Research Methodology Assignment- KIA Motors

Asima Majhi
19021141027

Indian Automotive Industry

The Indian Automotive Industry became the 4th largest Auto industry in the world with sales, in
2018, increasing 9.5% per year to more than 4 million units. It was the 7th largest commercial
vehicle manufacturer in 2018.

India is also a leading auto exporter. Automobile exports grew 15.5% during April 2018 to
February 2019. It expects to grow at CAGR of 3% during 2016-2026. In addition, Government of
India has taken several initiatives to help the players in the Indian market in order to make India
a leader in the Auto market in the world by 2020.

Many joint ventures have been set up in India with foreign collaboration, both technical and
financial with leading global manufacturers. The Government of India is also working towards
providing a suitable economic and business environment to aid in the success of established
and prospective foreign partnership ventures.

About KIA Motors

Kia Motors is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea and is a fast-growing car
manufacturer in India. Founded in 1944, Kia Motors is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor
vehicles. Known for their world class quality, its designs appeal to those who are young at
heart.

Kia motors launched itself in India at auto-Expo with brand new campaign "Magical Inspirations"
to deliver high quality product to establish its feet in Indian automotive business with an aim to
surprise the people of India with unique and candid design features to standout far apart from
other foreign car manufacturers.

Kia today has over 51,000 employees worldwide with annual revenues of over US$47 billion.
Kia produces about 3 million vehicles a year at 14 manufacturing & assembly operations in 5
countries. Kia Motors Corporation's brand slogan – "The Power to Surprise" – represents the
company's global commitment to surprise the world by providing exciting and inspiring
experiences.
Research Methodology Assignment- KIA Motors
Asima Majhi
19021141027

SELTOS (SUV Segment)

The Kia Seltos is in many ways the perfect car for the company to begin its India innings. A
compact SUV with the styling, features and tech to really hit the sweet spot as far as what
customers are looking for. That becomes doubly important given how automobile sales have
been falling off a cliff off late. The Seltos is getting here as Kia's first made in India car and will
be available in multiple variants.

Research Methodology

Research Design

Through this study we hope to accept or reject the null hypothesis: The performance of KIA
Motors in India is good. The information given below will describe how the research was
conducted and explain the type of research conducted.

Research Objectives

• To identify the various attributes of KIA Seltos that influence an individual’s choice
among the alternatives.
• To identify the attractiveness of Seltos advertisement and the sales performance.
• To identify the customer perception on various attributes of the product.
• To identify reason for brand preference over the competing brands.
• To find out the customer satisfaction level on after sales service provided by dealers on
their product.
• To identify the problems faced by the customers who purchased the products.

Research Problem

Understanding the performance of Kia motors in accordance to the sales, features, bookings
since its launch in India.
Research Methodology Assignment- KIA Motors
Asima Majhi
19021141027

Independent Variables

1. Market situation (inflation, GDP etc)

2. Engine performance
3. Mileage
4. Comfort & leg space
5. Suspension
6. Safety
7. Laws & regulations
8. After sales service

Dependent Variables

1. Sales
2. Relevance in the market
3. Share prices
4. User experience & Reviews
5. Price
6. Pre-bookings

Factors Responsible for Demand:

1. BS6 Compliant mid-range SUV

2. Exclusive features
3. Variants available from 9.7 lakhs to 17lakhs (ex-showroom)
4. Introductory price will be disqualified from 1st January 2020.

Hypothesis:

Null Hypotheses:

1. Customers are happy with the performance of Kia Sentos

2. Customers are willing to pay for the mid-range SUV
3. Customers are happy with the exclusive features
4. Customers find the car better than its competitors
Research Methodology Assignment- KIA Motors
Asima Majhi
19021141027

Secondary Data

The data has been compared keeping in mind only SUV models and the period in which KIA
Motors launched its new model Seltos along with other competitive brands in India to give a
clear picture of its performance w.r.t justification of the null hypothesis taken into consideration.
The data that has been already collected and published in different online and offline medium
are referred for conducting this study. The source links are given in the bibliography at the end
of the report for reference purposes.

Data Analysis & Interpretation

The Kia Seltos is the new utility vehicle (UV) market leader in India – a crown wrested in just
three months of its launch on August 22. With 12,854 units to its credit in October 2019, the
Seltos has breezed ahead of the competition, leaving the market leader Hyundai Creta trailing
by 5,984 units.

Right from launch, the Seltos has seen month on month growth – 6,236 units in August, 7,754
units in September and 12,854 units in October. Cumulatively, the three months add up to
Research Methodology Assignment- KIA Motors
Asima Majhi
19021141027

26,576 units or a monthly average of 8,858 units. Interestingly, the petrol/diesel ratio for the
Seltos is rather close at 51:49.

Kia Motors India a 47.14 percent SUV market share. What has helped the Seltos cut through
India's SUV market is Kia's ability to match production with demand and a sound marketing
strategy of offering multiple engines, multiple gearboxes and multiple variants across multiple
price points.

Kia Motors India says it has received over 60,000 bookings for the Seltos till now and, to ensure
timely deliveries, has started the second shift to ramp-up production at its manufacturing facility
in Anantapur. The company says it will not close bookings as the plant is fully capable of
meeting the rising demand for the Seltos.

What is helping the BS6-ready Seltos make headway in the competitive Indian SUV market is
its very aggressive pricing. The Korean carmaker's pricing strategy for all of 18 variants covers
virtually every price point and starts from Rs 9,69,000 for the entry-level petrol G 1.5 HTE
model and goes up to Rs 16.99 lakh for the diesel 1.5 CRDi GTX + (6AT) and G 1.4 Turbo GDI
GTX+ (7DCT) top-end variants. With this, it takes on rivals like the Hyundai Creta, MG Hector,
Nissan Kicks, Mahindra XUV500 and the Renault Captur in India.

Conclusion

With these numbers, Kia Seltos has outperformed many other compact SUVs on sale in the
Indian market. Although all the dependent and independent variables cannot be used in this
research to accept or reject the null hypothesis because most of it will require primary data from
people who have already purchased or are in the process of buying it. But recent trends and
data shows that there is a highly positive relation between the null hypothesis and the market
share / sales per say to justify its performance competing other brands.

Therefore, we accept the null hypothesis keeping the limits of the research in mind and the
spread of the time for this research.
Research Methodology Assignment- KIA Motors
Asima Majhi
19021141027

Bibliography
Dewang, Y. (2019, May). Success story for future: Kia Motors in India. Retrieved from ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333420925_Success_story_for_future_Kia_Motors_in_India

Garg, A. (2019, August 22). Kia Seltos Review: The Perfect SUV for India? Retrieved from News 18 Auto:
https://www.news18.com/news/auto/kia-seltos-review-the-perfect-suv-for-india-launch-price-road-
test-2264625.html

Indian automobile industry at a glance. (2019). Retrieved from indian mirror:

https://www.indianmirror.com/indian-industries/2019/automobile-2019.html

Kia Motors India, Inc. (2019). Retrieved from KIA: https://www.kia.com/in/home.html

Kia Seltos User Reviews. (2019). Retrieved from cardekho: https://www.cardekho.com/user-review/kia-

seltos/amazing-design-interior-and-sound-system-96957.htm

M, S. (2019, November 10). 7 Common Problems Kia Seltos Owners & Prospective Buyers Facing In India.
Retrieved from gaadiwaadi: https://gaadiwaadi.com/7-common-problems-kia-seltos-owners-
prospective-buyers-facing-in-india/

Patankar, S. V. (2019, August 12). Kia Seltos Review: The New Compact SUV Benchmark. Retrieved from
Car and Bike: https://auto.ndtv.com/reviews/kia-seltos-review-the-new-compact-suv-benchmark-
2082990

Sorabjee, H. (2019, October 23). Suzuki boss: ‘Maintaining a 50 percent market share in India will be a
big challenge.'. Retrieved from autocarpro: https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/nissan-
unveils-2-allelectric-concept-cars-at-2019-tokyo-motor-show-44460

Staff, e. (2019, March 18). Kia Motors India launches new brand campaign. Retrieved from
exchange4media: https://www.exchange4media.com/advertising-news/kia-motors-india-launches-new-
brand-campaign-95429.html

Taumar, D. (2019, September 03). Kia Motors debut month sales beat half a dozen car brands in India.
Retrieved from economic times auto: https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/passenger-
vehicle/cars/kia-motors-debut-month-sales-beat-half-a-dozen-car-brands-in-india/70943552