services, etc.

INTRODUCTION

Service quality(SQ), in its contemporary conceptualization, is a comparison of perceived

expectations (E) of a service with perceived performance (P), giving rise to the equation SQ=P-E.
This conceptualization of service quality has its origins in the expectancy-disconfirmation
paradigm.

A business with high service quality will meet or exceed customer expectations whilst
remaining economically competitive. Evidence from empirical studies suggests that improved
service quality increases profitability and long term economic competitiveness. Improvements to
service quality may achieved by improving operational processes; identifying problems quickly
and systematically; establishing valid and reliable service performance measures and measuring
customer satisfaction and other performance outcomes.
 From the viewpoint of business administration, service quality is an achievement in
customer service. It reflects at each service encounter. Customers form service expectations from
past experiences, word of mouth and marketing communications. In general, customers compare
perceived service with expected service, and which if the former falls short of the latter the
customers are disappointed.

The parentage of the awe-inspiring Mahindra & Mahindra Group and the close
association with dealers through out the country gives company an additional and exclusive
advantage. The company’s financial solutions include Vehicle Financing, Refinancing, Housing
Finance, Personal Loans, Fixed Deposits, Insurance Broking and Mutual Fund Distribution.
CRISIL has assigned AA+/Stable, FITCH has assigned AA (ind) / Positive and Brickwork has
assigned AA+/ Positive rating to the Company’s long term and subordinated debt.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Review of literature is essential for every researcher to carry on investigation successfully. Review
of literature will expose the researcher to previous researches conducted. This would help him to
decide upon the area not studied upon and that which his study should concentrate on.

The literature of previous studies will inform the researcher of the study and thereby the
researcher can take adequate measures to overcome them. It is a text of a scholarly paper. Which
includes the current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and
methodological contribution to a particular topic? It use secondary sources and do not report new
or experimental work.

A number of researchers have been covered the topic of service quality. All the
researchers find different result from their study.

Preethi (2000): Conducted an exploratory study to develop a service quality model. The
overall discussions of service quality revealed that it is more difficult for the customer to evaluate
service quality, service quality perceptions result from a comparison of consumer expectations
with actual service performance and evaluation of quality is made on the outcome of a service as
well as the process of service.
 Minjoon Jun nadShaohanCai (2001): In their research identified 17 dimensions of
internet banking service quality which are classified into three categories namely customer service
quality, banking service product quality and online systems quality. The results revealed that
reliability, responsiveness, access and accuracy were found to have impact on customer
satisfaction.

Gani A and Mushtaq A. Bhat (2003): Carried out a study to analyze the service quality
in Indian and foreign banks. The results of the study revealed that quality of service in foreign
banks are comparatively better than that of Indian banks and pointed out that Indian banks are
lagging behind on the front of physical facilities, up-to-date equipments, communication material,
neatness of employees, employees providing prompt service to customers,willingness of
employees to help customers, convenient operating hours, banks having customers’ interests at
heart and employees who give personal attention.

Sureshchandar G.S, ChandrasekharanRajendran, Anantharaman R.N. (2003):

Focused on investigating the critical factors of customer perceived service quality of banks in
India. The study was conducted to compare and contrast the three groups of banks in India with
respect to the service quality factors from the perspective of the customers. They found that
customers in developing economies seem to keep the “technological factors” of services as core
service and systematization of the service delivery as the yardstick in differentiating good and bad
service while the “human factors” play a lesser role in discriminating the three groups of banks.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 To identify the satisfaction level of Mahindra customers.

 To know about the after sale service.
 To contribute constructive suggestions to improve the service.
 To assess the opinion about the service quality.
 To study about the maintenance cost of Mahindra vehicles.
 To know the quality of service provided and the satisfaction of customers on the same.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

 The study is confined to Coimbatore city and therefore findings may not be related to
other areas.
 Time constraint was a major limitation.
 The sample size is restricted to 100 respondents only.
 All the findings and suggestion is given totally based on the information collected
through questionnaire.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the problem. It may be understood

as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. This study was descriptive based on
the field survey method. Interview schedule was used to collect data from the sample respondents
for the study.

TOOLS USED FOR DATA ANALYSIS

 Simple percentage Method

 Ranking Analysis
 Chi - square Test

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

A GENDER OF THE RESPONDENTS

Gender No. of Respondents Percentage

Male 68 68

Female 32 32

Total 100 100

Source: primary data

 The above table shows that gender of the respondents out of 100 respondents 68% of
respondents are male and the remaining 32% of the respondents are female.

AGE GROUP OF THE RESPONDENTS

Age group No. of respondents Percentage

20-30 34 34

30-40 26 26

40-50 29 29

50 & above 11 11

Total 100 100

Source: primary data

The above table reveals that maximum 34% of the respondents are falling in the age group
between 20-30 years , 29% of the respondents are between 40-50 years and the least of 11% of
them are 50 & above years.

MARITIAL STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS

Marital status No. of Respondents Percentage

Married 64 64
 Unmarried 36 36

Total 100 100

Source: primary data

The above table shows that 64 % respondents are married and 36 % of respondents are
unmarried.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION OF THE RESPONDENTS

Qualification No. of Respondents Percentage

No formal education 18 18

School level 30 30

Ug 34 34

Pg & above 19 19

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table explicit that, Out of 100 respondents 34% are completed under graduate,
30% are under school level, 19% of the respondents are under pg and above and the remaining
18% are under no formal education.
 TABLE 4.5

OCCUPATION OF THE RESPONDENTS

Occupation No. of Respondents Percentage

Private employment 27 27

Govt employment 24 24

Business men 28 28

Profession 21 21

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

From the above table it is clear that maximum 28% of the respondents are business men ,
27% of the respondents are private employees,24% respondents are govt employees and the
remaining 21% of the respondents are professionals.
 OCCUPATION OF THE RESPONDENTS

No. of Respondents
120

100

80

60

40
No. of Respondents
20

0
Private Govt Business men Profession Total
employment employment
OCCUPATION

MONTHLY INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS

 Monthly income No. of Respondents Percentage

Below 6000 17 17

6001-8000 25 25

8001-10000 31 31

10001-above 27 27

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table indicate that, majority 31% of the respondents are getting monthly salary
between 8001-10000, 27% of the respondents are getting 10001-above and 17% of them are
getting below 6000

MONTHLY INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS

No. of Respondents
100

0
No. of Respondents

INCOME

FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE RESPONDENTS

 Family members No. of respondents Percentage

2-4 39 39

4-6 40 40

6-8 13 13

8 & above 8 8

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table indicates that majority 40% of the respondents have 4-6 members and 39%
of the respondents comes under between 2 and 4, 13% respondents comes under between 6 and 8,
and the remaining 8% of the respondents are 8 & above.

PRODUCT PREFERENCE

Preference No. of Respondents Percentage

Bolero 21 21

Scorpio 24 24

Kuv 100 31 31

Thar 24 24

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

From the above table 31% of the respondents prefer kuv100,24% of the respondents prefer
scorpio and thar ,and the remaining 21% 0f the respondents prefer bolero.
 PRODUCT PREFERENCE

No. of Respondents
120

100

80

60

40 No. of Respondents

20

0
Bolero Scorpio Kuv 100 Thar Total

PRODUCT PREFERENCE

MODE OF PAYMENT

Mode of payment No. of Respondents Percentage

Loan 19 19

Credit 32 32

Cash 36 36

Hypothecation 13 13

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data
 From the above table it is clear that 36% of the respondents chosen cash payment , 32% of
the respondents chosen credit pay,19% respondents chosen loan,and the remaining 13% are chosen
hypothecation as mode of payment.

MODE OF PAYMENT

No. of Respondents

Loan
Credit
Cash
Hypothecation
Total

MILEAGE OF THE VEHICLE

Kilometers No. of Respondents Percentage

30-40 20 20

40-50 35 35

50-60 28 28

60 & above 17 17

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

Above the table majority 35% of the respondents covered between 40 and 50 km.28% of
the respondents covered between 50 and 60 km,20% respondents covered between 30 and 40 km
and the rest 17% respondents covered 60 & above km.

MILEAGE OF THE VEHICLE

No. of Respondents
40
35
30
25
20
15
10 No. of Respondents
5
0
30-40 40-50 50-60 60 & above

MILEAGE

REASON FOR CHOOSING MAHINDRA VEHICLE

Reason No. of Respondents Percentage

Low cost and efficiency 19 19

Family vehicles 49 49

Design 14 14
 All the above 22 22

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table indicates that 49% of the respondents were chosen family vehicles,22%
respondents were chosen all the above,19% respondents were chosen low cost and efficiency and
the rest 14% respondent were design.

MAINTENANCE COST

Cost No. of Respondents Percentage

1500 16 16

3000 29 29

5000 34 34

5000 & above 13 13

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

From the above table it is clear that 34% of the respondents spent maintenance cost uptors
5000,29% respondents spent rs 3000,16% respondents are spent rs 1500 and the rest 13% of the
respondents spent rs 5000 and above for their maintenance cost.

PURPOSE OF OWNING

Purpose of owning No. of Respondents Percentage

Personal 24 24

Official 23 23
 For rent 40 40

Other purposes 13 13

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table shows that the purpose of owning the car.out of 100 respondents ,40% are
used their vehicle for rent,24% respondents are for personal purpose,23% of them are used for
their official purposes and remaining 13% are other purposes.

ERIOD OF USAGE

Period of usage No. of Respondents Percentage

Below two years 28 28

2–3 32 32

3-4 21 21

4-above 19 19

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table says that, maximum 32% of the respondents are using the vehicle between
2-3 years, another 28% of the respondents are using below 2 years, 21% of the respondents are
using 3-4 years and the remaining 19% of the respondents are using more than 4 years.

PERIOD OF USAGE

Below two years

2–3
4-Mar
4-above
Total

REASON TO BUY

Reason to buy No. of Respondents Percentage

Comfort 21 21

Style 38 38

Mileage 22 22

Advertisement 19 19

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table indicate that maximum 38% of the respondents are buy the vehicle for
style, 22% of the respondents are buy the vehicle for mileage, 21% of the respondents are buy the
vehicle for their comfort and 19% of the respondents are buy the vehicle based on the
advertisement.
 LEVEL OF SATISFACTION IN AFTER SALES AND SERVICE

Level of satisfaction No. of Respondents Percentage

Highly satisfied 21 21

Satisfied 55 55

Dissatisfied 14 14

Highly dissatisfied 10 10

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table inform that the level of satisfaction in sales and service. Majority 55% of
the respondents are satisfied with the after sales and service, 21% are highly satisfied, 14% are
dissatisfied and 10% of them are highly dissatisfied.

PROBLEMS IN MAHINDHRA VEHICLE

Quality problem No.of. Respondents Percentage

Yes 49 49

No 51 51
 Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table shows that the quality problem in the vehicle. Out of 100 respondents 49%
of them are facing quality problem and 51% of the respondents are do not face any quality problem.

PROBLEMS IN MAHINDHRA VEHICLE

No.of. Respondents
120

100

80

60

40 No.of. Respondents

20

0
Yes No Total
PROBLEM FACED
 KIND OF PROBLEM

Kind of problem No. of Respondents Percentage

Starting trouble 18 18

Mileage problem 47 47

Pic up 19 19

Battery problem 16 13

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table shows that the problem comes across while using the vehicle. From the
100 respondents, 47% of the respondents are facing mileage problem, 19% of the respondents are
facing pic up problem,18% are facing starting trouble and 13% of them facing battery problem.
 KIND OF PROBLEM

No. of Respondents
100

50

No. of Respondents
0
Starting Mileage Pic up Battery Total
trouble problem problem

KIND OF PROBLEM

RATING OF SERVICE QUALITY

Rating No. of Respondents Percentage

Excellent 18 18

Good 47 47

Satisfaction 24 24

Poor 11 11

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table says that the service quality of mahindra vehicle. Out of 100 respondents,
47% of the respondents rate the quality of service as good, 24% are satisfied with the service
quality, 18% says it is excellent and 11% rate it as poor.

SERVICE DURATION
 Duration of service No. of Respondents Percentage

Short 44 44

Long 56 56

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table shows that the duration of the service process .out of 100 respondent’s
majority 56% of them are feel that the service process long and remaining 44% are feel that the
service process is short.

OPINION ABOUT SERVICE COST

Service cost No. of Respondents Percentage

Very high 19 19

High 44 44

Reasonable 25 25

Poor 12 12

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

 From the above table it is clear that 44% of the respondents feel that the service cost is
high, 25% are feel that the service cost was reasonable, 195 of them feel very high cost and rest
125 feel that the service cost was poor.

RECOMMENTATION

Suggest No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 54 54

No 46 46

Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

From the above table we conclude that 54% says that the respondents would like to suggest
to others and 46% would not like to suggest to

REASON FOR CHOOSING THE SERVICE CENTER

Reason No. of Respondents Percentage

Accessibility 31 31

Company center 28 28

Genuine parts 25 25

Others 16 16
 Total 100 100

Source: Primary Data

The table shows that 31% of the respondents chosen mahindra crevice center due to their
accessability,28% of the respondents chosen due to the company center,25% chosen due to the
genuine parts and the remaining 16% chosen others.

CHI SQUARE ANALYSIS

Product preference and mode of purchase of the respondents

Null hypothesis

There is no relationship between product preference of the respondents and mode

of purchase of the respondents.

Alternative hypothesis

There is a relationship between product preference of the respondents and mode of

purchase of the respondents.

Mode of purchase of the respondents Total

Preference Loan Credit cash Hypothecation
Bolero 6 9 4 2 21
Scorpio 7 10 6 1 24
KUV100 4 8 12 7 31
Thar 2 5 14 3 24
Total 19 32 36 13 100

Calculated value : 16.741

Critical value : 16.919

Degree of freedom :9

Significance level : 5%
 At 5% level of significant, the critical chi square value for 9 degree of freedom is 16.919,
the calculated chi square value 16.741 is less than critical value 16.919. So, alternative
hypothesis is rejected and null hypothesis is accepted.

Interpretation
Hence, it may be concluded that there is no relationship between occupation and monthly
income of respondents.

TABLE 1
Ranking between age group and mode of payment

X Y Rank x Rank y d d2

34 19 2 3 -2 4

26 32 3 2 1 1

29 36 1 1 1 1

11 13 4 4 0 0

Calculated value= 0.4

Interpretation
From the above table show that, for the maximum value of x the amount 34 ranking is 1,for
the next lower value of x the amount 29 ranking is 2. Similarly for the 36 of y rank is 1 and next
value of y the amount 32 rank is

TABLE 2

Monthly income and no of family members

X Y Rank x Rank y d d2
 17 39 4 2 2 4

25 40 3 1 2 4

31 13 1 3 -2 4

27 8 2 4 -2 4

16

Calculated value = -0.

Interpretation

From the above table show that ,for the maximum value of x amount 31 ranking is 1,for
the next lower value of x the amount 27 ranking is 2. Similarly for the 40 of rank y is 1 and the
next lower value of y amount 39 is 2.

CONCLUSION:

This study was conducts in Coimbatore with a broad objective of service quality of
Mahindra vehicles.100 customers were selected and obtained the various responses based on the
questionnaire method. The data was collected and consolidated using simple percentage method,
chi-square test and ranking analysis. Tables were used for representation to achieve the objective
of the study.

While undergoing the project mainly findings that most of the customers are satisfied
with Mahindra vehicles. The small problem those indicate that lack of selection so the main
suggestion that need to concentrate on this area.The study helps to understand that the customers
are highly happy with Mahindra service center.