23-06-2012, 02:26 PM
CONSUMER SATISFACTION WITH MARUTI SUZUKI
CONSUMER SATISFACTION.doc (Size: 2.68 MB / Downloads: 208)
INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY
The automobile industry is one of the core industries in India economy, whose prospect is reflective of the economic resilience of the economy. Indian automobile industry has come a long way to from the era of the Ambassador car to Maruti 800 to latest M&M Xylo. An industry is highly competitive with a number of global and Indian companies present today. It is growing at a pace of around 18% per annum for the last five years and is projected to be the third largest auto industry by 2030 and just behind to US & China, according to a report. The industry is estimated to be a US$ 34 billion industry. With the liberalization of the economy, India has become the playground of major global automobile majors.
Auto industry in 2008
All the major auto companies enjoyed the high growth ride till the mid 2008. But at the end of the year, industry had to face the hard truth and witnessed the fall in sales compared to last year. In December 2008, overall production fell by 22 % over the same month last year. Global recession has hit the Indian auto industry, India is strong and growing industry but the impact of recession is evident now on industry as sales & growth of automobile companies have declined.
Passenger Vehicles segment registered negative growth. One of its supporting facts is that the sales in December 2008 for passenger vehicles fell by 13.86% over December 2007. Maruti- the leading car manufacturer, registered 10% fall in sells (56293 units), as compared to December’07 (62,515 units). But interestingly.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
In August, 2003 Maruti crossed a milestone of exporting 300,000 vehicles since its first export in 1986. Europe is the largest destination of Maruti’s exports and coincidentally after the first commercial shipment of 480 units to Hungary in 1987, the 300,00 mark was crossed by the shipment of 571 units to the same country. The top ten destinations of the cumulative exports have been Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Chile, U.K., Hungary, Nepal, Greece, France and Poland in that order.
The Alto, which meets the Euro-3 norms, has been very popular in Europe where a landmark 200,000 vehicle were exported till March 2003. Even in the highly developed and competitive markets of Netherlands, UK, Germany, France and Italy Maruti vehicles .
Company’s Profile
Around 1970, Sanjay Gandhi, political advisor and younger son to the then Prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, envisioned the manufacture of an indigenous, cost effective, low maintenance compact car for the Indian middle class. Indira Gandhi’s cabinet passed an uninamous resolution for the development and production of “Peoples car”. Sanjay Gandhi’s company was christened Maruti Limited. The name of the car was was chosen as Maruti, after a hindu deity named Marut.
SMALL & MEDIUM CAR SEGMENT IN INDIA
Small cars are classified according to the price range which varies from 1 to 3 lakhs. It has the capacity to carry 4 passengers- 2 adults, 2 children. These are basically entry level cars which are preferred by service group and middle income group.
These cars are basically manufactured by - Maruti Udyog and Reva. While companies like Volks wagon and Reva are yet to launch their models in the market.
TATA MOTORS LTD
Tata Motors Limited is India’s largest automobile company, with revenues of Rs. 35651.48 crores (USD 8.8 billion) in 2007-08. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top three in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the world’s fourth largest truck manufacturer, and the world’s second largest bus manufacturer.
The company’s 23,000 employees are guided by the vision to be “best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value system and ethics.”
CONCLUSION
• From the analysis of the responses received from the customers in Jaipur, overall findings show that Maruti Suzukij is the most prefered brand among the participants.
• Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai,Tata Motors are the biggest competitor in the small & madium car market..
• Among the five attributes ( which we considered important for customers’ purchasing decision ) customers gave highest consideration to mileage followed by the looks and style. Other attributes like comfort, service and spares were considered later.
• Most middle class person prefer Maruti Suzuki in this segment and usually they use car for their transport.