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Small Car Segment: Submitted by
Small Car Segment: Submitted by
Submitted by:
Group # 8
INDEX
1) Introduction
2) Executive Summary
♦ Consumer Behaviour
♦ Consumer Perception
4) Industry Insight
♦ Industry Background
6) Pricing
7) Research Methodology
♦ Data Analysis
11) Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
You can't decide what exactly is it that you want. You ask yourself: "Do I want
power, or do I want fuel-efficiency? Which car offers me the best combination of
both? Is seating for five with a toothbrush tucked in enough for me, or do I need
place to pack in a wardrobe for the weekend? Am I happy with the plain Jane
Maruti 800, or can I and should I stretch for that sexy Palio?" Diesel or petrol? Big
or small? Tough questions huh?
Well, in today’s scenario with competitive marketing and globalization, the job for
the consumers has become very tough and confusing whether to buy A or to buy B.
The market is so vast, competitive and complex that it often confuses the buyers.
The decision taken for buying a product and choosing one is more often
incomplete and sometimes not fully satisfactory.
In Small Segment Cars the options are wide and identical to each other. In Indian
scenario the small segment cars have the biggest share in the car industry. It
directly aims at the middle class and lower middle class of the society. Even the
upper classes do find it of immense satisfaction and utility. Therefore the buyers
are in a bulk for this segment. But what is not clear here, is that the buyers are not
fully aware of all features & what is provided by whom. This seems to be the point
of discussion and study on which this project is based on.
Small Car Segment
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The objective of this project is to determine the decision making process by the
consumer while purchasing a small segment Car.
Firstly, we took mainly three brands of small cars, Maruti-800 \ Zen, Indica
and Santro for a comparative study of small car segment. We got the
companies’ broad background; their entry into the segment, their positioning
strategies of cars and other factors affecting the consumer’s buying behavior.
Later we went through the process of filling the questionnaires, to know exactly
what the customer’s of small cars perceived about their cars. A sample size of
hundred respondents was taken. Sample unit was a customer who owned a small
car. Secondary data from various sources like magazines, journals etc was also
collected.
The findings showed that the consumer’s who owned small cars basically
wanted good performance, after sales service and a car at their budget, a less
expensive one.
All the cars taken for the sample showed that the consumers perceived them as
almost same in all the attributes like safety, comfort and luxury. Respondents
liked Indica more for its looks, whereas Maruti’s after sales service was
perceived to be good.
But, at the end the research was limited due to small sample size, small sample
area and time constraints.
AND PERCEPTION
♦ CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
The study of consumer behavior is the study of how individuals make decisions to
spend available resources on consumption related items. It includes the study of
what they buy , why they buy it, where they buy it, how often they buy it and how
often they use it.
Consumer Behavior has been variously defined and with varying stress and focus.
Consumer behavior can be described as acts directly involved in obtaining and
using economic goods and services. It also includes the preceding decision process
and influence the experience obtained from such acts. Consumer Behaviour is “the
way people act in the exchange process “.
Consumer Behaviour is “the behaviour that consumer display in searching for,
purchasing, using and evaluating products, services, and ideas which they expect
will satisfy their needs”.
Another definition of Consumer Behaviour can be said as “those actions directly
involved in obtaining, consuming, and disposing of products and services,
including the decision processes that precede and follow these actions.
Consumer Behaviour keeps changing, consumer preferences of yesterday may
not hold well today and tomorrow-new motivations, and new aspirations may take
hold. It is this ever-changing nature of consumer’s behaviour that provides a
challenge to marketing professionals, and is responsible for dubbing the consumer
“as a moving target”.
Consumer Behaviour is the action people takes in purchasing and using products
and services, including the mental and social process that precede and follow these
actions.
CONSUMER PERCEPTION
Perception can be defined as “how we see things around us”. Two individuals
may be subject to same stimuli under the same apparent conditions, but how each
person recognise them, and interprets them is highly individual process based on
each person’s own need, values and expectation.
Perception is defined as a process, which an individual selects, organizes and
interprets stimuli into a meaning full and coherent picture of the world.
A stimulus is any unit of input to any of the senses example of stimuli includes
product, packages, brand names and commercials. Sensory receptors are the human
organs that receive sensory inputs. All of these functions are called into play either
singly or in combination in the evaluation and use of most consumer products.
Small Car Segment
INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
This is easy to understand because the per capita disposable income of the people
has gone up remarkably. Over the last five years, per capita personal disposable
income has gone up by around 8%, which has increased purchasing capacity of the
people in the country.
Other factors have also contributed to this high growth in Indian automobile sector.
These include lowering age of first car users, shorter replacement cycles, rising
dual income families, new technology, which is lowering cost of ownership, low
car penetration in the country and most importantly growing steel production in the
country. In addition, wide variety and easily available financing options are also
some of the major reasons for surge in demand for automobiles in India.
Domestic sales have grown at CAGR of 14.27% from 2001-02 to 2005-06. The
commercial vehicle segment, in particular, has increased at CAGR of 24.35%
during the above-mentioned period; whereas total sales of passenger cars in
domestic market have increased at CAGR of 14.02%. In terms of production,
commercial vehicles have registered a CAGR of 24.55% from 2001-02 to 2005-06;
while passenger vehicles have registered a CAGR of 18.24%. There is a declining
trend in mopeds production as well as in sales in the domestic market. During
2001-02, mopeds production and sales have declined at CAGR 2.93% and 5%
respectively.
Small Car Segment
Current Market Scenario
India's domestic passenger car sales have increased by 22.01%, up from 882,208 in
2006 to 1,076,408 units in 2007. Overall, the automobile industry posted a 13.50%
growth.
Global Automotive Financial Review forecasts the Indian passenger car market
sales will rise up to19 lakh cars by the end of 2010 leading to a growth of above
50% and there will be more than 2 million cars in the Indian car market.
The passenger car segment has seen an impressive growth in the Indian automobile
market because of the change in standard of living, their high-end incomes, easy
monthly installment (EMIs) and loan schemes offered by banks and financial
institutions to buy cars. Indian car market has received a major boost due to these
reasons and now foreign players are moving in to capture a market share.
Small Car Segment
Segment
PRICING
In any business, nothing is more dangerous than using money as the magnet for
attracting customers. It kills loyalty, mangles margins, and encourages defections.
But it is the Unique Selling Price the only road to success in the intensely
competitive automobiles business?
Those in the race for winning over the Rs. 7,500-crore small cars market seem to
believe so. We have seen Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) announcing first ever price
cuts – from Rs 6,998 to Rs 36,808 on its different models – to deflect attention
from the launch of the Telco’s Indica. It was, of course, Hyundai Motors that had
set the pace by putting a ticket of Rs 2.99 lakh on the basic model of its Santro.
Then, even as customers rubbed their eyes in disbelief at the Indica’s Rs 2.59 lakh
entry price.
In the small car segment, the only ‘P’ that, suddenly, seemed to matter was the
second in the Product-Price-Promotion-Place marketing-mix.
The typical Indian car-buyer is obsessed with post-purchase pricing. Which is, in
effect, the cost of maintenance and the possible re-sale value. And obviously, the
lower the selling price of a second hand model, the less is the purchaser’s incentive
to opt for it.
However, not every company plays the price-card. Instead of cutting the price of
Santro, Hyundai Motors has launched an enhanced version with product features
like power steering, and product-plus features like better service and customer-
care. Hyundai arrived at the pricing strategy after a careful analysis.
Attempting to sell the lowest priced car in every segment will not enable a
company to survive.
Hyundai realised the difficulty to compete in the car markets and decided to go for
sharp differentiation strategy. In order to avoid the price game, it decided to
reinforce the individualistic positioning of the brand and tried to match the
customer’s perception that the car is commodity using other differentiators.
Hyundai opted against the drop in prices, one reason being the fact that, buyers are
shopping for brand associations and customers are unlikely to let their decisions be
swayed by savings of a few thousands.
Sure, the lower price will be an attraction to the first-time buyer who is, essentially,
stretching his budget to buy personal transportation. The less the stretch, the more
is the likelihood of actually buying a car instead of, say, a two-wheeler. So, even a
drop of Rs.1000 in the small cars segment could expand its size.
Thus price can be a selling proposition for only one segment of customers. But a
company that seeks life-long customers, who progressively move up its product
ladder, cannot rely on price alone for success.
Small Car Segment
The response of the customers to the Santro seems to indicate a market in the small
car segment, which is prepared to pay premium for a superior features and
performance. Santro and launch of Accent appear to be a conscious effort on
Hyundai’s part to meet the needs of different customers in the small car market.
Maruti’s response of cutting down on price seems to be a defensive measure aimed
at retaining market share by concentrating on the price sensitive market segment.
The Hyundai has stretched both price and feature thresholds and created market for
itself.
Entry of Hyundai has changed the very nature of the competition as it has
introduced contemporary product into the market.
Small Car Segment
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The major aim of the project was to analyze the competition of different
car brands in the market. Therefore we had to get considerable
information about the competing small cars. For this we had to go through
a lot of secondary data.
A lot of issues of auto India, Motoring and Motor India were consulted
A comparison of small size cars is given in the table. Since the research
aims at finding the attitude of people towards the different brands of cars,
a conclusive research was conducted. The data collection form was
designed in the form of a standard questionnaire because it is more
reliable than unstructured format. By reducing the chance or the sample to
influence results through different questions and through different
judgment of answers and what to record, the structured questionnaire
produces more reliable results i.e. if the research project is repeated in the
same manner, similar results will be obtained.
Most of the questions asked in the questionnaire were closed ended with a
few open-ended questions also, to know consumers general views. Some
Small Car Segment
questions are designed for the purpose of cross checking the samples
genuineness in filling the questionnaire.
For the purpose of analysis, ranking scale is used to rank the preferences
of attributes of the customers. (Semantic differential scale is used to
understand the images of brands of cars as perceived by the consumers.
This scale is used because it permits the development of descriptive
profiles that facilitates the comparison of competitive items.)
DATA ANALYSIS
Sample size - 30
Respondents - 27
Owners of Santro - 6
Owners of Zen - 9
Owners of Indica - 6
Owners of 800 - 4
COMFORT
GEAR BOX
BOOT SPACE
FUEL EFFICIENCY
LOW MAINTAINENECE COSTS
COLOUR
VALUE ADDED ACCESSORIES
INTERIORS
SAFETY FEATURES
LOOKS
PRICE
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
% OF RESPONDENTS
SAFETY 1
PERFORMANCE 2
COST 3
LOW MAINTENANCE 4
BRAND NAME 6
CREDIT FACILITY 7
Small Car Segment
CREDIT FACILITY
PREFERENCE POINTS
SAFETY
BRAND NAME
LOW MAINTENANCE
COST
PERFORMANCE
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
TELEVISION MAGAZINES FRIENDS DEALERS MECHANICS OTHER CAR
DEALERS
percentage of customers
Small Car Segment
80
70
60
50 FRIENDS
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS 40 FAMILY
30 MEDIA
20 OTHERS
10
0
1
INFLUENCERS
BRAND RECALL
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
SANTRO INDICA MARUTI ZEN MARUTI 800
BRAND RECALL
Small Car Segment
ANY OTHER
AUTO EXHIBITIONS
MAGAZINES
HOARDINGS
NEWSPAPERS
TELEVISIONS
SANTRO
INDICA
MARUTI-800
MARUTI ZEN
Small Car Segment
Consumers of small cars are seeking a very good overall performance in a car than
any other attributes. Most of the consumers prefer Small cars and mid sized cars
for their good mileage, good acceleration, easy driveability, requiring small
rooms for parking. Good looks hardly count for the buyers of small cars.
Earlier Maruti used to have very high Brand recall but now Hyundai has
taken over followed by Indica, Zen and then Maruti 800.This gives Maruti
a fight to retain its leadership position.
Indica and Santro has outscored Zen and Maruti 800 in brand recall with
their scintillating marketing and advertising strategies and made their
punch lines, “Add spice to life” and a “Complete family car” more
conspicuous. Santro has created a niche position for itself as a celebrity’s
car, Shahrukh Khan’s car. Their advertisement showing Shahrukh Khan
sponsoring the car, showing its unmatchable features have made Santro
synonymous to Shahrukh Khan.
Zen has in the recent years been able to create a brand name for itself.
Zen and Santro are perceived as cars with a more feminine appeal. Hence
they need to be positioned as the cars for today’s women.
The dream cars of the consumers are high luxury cars like Mercedes S-
class, BMW, Ferrari, Pajero, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Porsche, the cars with a
class apart when it comes to their brands images, cars which flaunt status,
style, wealth and attitude of the people owning them, cars which are
considered to the best on the globe.
When the consumers were asked to rank the factors they consider being important
in buying a car, ranking the factors from 1 to 7 where ‘1’ is the highest preference
rank ‘7’, the lowest preference rank, safety is the highest concern followed by
Performance of a car as it outweighs its style and cost on the consumer’s list of
priorities to buy a car. Performance, be it engine make up, fuel efficiency in city
conditions, smoothness, pick up, drivability, is consumer’s first preference in their
look out on attributes in making a decisions for buying a car.
The car owners as the third most important factor, considered the cost and
low maintenance of a car.
After sales service and brand name were the fifth and sixth preferences of
the respondents. Credit facility was ranked next on the preference scale.
Given the city conditions, the consumers needed a very good overall
performance of cars. Small cars taking less space with no parking
problems, easy drivability in heavy traffic conditions, easy gearshifts and
good fuel efficiency makes them the most preferred ones.
The small car owners being mostly the professional class or the upper
middle class were very cost conscious and due to their busy life styles
preferred low maintenance in their cars.
Sources of Information
The small car consumers are high search information seekers, most of
them using at least 3 sources of seeking the information. They believe
that extensive search is necessary to make a good buy. Having owned
fewest cars previously, they had very less information about the cars.
Most of these small car buyers being first time purchasers usually go for
friends, automobile magazines or other car owners to get information
about the various products and brands in the market to know the most
favorable brand or products and later they seek further information from
dealers and other sources once they are through their choice process and
have decided upon a particular brand or brands to buy.
Satisfaction Level
Most of the small car consumers are somewhat happy with their
purchases. A probe into respondents’ satisfaction level, ranking from 1 to
5 where ‘1’ was full satisfaction and ‘5’ full dissatisfaction with their
cars, gave 70% as an average figure of satisfaction level.
Advertisement Recall
The most interesting part of the research being the brand appeal part of it,
where four celebrities, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya
Rai and Rani Mukherjee were given and respondents were asked to
suggest any car which came to their mind. Almost all the respondents
named Santro for Shahrukh khan. Hyundai has almost positioned Santro
as Shahrukh Khan’s car and his personal choice through the
advertisement where Shahrukh himself narrates the supervisor
performance of car. Any other brand of car could not catch up with such
a familiarity of a car with a celebrity.
For Hrithik Roshan, most of the people preferred tough looking cars like
BMW, Bolero, Safari, Pajero, Sumo, Honda sports car etc. Aishwarya
gave people an appeal of sleek beauty through cars like Lancer, Ferrari,
Zen, Matiz, Mercedes, etc. Rani Mukherjee stole away respondents
minds with small car like Zen, Matiz, and Santro, sometimes a bit bulky
like ambassador and van.
• The sample size being very small, that is only thirty respondents,
limited the scope and study of the project.
Time constraints put boundaries to the sample area and hence limited the extent
of the study.
Small Car Segment
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference books:
Internet:
www.marutiudyog.com
www.hyudaimotorindia.com
www.autoweb.com
http://html.rincondelvago.com/consumer-decision-process.html
http://www.cygnusindia.com/pdfs/Supply%20Chain%20Management%20in%20A
utomobile%20industry.pdf
Small Car Segment
ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Personal details :
Name :
Name
Model
Colour
___________________________________.
♦
♦
♦
♦
Small Car Segment
♦
♦
♦
Maruti 800
Zen
Indica
Santro
7. Rate the following attributes according to your preferences while buying a new car?
Price :
Looks :
Safety features :
Interiors :
Value added accessories :
Color :
Stability while driving :
Low maintenance costs :
Fuel efficiency :
Boot space :
Gearbox :
9. Rate the following cars as per your perception on the basis of the attributes specified (5
excellent to 1 poor)?
13. Where would you or where from do you get the relative information for buying a car
for yourself?
Television
Friends
Dealers
Mechanics
Magazines
Other car owners
14. Who influences you the most while making a decision to buy a small segment car?
Media
Friends
Family
others
15. What are the sources of advertising that you recall, as a influencing factor to you? Is
it: -
o Television :
o Newspaper :
o Hoardings :
o Magazines :
o Auto Exhibitions :
o Any other :
15. Comment on the following cars as to how can there be any improvements?
ZEN
INDICA
MARUTI 800
SANTRO
16. Which of the four cars mentioned below is the best in overall perspective to you?
15. Which car will you associate with the following personalities?
• Shahrukh Khan
• Hrithik Roshan
• Aishwarya Rai
• Rani Mukherjee
Thank you, Sir\Madam for spending your precious time in filling this
Questionnaire. Your opinion values a lot for us. Thank you.
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