Automobile Industry (Yamaha Bikes)

Introduction:
Yamaha Motor Company Limited is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha motor is a part of Yamaha Corporation and its head-quarter is located in Iwata, Shizouka. Yamaha motor company was founded by Torakusu Yamaha. The Word Yamaha means Mountain leaf. India Yamaha motor is an Indian subsidy of Yamaha motor company which was formed in 2008. Though Yamaha motors has been present in the Indian market for a long time, its first big impact in the mid- range bike market of India was with the introduction of its bikes like FZ-16, FZ-S, Fazer and R-15. Although Hero Honda and Bajaj were the two major players in the Indian two wheeler market, these bikes have helped Yamaha sustain in this tough competition.

Yamahas Marketing environment (Micro and Macro) has helped it to build and maintain successful relationships with its target customers.

Micro Environment:

Company: Kando is a Japanese word used by Yamaha to describe their corporate mission; it means sensation of profound excitement and fulfilment derived from experiencing supreme quality and performance. One of the main objective of the company is to make transportation cheaper, so Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. has announced the release of its new SOUL GT, an automatic transmission commuter model mounting a YMJET-FI Fuel injected 115cc engine for great fuel economy and cost performance.

Suppliers: Suppliers are an important link in the companys overall customer value delivery system. Yamaha has realized that Indian market contributes major part of its total sales so it has decided to set up a third manufacturing plant in India and hence making the country as a procurement base for its supplies. This tends to cutting down cost and therefore increasing sales.

Market Intermediaries: Manufacturing taking place in India and the recent success of two wheelers in India combined together have led to an increase in retail Yamaha retail outlets across the country. They have tie-ups with well established physical distribution firms, marketing services agencies and financial Intermediateries.

Competitors The main competitors of Yamaha in Indian market are Bajaj and Hero Moto Corp. because they provide a wide variety of bikes ranging from fuel efficient bikes to stylish sport bikes.

Publics: It has connections with reputed financial publics (Banks and stock holders) and media publics (Newspaper, Magazines, Internet and Television). They also have a famous celebrity, John Abraham as their Brand ambassador. Internal publics also play a vital role, as when employees feel good about the company their positive attitude towards the product spills over to the external publics.

Customers: As the main function of the above factors is to serve the target customers and create strong relationships with them, so Yamaha has formed a good consumer market as well as a profitable reseller market.

Macro environment:
There are some external societal factors that sometimes present with an opportunity and sometimes pose a threat to the company. Those six major factors are: Political Environment: It includes the government and its institutions and its legislations, which the firm should concern about as it has influence on the system and can have impact on it. Government affects the companys activity by national regulations such as product safety regulation and tax. In order to ensure the safety of the consumer, it gives a minimum requirement on the thickness of the material used in the production and regulations on pollution control leading to restriction on the type of exhaust used. Environment: Yamaha has come up with new engines which generate less noise, are more fuel efficient and the exhaust have a fibre coating inside it which do not allow harmful gases to be emitted in the surroundings. To decrease the pollution they stopped manufacturing two stroke bikes and started production of four stroke bikes. Social: Yamaha is the first two wheeler company to install the centre shock absorbers in their bikes. Hence, making the ride pleasant even on the bumpy Indian roads . The width of the rear tyre is more, which decreases the chances of skidding on wet roads. The above factors provide stability as well as safety to the customers. Technology: Seeing the demand of gearless vehicles, Yamaha has announced its soon to be launched ray scooter and hence diversifying its targeting customers. It provides centre locking in its high end bikes completely omitting the kick start. Economic: Seeing that the Indian customers tend to buy reliable product at lesser cost, its new bikes are substitutes for the costly sports bikes hence satisfying the Indian customers. Legal: All the business operations of Yamaha are subject to the laws and regulations of the country. Those regulations include pertaining to foreign investment, restrictions on amount of import and export, tax systems and consumer production. It also has a social obligation to securely manage the personal information of its customers.

Buyers Decision Process:

Based upon some factors a consumer arrives at a decision to buy a product and that buying process comprises of the following stages: Need Recognition: When a customer decides to buy a Yamaha product, his main needs are performance, durability and agility of the product. Other needs may include the looks and the bike being used as a status symbol. Information search: An interested customer has various personal sources like family and friends to gather information about the bike. Some other informative sources are print media, TV commercials, Reviews, Awards, and Auto fairs. Yamaha won 6 awards at the CNBC bike awards , Overdrive award 2009 and Auto India best brand India 2009. So, this may act as a decisive factor for the customer. Evaluation of alternatives: A Yamaha customer looks for four attributes namely power, stability, styling and status symbol. If a customer wants to buy R-15, based upon these factors the alternatives available to him are TVS Apache 180cc, Bajaj Pulsar 220cc, and Karizma 220cc. Purchase Decision: Generally a customer will opt for its most preferred brand, but between the intention period and the decision making there are two factors which affects his decision. The first is the attributes of others(peers, colleagues, family) and the second one is unexpected situations. For instance, if a close competitor drops the price of its product, the buyers decision may change. Post-purchase behaviour: Almost every major purchase, results in cognitive dissonance, so in order to satisfy the customer Yamaha provides them with an online feedback system and also keeps them informed about the new services they can avail on their existing products.

POINT OF DIFFRENTIATION:
POD is that feature of the product, which makes it different/exclusive from others. In case of Yamaha they were the first ones to make their bikes completely auto start. This feature was also available in other bikes but the auto start feature in Yamaha bikes was so reliable that the manufacturers omitted the kick start from their bikes.

POINT OF PARITY:
POP consists of those elements which are considered mandatory for the brand to be a legitimate competitor in the market. Customer considers these elements as a given. These elements if present does not help in increasing the sales, but if not there, may reduce the sales. For instance Yamahas POP is one year guarantee of the two wheeler along with 4 free services. The customer considers the warranty and guarantee as a part of the package but if not given these services, he/she may not opt for that particular brand.