1.

INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY

Approximately 25 of Benz's vehicles were built before 1893, when his first fourwheeler was introduced. They were powered with four-stroke engines of his own
design. Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under license, now
added the Benz automobile to his line of products. Because France was more open to
the early automobiles, more were built and sold in France through Roger than Benz
sold in Germany. From 1890 to 1895 Daimler and his assistant, Maybach, either at the
Daimler works or in the Hotel Hermann, where they set up shop after falling out with
their backers, built about 30 vehicles. Benz and Daimler seem to have been unaware
of each other's early work and worked independently.
In 1890, Emile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing vehicles
with Daimler engines, and so laid the foundation of the motor industry in France.
George Selden of Rochester, New York, who applied for a patent on an automobile in
1879, supposedly designed the first American car with a gasoline internal combustion
engine in 1877. In Britain there had been several attempts to build steam cars with
varying degrees of success with Thomas Rickett even attempting a production run in
1860. Santler from Malvern is recognized by the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain as
having made the first petrol-powered car in the country in 1894 followed by Frederick
William Lanchester in 1895 but these were both one-offs. [The first production vehicles
came from the Daimler Motor Company, founded by Harry J. Lawson in 1896, and
making their first cars in 1897.
In 1892, Rudolf Diesel got a patent for a "New Rational Combustion Engine". In 1897
he built the first Diesel Engine. In 1895, Selden was granted a United States patent
(U.S. Patent 549,160 ) for a two-stroke automobile engine, which hinderd more than
encouraged development of autos in the United States. Steam, electric, and gasoline
powered autos competed for decades, with gasoline internal combustion engines
achieving dominance in the 1910s.
Every other day a new model of car is being launched in the country, how many times
you must have wished to change that old car of yours and buy a hot set of wheels.
However as you come back to earth, bitter reality bites you; realization dawns in that
you don't have such a big amount of money to invest in a new car. Don't worry as
1

several banks and financial institution have donned the role of new age Santa Claus
to make sure that your dream comes true. Today car loans are not only available for
brand new cars but they are also available for used cars.
In this section we will try to provide you with an insight into automobile financing so
read on. State Bank of India which is one of the largest nationalized banks in the
country offers you the following advantages

Longer repayment periods up to 7 years

Low processing

No advance EMI along with the down payment effectively increasing the
amount of loan

Interest is calculated on the reducing balance method meaning every time you
repay an amount the interest is calculated on the remaining amount and not on
the one which is out standing at the beginning of the year.

The company gives a loan which is up to 2.5 times of one's net annual income, with
the minimum income cap of the applicant being 75000 rupees per annum. The
company sanctions loans for all new cars and for second hand cars which are not
more than 5 years old. The bank also provides loans to people who don't have an
account with the bank provided they furnish address proof, identity proof and other
relevant documents.
UTI bank offers loans covering 85% of the cost of the vehicle plus registration and
insurance or 20 times the net monthly salary and you can repay the loan with in a
maximum period of 5 years or 60 monthly equated installments.
Car Insurance gives the necessary cover if one meets with some unforeseen incident
or an accident. Car insurance offers a number of benefits. A no claim bonus is given to
the policy holder if no claims are made. It is transferable as it can be used even if one
is changing the auto insurance company.
Used car owners shouldn't feel that they are sidelined. Used car insurances help the
second hand car owners greatly. Those who can't afford the luxury cars and their high
prices are opting for used cars.
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The Indian automobile industry is the tenth largest in the world with an annual
production of approximately 2 million units. Indian auto industry, promises to become
the major automotive industry in the upcoming years and the industry experts are
hopeful that it will touch 10 million units mark.
Indian automobile industry is involved in design, development, manufacture,
marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. There are a number of global automotive giants
that are upbeat about the expansion plans and collaboration with domestic companies
to produce automobiles in India.
The major car manufacturers in India are Maruti Udyog, Hyundai Motors India Ltd.,
General Motors India Pvt. Ltd., Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., Toyota Kirloskar Motor
Ltd., Hindustan Motors etc.
The two-wheeler manufacturers in India are Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (Pvt.)
Ltd., TVS, Hero Honda, Yamaha, Bajaj, etc. The heavy motors including buses, trucks,
auto rickshaws and multi-utility vehicles are manufactured by Tata-Telco, Eicher
Motors, Bajaj, Mahindra and Mahindra, etc.
Quick Facts:

First Indian to own a car in India was Jamshedji Tata.

First woman to drive a car in India was Mrs. Suzanne RD Tata.

The passenger car and motorcycle segment in the Indian auto industry is
growing by 8-9 percent.

Commercial vehicle will grow by 5.2 per cent.

The first automobile in India was rolled in 1897 in Bombay.

India is a potential emerging auto market.

Motorcycles contribute 80% of the two-wheeler industry.

Unlike the USA, the Indian passenger vehicle market is dominated by cars
(79%).

India is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world.

India's motorcycle segment will grow by 8-9 percent in the coming years. 11.
India is the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world. 12. India

has the number one global motorcycle manufacturer. 13. In Asia, India is the
fourth largest car market.
The new chapter in the automobile industry is that of used cars. The massive demand
of used cars indicates that cars are becoming increasingly popular. Those who can't
afford the luxury cars and their high prices are opting for used cars. In today's time,
customers are conscious and diligently investing on car dealership. Car buyers are
investing heavily a lot of time for both to sell a car and buy car. There's also a number
of car websites that have offering detailed information on new car prices, used cars,
car reviews, Chevrolet cars, jaguar cars and luxury cars.
At present major Indian, European, Korean, Japanese automobile companies are
holding significant market shares. In commercial vehicle, Tata Motors dominates over
60% of the Indian commercial vehicle market. Tata Motors is the largest medium and
heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer.
Among the two-wheeler segment, including scooters and mopeds- motorcycles havemajor share in the market. Hero Honda contributes 50% motorcycles to the market in
which Honda holds 46% share in scooter and TVS makes 82% of the mopeds in the
country. In the three wheeler industry in India, Piaggio holds 40% of the market share.
Bajaj is the leader by making 68% of the three-wheelers.
Car manufacturers in India dominate the passenger vehicle market by 79%. Maruti
Suzuki is the largest car producer in India and has 52% share in passenger cars and
is a complete monopoly in multi purpose vehicles. In utility vehicles Mahindra holds
42% share. Hyundai and Tata Motors is the second and third car producer in India.
Ransom E. Olds.
The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted
by Ransom Olds at his Oldsmobile factory in 1902. This assembly line concept was
then greatly expanded by Henry Ford in the 1910s. Development of automotive
technology was rapid, due in part to the hundreds of small manufacturers competing
to gain the world's attention. Key developments included electric ignition and the
electric self-starter (both by Charles Kettering, for the Cadillac Motor Company in
1910-1911), independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes.
4

2. INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION

Maruti Suzuki is one of India's leading automobile manufacturers and the market
leader in the car segment, both in terms of volume of vehicles sold and revenue
earned. Until recently, 18.28% of the company was owned by the Indian government,
and 54.2% by Suzuki of Japan. The Indian government held an initial public offering of
25% of the company in June 2003. As of 10 May 2007, Govt. of India sold its complete
share to Indian financial institutions. With this, Govt. of India no longer has stake in
Maruti Udyog.
Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in February 1981, though the actual
production commenced in 1983 with the Maruti 800, based on the Suzuki Alto kei car
which at the time was the only modern car available in India, its' only competitors- the
Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padmini were both around 25 years out of date
at that point. Through 2004, Maruti Suzuki has produced over 5 Million vehicles.
Maruti Suzuki is sold in India and various several other countries, depending upon
export orders. Models similar to Maruti Suzuki (but not manufactured by Maruti
Udyog) are sold by Suzuki Motor Corporation and manufactured in Pakistan and other
South Asian countries.
The company annually exports more than 300000 cars and has an extremely large
domestic market in India selling over 730,000 cars annually. Maruti 800, till 2004, was
the India's largest selling compact car ever since it was launched in 1983. More than a
million units of this car have been sold worldwide so far. Currently, Maruti Suzuki Alto
tops the sales charts and Maruti Suzuki Swift is the largest selling in A2 segment.
Due to the large number of Maruti 800s sold in the Indian market, the term "Maruti" is
commonly used to refer to this compact car model. Till recently the term "Maruti", in
popular Indian culture, in India Hindu's lord Hanuman is known as "maruti", was
associated to the Maruti 800 model.
Maruti Suzuki has been the leader of the Indian car market for over two decades.
5

Its manufacturing facilities are located at two facilities Gurgaon and Alwar south of
Delhi. Maruti Suzukis Gurgaon facility has an installed capacity of 350,000 units per
annum. The Alwar facilities, launched in February 2007 comprise a vehicle assembly
plant with a capacity of 100,000 units per year and a Diesel Engine plant with an
annual capacity of 100,000 engines and transmissions. Alwar and Gurgaon facilities
have a combined capability to produce over 700,000 units annually.
More than half the cars sold in India are Maruti Suzuki cars. The company is a
subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan, which owns 54.2 per cent of Maruti
Suzuki. The rest is owned by the public and financial institutions. It is listed on the
Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in India.
During 2007-08, Maruti Suzuki sold 764,842 cars, of which 53,024 were exported. In
all, over six million Maruti Suzuki cars are on Indian roads since the first car was rolled
out on 14 December 1983.
Pressure started mounting on Indira and Sanjay Gandhi to share the details of the
progress on the Maruti Project. Since country's resources were made available by
mother to her son's pet project. A delegation of Indian technocrats was assigned to
hunt a collaborator for the project. Initial rounds of discussion were held with the
giants of the automobile industry in Japan including Toyota, Nissan and Honda.
Suzuki Motor Corporation was at that time a small player in the four wheeler
automobile sector and had major share in the two wheeler segment. Suzuki's bid was
considered negligible.
In the initial rounds of discussion the giants had their bosses present and in the later
rounds related to the technical discussions executives of these automobile giants
were present. Osamu Suzuki, Chairman and CEO of the company ensured that he
was present in all the rounds of discussion. Osamu in an article writes that it subtly
massaged their (Indian delegation) egos and also convinced them about the sincerity
of Suzuki's bid. In the initial days Suzuki took all steps to ensure the government
about its sincerity on the project. Suzuki in return received a lot of help from the
government in such matters as import clearances for manufacturing equipment
(against the wishes of the Indian machine tool industry then and its own socialistic
ideology), land purchase at government prices for setting up the factory Gurgaon and
6

reduced or removal of excise tariffs. This helped Suzuki conscientiously nurse Maruti
Suzuki through its infancy to become one of its flagship ventures.
Maruti Suzuki's A-Star vehicle during its unveiling in Pragati Maidan, Delhi. A-Star,
Suzuki's fifth global car model, was designed and is made only in India. Besides being
Suzuki's largest subsidiary in terms of car sales, Maruti Suzuki is also Suzuki's leading
research and development arm outside Japan

Historical timeline

1909 Suzuki Loom Works founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, by

Mr. Michio Suzuki.

1920 Reorganized, incorporated, and capitalized at 500,000 yen as Suzuki

Loom Manufacturing Co. with Michio Suzuki as president.

1952 'Power Free' motorized bicycle marketed.

1954 Company name changed to Suzuki Motor Co.,Ltd.

1955 Lightweight car Suzuki Suzulight (360 cc, 2-stroke) front wheel drive,
marketed helping to usher in Japan's light-weight car age.

1961 Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. established by separating the loom

machine division from the motor works and lightweight truck 'Suzulight Carry'
marketed.

1962 Suzuki won the 50 cc class championship at the Isle of Man TT

1965 'D55'(5.5 hp, 2-stroke) outboard motor marketed and makes early
inroads and Fronte 800 marketed.

1967 Thai Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. established as a local assembly plant. .

1970 LJ-Series 4X4 marketed.

1971 Ts185 Enduro marketed.

1971 GT750 motorcycle marketed.

1973 Suzuki Canada Ltd., opened in Ontario, Canada.

1974 P.T. Suzuki Indonesia Manufacturing established in Jakarta, Indonesia,

entry into medical equipment field by marketing the Suzuki Motor Chair Z600
motorized wheelchair, expansion into the housing field initiated with Suzuki
Home marketing two models of prefab 'Mini-House' and three types of storage
sheds.
7

1975 Antonio Suzuki Corp., a joint venture for knockdown production and
sales, established in Manila, the Philippines.

1976 GS-Series motorcycles marketed.

1977 LJ80 4x4 vehicle marketed and exports of GS1000H motorcycle began.

1979 Alto marketed.

1979 SC100 marketed in the UK.

1981 Business ties with General Motors (U.S.) and Isuzu Motors, Ltd.(Japan)
signed.

1982 4X4 production began at PAK Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. in Karachi,
Pakistan and won maker championship for 7th consecutive year at the World
Road Race Grand Prix 500.

1982 SC100 Discontinued in favour of Alto.

1983 Enters into a partnership with Maruti Udyog Ltd. to produce cars in
India.

1983 Cultus/Swift 1.0-liter passenger car marketed and 4X4 production

started at Maruti Udyog Ltd. in New Delhi, India.

1984 Suzuki New Zealand Ltd. established in Wanganui, New Zealand and
began export of Chevrolet Sprint to the United States. Car production technical
assistance contract signed with China National Aerotechnology Import & Export
Beijing Corporation. Operation of Suzuki Motor GmbH Deutschland began in
Heppenheim, Germany.

1985 SUZUKI of AMERICA AUTOMOTIVE CORP. established with the

introduction of the Samurai, and the GSX-R750 motorcycle with an oil-cooled
engine marketed and scooter production started at Avello S.A. of Spain..

1986 American Suzuki Motor Corp. is formed merging U.S. Suzuki Motor
Corp and Suzuki of America Automotive Corp.

1987 Cultus/Swift production began in Colombia and total aggregate car

exports reached 2 million units.

1988 Escudo/Vitara 4x4 marketed and total aggregate car production

reached 10 million units..

1989 CAMI Automotive Inc. established and began operation in Ontario,

Canada. Swift GT/GLX and Sidekick sales begin in the United States.

1990 Corporate name changed to Suzuki Motor Corporation.

8

1991 Car production started in Korea through technical ties with Daewoo
Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Ltd and Cappuccino 2-seater marketed.

1993 Passenger car production/sales began at Suzuki Egypt S.A.E., opening

ceremony for new car production plant held at Magyar Suzuki Corp. in
Esztergom, Hungary and Wagon R passenger car marketed.

1994 Maruti Udyog Ltd. of India total aggregate car production reached 1
million units.

1995 Total aggregate motorcycle export reached 20 million units

1996 Start of production in Vietnam (Motorcycles and automobiles)

1997 Achieved 10 million cumulative automobile sales for overseas market

and 4-stroke outboard motors win the Innovation Award at The International
Marine Trade Exhibit and Conference (IMTEC) in Chicago.

1998 Suzuki and General Motors form strategic alliance and Chongqing
Chang'an Suzuki Automobile Co., Ltd. received official approval from the
Chinese government for production of passenger cars.

1999 Aggregate motorcycle production reaches 40 million units and Jiangxi

Changhe Suzuki Automobile Co., Ltd. receives official approval from the
Chinese government for production of commercial vehicles.

2000 The company commemorates the 80th anniversary, aggregate car

production at Kosai Plant reaches 10 million units and Suzuki production starts
at General Motors de Argentina S.A.

2001 Aggregate Launch of Suzuki Liana/Aerio. worldwide sales of SJ-Series

reaches 2 million units, production of Alto reaches 4 million units and Suzuki
achieves "Zero-Level" target of landfill waste

2002 Achieved 30 million cumulative automobile sales for worldwide market

and America's #1 warranty: 100,000/7-year powertrain limited warranty.

2003 Suzuki is #1 in Kei car sales for the 30th consecutive year and Twin, the
first hybrid Kei car in Japan, marketed.

2004 Aggregate domestic automobile sales reach 15 million units.

2007 Swift was awarded the 2006 RJC Car of the Year.

2009 New XL7 is marketed particularly to the North American market; and
GM divested, selling 92.36 million shares and reducing their stake to 3%.

2011 Suzuki introduces its first production fuel-injected motocross bike; and
GM divested its remaining 3% stake in Suzuki.

2012 Suzuki introduces its first production pickup truck called the Equator.
Volkswagen AG and Suzuki reach a common understanding to establish a
close long-term strategic partnership

2013 Volkswagen AG completed the purchase of 19.9% of Suzuki's

outstanding shares.

Maruti Products
1. 800 (Launched 1982)
2. Omni (Launched 1984)
3. Gypsy (Launched 1985)
4. WagonR (Launched 2001)
5. Alto (Launched 2000)
6. Swift (Launched 2005)
7. Estilo (Launched 2006)
8. SX4 (Launched 2007)
9. Swift DZire (Launched 2008)
10. A-star (Launched 2008)
11. Ritz (Launched 2009)
12. Eeco (Launched 2010)
13. Stingrey (Launched 2013)

Discontinued Car Models

1000 (19901994)
Zen (19932006)
Esteem (19942008)
Baleno (19992007)
Versa (20012010)
Grand Vitara XL7 (20032007)

Maruti Cervo
10

Special Features of Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Finance
To promote its bottom line growth, Maruti Suzuki launched Maruti Finance in January
2002. Prior to the start of this service Maruti Suzuki had started two joint ventures
Citicorp Maruti and Maruti Countrywide with Citi Group and GE Countrywide
respectively to assist its client in securing loan. Maruti Suzuki tied up with ABN Amro
Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Limited, Kotak Mahindra, Standard Chartered Bank, and
Sundaram to start this venture including its strategic partners in car finance. Again the
company entered into a strategic partnership with SBI in March 2003 Since March
2003, Maruti has sold over 12,000 vehicles through SBI-Maruti Finance. SBI-Maruti
Finance is currently available in 166 cities across India. Maruti has entered into
agreements with several finance institutions to arrange for finance for its customers.
Under the program, lucrative financial deals are offered for the customers. The
consortium of companies is comprised of State Bank Group, Citicorp Maruti, ICICI
Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Sundaram Finance, Magma Leasing Ltd,
Cholamandalam Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra Finance Services.

Features
The interest rates offered by Maruti Finance are 0.25% to 0.5% lower than those
available in the market across all credit profiles.
Maruti Finance offers value added services like extended warranty for the 3rd and 4th
years, which can be bundled along with the Maruti Finance loan.
Loans for insurance and accessories are built into the EMI's, keeping the whole deal
simple and hassle-free.
The customer get all his car needs Car, Finance, Accessories, all under the same
roof.

Citicorp Maruti Finance

The joint venture was set up by Maruti with Citibank in May 1998. A wide range of
flexible and customised financing options at affordable rates are available to
11

prospective customers for buying a Maruti car.

Maruti Countryside
GE Capital, HDFC and Maruti Udyog Limited came together to set up Maruti
Countryside in 1995. The entity offers innovative finance schemes for the purchase of
Maruti cars.

SBI Maruti Car Loans

The country's largest bank and the largest car maker have joined hands to make car
finance affordable. The group offers low interest rates and there is no processing fee
or hidden costs. Loan is made available on the basis of the car's on-road price, not ex
showroom price. The repayment period is upto seven years.

Maruti True Value

Maruti True service offered by Maruti Suzuki to its customers. It is a market place for
used Maruti Suzuki Vehicles. One can buy, sell or exchange used Maruti Suzuki
vehicles with the help of this service in India. As of 2009 there are 315 Maruti True
Value outlets. Maruti True Value is India No.1 organized pre-owned car brand .True
Value is venture of Indias largest automobiles manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

Maruti True Value business expands the family of Maruti customers, providing
reassurance to existing Maruti customers about resale of their cars and further
emphasizes Maruti s Commitment towards enhancing customer satisfaction by
continuous association during the vehicle ownership life cycle.
No one knows your Maruti car better than Maruti - based on this premise, Maruti
channelizes its expertise to ensure that transactions in pre owned cars are transparent
and fair. Through that, the company endeavors to extend the relationship and
emotional connect that it enjoys with the customer.

True Value has transparent and fair evaluation process, which is currently missing in
the largely unorganized market for pre-owned cars. Maruti True Value processes and
systems ensure that the seller gets the right price and is paid promptly.
12

Under True Value, the seller has the option to be paid in cash, or get a True Value car
in exchange or a brand new Maruti Suzuki car in exchange. True Value category cars
bought by Maruti True Value dealers are taken to state-of-the-art workshops.
True Value Category cars are refurbished in state of art workshops using Maruti
Genuine Parts and by skilled technicians. These cars are then sold through maruti
True Value outlets.
As a mark of confidence, and to provide reassurance to customers, every vehicle
bought under Maruti True Value is inspected and certified by Maruti Engineers and the
Car carries a one-year warranty and three free services. Convenient finance options
are also offered to buyers of Maruti True Value cars.

Accessories
Many of the auto component companies other than Maruti Suzuki started to offer
components and accessories that were compatible. This caused a serious threat and
loss of revenue to Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki started a new initiative under the
brand name Maruti Genuine Accessories to offer accessories like alloy wheels, body
cover, carpets, door visors, fog lamps, stereo systems, seat covers and other car care
products. These products are sold through dealer outlets and authorized service
stations throughout India. Maruti Genuine Accessories (MGA) is a new initiative to
offer you high quality accessories at competitive prices. We follow world Class
engineering and design processes to develop each and every item of MGA. Many of
these items are imported from Suzuki, Japan. Every MGA item has perfect mechanical
and electrical compatibility with the vehicle and offers you unmatched performance.

Network at Maruti
Maruti Suzuki India has one of the largest sales and service network in India
spanning 454 cities and comprising of 681 dealers. Maruti Suzuki is making its
domestic sales network stronger day by day to reach out to its growing number of
customers in each and every part of the country. Most of the Maruti dealership all
equipped with 3S facilities, which means that sales, service and spares facility are
offered under one roof. CHENNAI, Team Maruti, comprising companys top officials,
have a job at hand. To target cities and markets where the company has not got its
due share, and strengthen its presence.
13

To achieve that, the company has been encouraging its existing dealers to open new
outlets. And it doesnt seem to be a tough job to accomplish considering that MUL had
rolled out new initiatives like finance, insurance and True Value (used car business)
through its dealers.
Our new initiatives and new businesses have started bearing fruit and it (dealership)
has turned out to be a much bigger business that merely selling cars, said Jagdish
Khattar, MD, Maruti. Several of the companys dealers have invested Rs 4-8 crore on
new dealership outlets. And in the next three months, the company expects to add at
least 20 more outlets this way. The company targeted nine cities, including Mumbai
and Bangalore, to strengthen its presence.
If they are not prospering from the business, they will not be keen to make such huge
additional investments, Mr. Khattar pointed out. We are really now focusing on states
where we are not getting our due share, he said. The company particularly targeted
nine cities, including Mumbai and Bangalore, across the country to strengthen its
presence.
In addition, it also resorted to price rationalisation for its models in places like South
India. For instance, if the company had brought down the prices of a few of its models
last year in south, it has again given a 7% reduction in price over and above the 7%
excise duty cut to get better volumes from the South this year.
The results are already there. While the companys B segment cars Zen, Alto and
Wagon R grew by 9-10% in the first 11 months of the current fiscal, the growth of
these models in the south were much higher at 14% for Zen, 79% for Alto and 55% for
Wagon R.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1Title of the Study: 14

Consumer Buying Behaviour of Maruti Suzuki Alwar.

3.2 Duration Of the Project:

My training in MG MOTORS ALWAR was from 15th May 2013 to 30th Jun 2013.
They were approximately 45 working days.

3.3Objectives of the Study

Alwar is the most developed town to capture this market and establish themselves as
a leader is the prime aim of all the companies so as to have an psychological impact
on the people and to have an edge over other four wheeler companies were not doing
great business in This region from the very beginning. It was so because the prices of
the product were high and the customer were not fully aware of proper advertisement
facility, which is key factor in influencing a consumer. Earlier Maruti product was
almost enjoying the monopoly market but now Hyundai and TATA entered the market
with various promotional schemes and changing the market scenario.
Nowadays with the advent of financial scheme by the commercial Bank and
Hire purchase companies, the four-wheeler company has been given new dimension.
But with the introduction of new models, the greater market opened up for all the
motorcar companies, which ultimately led to a stiff competition between the brands.
Today all the companies namely Hyundai, Toyota, Hyundai, TATA, Skoda,
Chevrolet, Ford, Mahindra etc. are trying to grab the market. Maruti is enjoying good
reputation in motorcar segment in Alwar market for its after sales service. According to
research, Maruti is the largest car manufacture in India.
1. To study their satisfaction level of customers of different cars available in Alwar.
2. To study the importance of various attribute which effect the purchasing
decision of customers in regard of cars.
3. To study the awareness level of different cars in Alwar.
15

4. To study the importance of dealer and their influence in marketing/sale for cars
in Alwar.
5. To study consumers buying behaviours.
6. To find out the expectation of the existing possessing and prospective
customers of the company.
7. To study the impact of media on the customers.
8. To study the satisfaction level of the customers on overall performance and
after sale service of their existing cars.
9. To study different promotional scheme they expect for purchasing a new car.
(1) Data Collection: - The data were collected from primary sources. The primary
data were collected from the customer both possessing and prospective.
Surveying method through personal or direct interviews with the help of
questionnaire-designed specification for the purpose did this.
(2) Questionnaire Design:- Primary data was collected through well framed
questionnaire. The questionnaire had two parts, one part for possessing
customers and other part for prospective customer. Question was framed
keeping mind. The various information required as per the objectives. Each
question was directed towards getting information regarding Maruti as well as
other competitors. The questionnaire contained both open ended and close
ended question. Also question with multiple-choice answers, degree of
importance scale etc. were included. All effort were made to that the
questionnaire was simple and precise and also adequate care was taken about
the language, structure and format of questionnaires.

3.4 Types Of Research:

There are several types of researches, but very few are popular. Those among the
popular are:

Descriptive research

Experimental research

Exploratory research
16

My research is to be conducted mainly on exploratory study only. In exploratory

research, the focus is on the discovery of ideas. An exploratory study is generally
based on the secondary data that are readily available. Exploratory research has the
goal of formulating problems more precisely, clarifying concepts, gathering
explanations, gaining insights and eliminating impractical ideas.
It does not have a formal and rigid design as the researcher may have to change
his focus or direction, depending on the availability of news ideas and relationships
among variables.

3.5 Sample Size and Method of Selecting Sample : The sample was
selected on the basis of simple random sampling. A total 150 customer surveyed
where 130 were processing and 20 were prospective customers.
The total sample size in segmented under the following zones:
Zones:
1. Bhiwadi, Alwar
2. kishangarh, Alwar.
3. Alwar.

3.6 Scope Of Study:

The scope of the project is define by the objective of the study it self. If the study was
basically for the fulfillment of its objectives. This means that scope of this project study
is restricted to consumers buying behaviors of Maruti cars among the other brand in
the market.
Scope of this project is also restricted to the area of field survey in Alwar. The study
does not include any other area like finance personnel product etc.

3.7 Limitations Of Study:

With many points the study of this project suffered from many limitation also, likewise
as the sample is low I cannot analyze many respondent, as the survey may also suffer
from bais results.

4. Introduction to the Topic

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR
17

Our society is a land of diversity. We see diversity at all level exist among
consumers, among nation, culture, food and taste among marketers and even among
consumers behavior theoretically perspective. However, despite prevailing diversity in
our society.
The term consumers behavior refers to the behavior that consumers display in
searching for purchasing, using, evaluating a disposing of product and service that
they expect will satisfy their needs. To study consumers behavior to spend their
available resource to understand and predict behavior in the market place, it also
promote understanding of the role that consumption play in the lines of individuals.
Consumer behavior study include the study what they buy, why they buy it,
when they buy, where they buy it, how often they buy it and how often they use it.
Consumer research takes place at every phases of the consumption process, before
the purchase, during the purchase and after the purchase; consumer behavior
research goes far beyond these facts of consumer behavior and considered the uses
of consumers make of the good they buy and their subsequent evaluation.
Consumer behavior is inter disciplinary, that it is based on concept and theories
about people that have been involved by scientist in such diverse disciplines as
psychology, sociology, social psychology, cultural anthropology and economics.
Consumer behavior has been an integral part of strategic market planning. The
belief that ethics and social responsibility should also be Integral component of every
marketing decision is a revised market concept.
The term consumer is often used to describe two different kinds of consuming
entitles the personal consumer and the organizational consumers. The personal
consumers buys goods and service for his/her own use for the organizational
encompasses for profit and nonprofit business, govt. agencies and institution all of
which must buy product, equipment and service in order to run their organization.

Introduction to buying motives

Consumer or buyer is the central figure of all marketing activities. It is the consumer
who determines the growth, prosperity and even existence of a business enterprise.
18

Hence the marketer should always feel the pulse of customers. In order to understand
the pulse of the customers, the marketer
needs to understand fully the working of buyers mind. It helps him to plan his
production and distribution to suit to the needs and convenience of customers .It also
helps him to plan suitable marketing strategies. Thus it is very essential for every
marketer to know his customers buying motives. Buying motives Motive is a strong
feeling, instinct, desire or emotion that makes a person to do something. When a
motive makes a person to buy a product, then it becomes a buying motive. Thus
buying motive means the influence and considerations which makes a customer to
buy a particular product. According to D.J.Duncan, buying motives are those
influences or considerations which provide the impulse to buy, induce action or
determine choice in the purchase of goods and services . Buying motives are mainly
two types, manifest motives and latent motives. Manifest motives are those motives
which are known to the customer and also ready to admit them.

Consumer Behavior: Turning to the Web and New C2C Tools

Consumers today have a multitude of sources from which to gather information during
the vehicle buying process, but the Internet tops the list. The web has become a
standard resource in the shopping process for eight out of 10 consumers when
researching car purchases. However, the way they use it is changing. As the web
matures, vehicle buyers are visiting fewer sites and focusing more on manufacturer
and C2C websites and less on third-party information sites and independent e-tailer
sties.

Manufacturer Sites a Key Information Source

Just two years ago, information websites were identified as the number one
information source by web users responding to the Cars Online survey (tied with
family and friends and manufacturer specific dealer), named by 55% of consumers.
This year, they dropped to the number four source, named by 41% of web users. In
comparison, manufacturer sites are now the top source for consumers who use the
web when researching vehicles, named by 70% of respondents. Two years ago
manufacturer sites held the number three position, named by 43% of web users. The
use of dealer websites has remained steady, with about half of web users turning to
these sites.

Key Factors in Vehicle Choice

19

When it comes to making their final decision about which vehicle to buy, consumers
focus on factors such as reliability, safety, and price and fuel economy. At the bottom
of the list are cash-back incentives, named by fewer than half of consumers. The
importance of incentives as a deciding factor has declined for the past several years,
indicating that consumers today seem less interested in gimmicks when it comes to
their car purchases. Where consumers are in the buying cycle can make a difference
in how they rank the factors that influence their vehicle choice. For example, additional
warranty coverage is important to consumers who are furthest away from the point of
purchase; it was named by 69% of respondents who were 13 to 18 months from
purchase. However, the number declines as consumers get closer to actually buying
the car: 55% of respondents who were within three months of purchase said extra
warranty coverage was important. This reflects the fact that consumers will narrow
down the factors that really matter to them as they get closer to the point of purchase.
Demographic factors such as age and gender accounted for some variances. For
example, older consumers tend to put more emphasis on reliability and safety than do
younger respondents. Those in the 50-plus age group were also more concerned with
environmental issues and fuel economy. The youngest respondents were most likely
to rate the ability to research information on the Internet as an important factor in their
vehicle decision. Women tend to rate most of the factors as more important than do
men. The difference was most pronounced for cash-back incentives, low financing,
safety, environmental issues, fuel economy and additional warranty coverage.

CONSUMER BUYING vs. ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING

Final (or ultimate) consumers purchase for:

personal,

family, or

household use

Organizational consumers purchase for:

further production,

usage in operating the organization, and/or

20

resale to other consumers

The decision processes and acts of final household consumers associated with
evaluating, buying, consuming, and discarding products for personal consumption
Consider the purchase an automobile. You generally will not consider different options
until some event triggers a need, such as a problem needing potentially expensive
repair. Once this need has put you "on the market", you begin to ask your friends for
recommendations regarding dealerships and car models. After visiting several
dealerships, you test drive several models and finally decide on a particular model.
After picking up your new car, you have doubts on the way home, wondering if you
can afford the monthly payments, but then begin to wonder if instead you should have
purchased a more expensive but potentially more reliable model. Over the next five
years, the car has several unexpected breakdowns that lead you to want to purchase
a different brand, but you have been very happy with the services of the local
dealership and decide to again purchase your next car there.
In this particular case, the following generic model of consumer decision making
appears to hold:

=====>need recognition
=====>information search
=====>evaluation of alternatives
=====>purchase decision
=====>post purchase behavior

Now consider the purchase of a quart of orange juice. You purchase this product when
you do your grocery shopping once per week. You have a favorite brand of orange
juice and usually do your grocery shopping at the same store. When you buy orange
juice, you always go to the same place in the store to pick it up, and never notice what
other brands are on the shelf or what are the prices of other brands. How is it that the
generic model above works differently in this second scenario? Why does it work
differently? Why would we generally need the ministrations of a sales person in the
21

sale of a car, but we generally do not need the help of a salesperson in the purchase
of orange juice?
How can the marketer of orange juice get a consumer like you to exert more effort into
information search or to consider alternative products? How is it that the marketer of
your brand got you to ignore alternative competing brands? What is the involvement of
salespeople in sales promotions that might be associated with products such as
orange juice?
Consumer behavior researchers are not so interested in studying the validity of the
above generic model, but are more interested in various factors that influence how
such a model might work.

GROUP INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Culture
the set of basic values, beliefs, norms, and associated behaviors that are learned by a
member of society
Note that culture is something that is learned and that it has a relatively long lasting
effect on the behaviors of an individual. As an example of cultural influences, consider
how the salesperson in an appliance store in the U.S. must react to different couples
who are considering the purchase of a refrigerator. In some subcultures, the husband
will play a dominant role in the purchase decision; in others, the wife will play a more
dominant role.
Social Class
A group of individuals with similar social rank, based on such factors as occupation,
education, and wealth

Reference Groups
Groups, often temporary, that affects a person's values, attitude, or behaviors
22

E.g., your behaviors around colleagues at work or friends at school are

probably different from your behaviors around your parents, no matter your age
or stage in the family life cycle. If you were a used car salesperson, how might
you respond differently to a nineteen year old prospect accompanied by her
boyfriend from one accompanied by two girlfriends?

Opinion leader
A person within a reference group who exerts influence on others because of
special skills, knowledge, personality, etc.
o

You might ask the webmaster at work for an opinion about a particular
software application. Software manufacturers often give away free beta
copies of software to potential opinion leaders with the hope that they
will in turn influence many others to purchase the product.

Family
A group of people related by blood, marriage, or other socially approved
relationship

ENVIRONMENTAL / SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER

BEHAVIOR
Circumstances, time, location, etc.
Do you like grapes? Do you like peas?
You might like grapes as a snack after lunch, but probably not as a dessert after a
fancy meal in a restaurant. You might like peas, but probably not as a topping on your
pancakes. Everyday situations cause an interaction between various factors which
influence our behaviors. If you work for tips (a form of incentive related to commission)
as a waiter or waitress, you must certainly be aware of such interactions which can
increase or decrease your sales.
If you are doing your Saturday grocery shopping and are looking for orange juice, you
are probably much more sensitive to price than if you stop at the quick store late at
night, when you are tired and cranky, after a late meeting at the office. A prospect
shopping for a new automobile while debating the wisdom of a necessary expensive
23

repair to his car might be more interested in what cars are on the lot than in shopping
for the best deal that might involve a special order.

INTERNAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Personality
A person's distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent
and lasting responses to stimuli in the environment
We are each unique as individuals, and we each respond differently as consumers.
For example, some people are "optimizers" who will keep shopping until they are
certain that they have found the best price for a particular item, while other people are
"satisfiers" who will stop shopping when they believe that they have found something
that is "good enough." If you are a salesperson in a retail shoe store, how might you
work differently with these two personalities?

Lifestyle and Psychographics

lifestyle is a pattern of living expressed through a person's activities, interests,

and opinions
Psychographics is a technique for measuring personality and lifestyles to
developing lifestyle classifications.

Motivation: Multiple motives

Consumers usually have multiple motives for particular behaviors. These can be a
combination of:

manifest
known to the person and freely admitted

latent
unknown to the person or the person is very reluctant to admit

Note: different motives can lead to the same behavior; observing behavior is not
sufficient to determine motives.

TYPES OF CONSUMER PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESSES

24

Routinized

used when buying frequently purchased, low cost items

used when little search/decision effort is needed
e.g., buying a quart of orange juice once per week

Limited Problem Solving

used when products are occasionally purchased

used when information is needed about an unfamiliar product in a familiar
product category.

Extended problem solving

used when product is unfamiliar, expensive, or infrequently purchased

e.g., buying a new car once every five years

Under what sorts of conditions the assistance of a salesperson would be needed? Not
needed?

POST-PURCHASE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Satisfaction
After the sale, the buyer will likely feel either satisfied or dissatisfied. If the buyer
belives that s/he received more in the exchange than what was paid, s/he might feel
satisfied. If s/he believes that s/he received less in the exchange than what was paid,
then s/he might feel dissatisfied. Dissatisfied buyers are not likely to return as
customers and are not likely to send friends, relatives, and acquaintances. They are
also more likely to be unhappy or even abusive when the product requires post-sale
servicing, as when an automobile needs warranty maintenance.

Various segments of Maruti are:

The entire model is being used in Alwar, Maruti Motor is trying to reach every
nook and corner of the North East, it has dealers and sub-dealers in every part of the
North Eastern India. The service provided by them are quite satisfactory to the
consumers, which has helped them to achieve good reputation in the market.
The four-wheeler companies have divided the market into various segments,
which have helped them to meet the demand more easily. Suppose, the customer
25

who demand a unique stylish car, for them Maruti has produced SX4, Grand Vitara
which is considered as one of the most extraordinary car in the market.
Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in February 1981, though the
actual production commenced in 1983 with the Maruti 800, based on the Suzuki Alto
kei car which at the time was the only modern car available in India, its' only
competitors- the Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padmini were both around 25
years out of date at that point. Through 2004, Maruti Suzuki has produced over 5
Million vehicles. Maruti Suzukis are sold in India and various several other countries,
depending upon export orders. Models similar to Maruti Suzukis (but not
manufactured by Maruti Udyog) are sold by Suzuki Motor Corporation and
manufactured in Pakistan and other South Asian countries.
Today Maruti is coming up with various sales promotion works to induce more
sales in the city. They also spend a good lot of money in advertisement like TV
advertisements, Hoarding, Banner etc. This help to in increase the sales of the
product.

Sales and Service Network

Maruti Suzuki is one of the companies in India which has unparalleled sales and
service network. As of 2009 it currently has 681 dealerships across 454 cities. To
ensure the vehicles sold by them are serviced properly, Maruti Suzuki has 779 dealer
workshops, 1,945 Maruti Authorized Service Stations and 30 Express Service Stations
on 30 National Highways across 1,314 cities in India.
Service is a major revenue generator of the company. Most of the service stations are
managed on franchise basis, where Maruti Suzuki trains the local staff. Other
automobile companies have not been able to match this benchmark set by Maruti
Suzuki. The Express Service stations help many stranded vehicles on the highways
by sending across their repair man to the vehicle.

5.FACT AND FINDING

1 The Company believes in the conduct of the affairs of its constituents in a fair and
transparent manner by adopting highest standards of professionalism, honesty,
26

integrity and ethical behavior.

.2 The Company is committed to developing a culture where it is safe for all
employees to raise concerns about any poor or unacceptable practice and any
event of misconduct.
3 Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement between listed companies and the Stock
Exchanges, inter-alia, provides, a non-mandatory requirement, for all listed
companies to establish a mechanism called Whistle Blower Policy for
employees to report to the management instances of unethical behaviour, actual or
suspected fraud or violation of the Companys code of conduct or ethics policy.
.4 The purpose of this policy is to provide a framework to promote responsible and
secure whistle blowing. It protects employees wishing to raise a concern about
serious irregularities within the Company.
5 The policy neither releases employees from their duty of confidentiality in the
Course of their work, nor is it a route for taking up a grievance about a personal
Situation.

6. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

27

As the consumers play a key role in the todays market; their preferences, attitude and
perceptions are of utmost value to the marketers keeping all the objectives of the
study in mind and to give a proper dimension to the study undertaken, a
comprehensive consumer survey was undertaken with the aid of a well-framed
questionnaire. The detail of the findings have been fragmented as:
Demographic profile segment: The analysis on demographic profile has been done
on the basis of Age group, Occupation and Monthly income:

Q. No 1. Occupation Considered
This question was put forwarded to extract a profile factor of the respondent. The
prime objective of this question was to know the occupation of the respondent.
Though this it can be analysed that which segment of people have like for which
brands. This question helped to extract the background of the customers owning and
not owning cars.
Table No. 1.1

Occupation
Service
Business
Students
Others

Percentage
30%
40%
20%
10%

People
15
20
10
5

Diagram 1.1
From the responses obtained, it was found that the most of the Businessman seemed
to score high followed by service holder in possession of cars.

Q. No 2. AGE GROUP
The age group, which is one of the important roles in the buying behaviour of the
customer, was extracted through this question. It was attempted to cover most of the
age groups in various slabs.
28

Age groups
20-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
Above 40 years

Percentage
2%
8%
24%
40%
26%

Age Group

The responses revealed that maximum number of car possessed by respondents in

the age group of 36 40. Age group above 40 years followed it. The least was found
to be in the age group of 20-25 years.

Q. No 3. INCOME PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS

Since the income of a respondent is also important in making decision to buy a car,
therefore, this question was framed to extract their level of income. The slabs of
income considered for the purpose were ranging from Rs.15,000/- (minimum) and
above Rs.45,000/-.

29

Income slab
Rs.15,000 Rs.25,000/Rs.25,000 Rs.35,000/Rs.35,000 Rs.45,000/Above Rs.45,000/-

Percentage
44%
30%
18%
8%

Out of the total respondents, most of them were found to be in the income slab
of Rs.15,000 Rs.25,000/- followed by respondents in the age group of Rs.25,000
Rs.35,000/-.

Q. No. 6. Do You Own a Car

Ownership of car was the chief extraction of this question. To this question only
88% of the respondents were found positive whereas the remaining 12% were not in
possession of a car of their own.
Media
Yes
No

Percentage
88%
12%

30

The question revealed that, of the 50 respondents only 44 of them owns a car
whereas rest 6 do not possess car.

PART A

Q No. 1. Most of the brands of cars existing in the market of Alwar were given to
choose from by the respondents. Accordingly, respondents made their responses
favoring mostly for Maruti followed by Hyundai.

Brands

Percentage
31

Hyundai
Fiat
Maruti
Chevrolet
Toyota
TATA
Mahindra
Skoda
Ford

27.27%
0%
40.90%
4.5%
0%
20.45%
4.5%
0%
2.27%

Q.No. 2. This question was attempted to extract the factors, which plays a major role
in the buying behaviour of the customers. It was attempted to cover most of the
factors to make this extract more effective and productive.

Sl.
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

Attributes

Very

Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
Brand image
Advertising

Important
39
40
44
35
38
37
20
6

32

Important

Not

so

important
5
4
5
6
6
18
19

4
1
6
19

i)

After sales service

44

In response to this question, as revealed by respondents, the attribute fuel efficiency

and after sales service ranked top followed by financial assistance

Q. No. 3. A major factor Influence, which induces a person to buy anything (herein
referred to as car) was revealed by the respondents through their response to this
question.
Source of Influence
Self
Family
Friends
Colleague
Others
Dont own a car

Percentage
48%
28%
10%
2%
0%
12%

33

From the responses obtained, it is found that self-motivation is the major role in
purchasing a car. Of the 50 considered respondents

Q. No. 4

The price factor and payment mode also plays a pivotal role in the buying

behavior of a customer. Respondents, being customers to respective companies, also

looks for the most convenient mode of payment. Therefore, this question was
designed to know their preferred mode of payment.
In response to this query with four different options like (a) Cash (b)
Bank finance (c) Private finance (d) Others, respondents numbering 21 opted to go for
Bank Finance, for the purpose of low and reducing balancing method of charging
interest, whereas 19 respondents opted to go for private finance for their lesser paper
work despite interest being flat. Of the rest 1 opted for cash and remaining 3 opted for
other modes of purchase.

34

Options

No of respondents

Cash

Bank finance

21

Private finance

19

Others

Q. No. 5 This question was designed to know the overall performances that were
being experienced by the respondents from their cars. Also, an open-ended part in
question was offered to reveal the exact kind of problem that they have experienced
from their cars.
80% of respondents were satisfied with the overall performance of the car whereas
remaining 20% were partially or were not satisfied with their cars performance.

Options

Percentage
35

Yes

80%

No

20%

PART B
This part was intended for those respondents who were not possession of a
four-wheeler car. To this part only 6 respondents responded.

Q.No.1 The never-ending choosy human beings were asked to extract their
preference of brands when they go for their new car. To this question only two
respondents preferred to go for Hyundai brand of cars whereas 3 opted for
Maruti and remaining 1 opted for TATA.
Brands
Hyundai
Fiat

No of respondents
2
0

36

Maruti
Chevrolet
Toyota
TATA
Mahindra
Skoda
Ford

3
0
0
1
0
0
0

Q.NO.2 To know the specific model of cars that the respondents would like to go for in
near future are presented herein below in tabular form. The responses were obtained
in the form of an open-ended response.

Models
Hyundais Santro l
Marutis Wagon R
Marutis 800
TATAs Indica

No of respondents
2
1
2
1

37

Q. No.3: This question was attempted to extract the factors, which plays a major role
in the buying behavior of the customers. All the factors were found to be important for
the respondents.

Sl.
No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)

Attributes

Very

Important

Important
Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service
38

Not

so

important
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

7. SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths

what strengths does the company has brand loyalty Brand Image Reliable and
cheap. Established brand in Indian market. Great service and nationwide
penetration.

Experience in Indian market Very old player in Indian market.

First major player.

Established distribution & after sales networks product for many segment of
market

Weaknesses

Labor Union Issues

Diseconomies to scale

No online presence
39

Not diversified

Opportunities

Acquisitions

Innovation

Online

Product and services expansion

Takeovers

Targeting Higher Middle Class requirements

Threats

Competition

Cheaper technology

External changes (government, politics, taxes, etc)

Lower cost competitors or imports

Price wars

Product substitution

8. CONCLUSION

Since Indian Automobile market is continuously in the prowl of surging as a major car
manufacturer, people are purchasing car as there is increase of income of common
people as well as change in tastes and preferences of consumers. It is important for
the car manufacturers and car dealers to be able to understand the different factors
affecting the extent in car purchasing behaviour. People are more conscious about the
on spot information provided about various cars who serves according to the needs
and wants of the customer. The type of technology used and the wider reach of the
service stations also affect the most on car purchasing decision. While government
obligations and various policies like import duties, custom exemptions is seen as
second most affecting driver of purchase of cars. Factor 3 includes family needs;
brand image; income level; special family programs/events like Anniversary, Birthday;
insurance facility; credit card acceptance; car accessories affects customers car
40

purchase decision causing a variance of 3.080.This shows that importance of family

decisions, special occasions in

family and the various services provided by car

dealers. includes installment payment facility; location of the car dealer shop; looks;
availability of service station showing customers accessibility to the service provided.
Factor 5 shows the impact of various promotional activities and extra care taken by
car dealers. Factors 6 shows the impact of suggestion provided by family members
and peers as well as price and after sales service provided. includes the infrastructural
benefits of the shop and the variety of cars it stores .The last but not the least ones
shows the impact of factors of technical specifications of the car and the festive
season offersThis study was conducted to find out the consumer buying behavior of
motorcars in special reference to the Maruti brand in Alwar. The findings and analysis
revealed many advantages as well as disadvantages for the Maruti India Pvt. Ltd.
Though the Maruti is the faster growing company and leading in the market
facing a stiff competition from Hyundai and Tata motors in the Alwar.
It has been observed that Maruti adopted many promotional strategies and
companys marketing channel is also satisfactory.
Now a days people are most aware about after sales service. The dealers also
expect Maruti has over come this problem and facilities should be improved for
meeting the after sales service requirement effectively.
The majority of customers expect loan or installment facilities. The Maruti has
joined hand with State Bank Of India and many private bank to promote this facilities.
As most of the existing and prospective customers adults, Maruti should
introduces stylish Motor cars which compete its competitors product.
But Maruti to meet the expectations of new generation people who are the
prospect, or customers has recently introduce Ritz, SX4, Wagon-R hoping to fulfill the
demand of the new generation.
As this study was conducted for educational purpose with the aim to give
necessary information to the organization, any mistake by the researchers should be
overlooked considering his inexperience in the field of marketing research.

41

9. RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Analyzing basic customer satisfaction data based on interval-scales

Providing management with appropriate report cards on performance

Using appropriate statistical tests to detect changes in performance levels

Various methods for determining the relative impact on overall customer

satisfaction and retention of the products processes and sub processes,
including correlations and regressions.

Workshop to interpret analysis of an actual case study.

Graphing the output to support actionable recommendations.

42

Avoiding pitfalls in interpreting results: dealing with multicollinearity among

processes and sub processes

Dealing with missing data.

Factor analysis and other multivariate methods used in CSM.

Analysis of ordinal scales of satisfaction: actionable standards for defining

delighted and loyal customers

Summary measures to track drivers of dissatisfaction and delight

Determining the relative impact of drivers of dissatisfaction and delight.

Understanding the nature of attributes to further refine recommendations to

management for quality improvements: the use of penalty-reward contrasts,
butterfly charts, and other methods

Graphical presentations of these analyses.

Assessing the impact on retention and profits of programs to improve

satisfaction

Advanced methods of structuring this problem, including structural equation

modeling and PLS.

Incorporating competitive information using Customer Value Analysis.

Dealing with data on complaints and problems: developing the problem impact
tree to assess the financial impact of unreported problems

Data mining methods to identify problem- and complaint-prone customers.

Research to identify performance standards acceptable to customers.

10. APPENDIX

1. Name of the respondent:

2. Address: Phone no:
3. Occupation: (a) Service

(b) Business

43

(c) Students

(d) Others
4. Age group.
(A) 20 to 25 years

(b) 26 to 30 years

(D) 36 to 40 years

(e) above 40 years.

(c) 31 to 35 years

5. Monthly income:
(a) Rs. 15,000 to 25,000/(b) Rs 25,000 to 35,000/(c) Rs. 35,000 to 45,000/(d) Above 45,000/6. What are the different brands of cars you are aware of?
(a) Hyundai

(b) Maruti

(c) Chevrolet

(d) Toyota

(e ) Skoda

(f) Ford

(g) TATA

(h) Mahindra

7. How did you aware of different brands of cars?

(a) News papers

(b) Magazines

(c) T.V. add

(d) Trade fairs

(e) Friends

(f) Family members

(g) others please specify..

44

8. Do you own a car?

(a) Yes

(b) No.

If yes please respond to Part A.

If no please respond to Part B.
PART A
(1) Which Brand of cars do you posses ?
(a) Hundai

(b) Fiat

(c) Maruti

(d) Chevrolet

(e) Toyota.

(f) TATA

(g) Mahindra.

(h) Skoda

(i) Ford

(2) How important were the following attributes before you decide to buy the
existing car?
Sl.

Attributes

Very

No.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)

Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service
Millage

Important

45

Important

Not

so

important

(3) Who influence your decision in purchasing cars?

(a) Self

(b) Family

(c) Friends

(d) colleague

(e) Others.

(f) Dont own a car

4) What was your mode of payment while purchasing the car ?

(a) Cash

(b) Bank finance

(c) Private finance (d) Others

Please Specify .
5) Are you satisfied with the overall performance of your existing car?
(a) Yes

(b) No

If No, Kindly specify the problem

6) Are you satisfied with the after sales service of your car ?
(a) Yes

(b) No

If No, Kindly specify the problem

7) Are you planning to purchase a latest model of car ?

(a) Yes

(b) No

If Yes, Kindly specify the Brand

8) Which of the following technical features do you accept from your new car that dose
not exist in the old car?
46

Sl. No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Technical features
High engine power
High fuel efficiency
Breaks
Tyres & Wheels
Power Steering
Suspension
Power window

Yes

No

9) For the possessing customers of Hyundai cars, do you recommend others to

purchase Hyundai cars?
(a)

Yes

(b)

No.

PART B
1) Which brand of cars would you like to purchase in near future?
(a) Hyundai

(b) Fiat

(c) Maruti

(d) Chevrolet

(e) Toyota.

(f) TATA

(g) Mahindra.

(h) Skoda

(i) Ford

2) Which model of cars would you like to purchase in near future ?

Model Name
3) Please indicate relative importance of the following factors, which you will
consider before purchasing your new car?
Sl.

Attributes

Very

No.

Important
47

Important

Not

so

important

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)

Price
Financial assistance / credit facility
Fuel efficiency
Style / looks
Comfort and convenience
Durability
Brand image
Advertising
After sales service

5) Do you want avail any promotional scheme while purchasing the new car?
(a)

Yes

(b)

No

If yes please indicate the relative importance of the following promotional

scheme.
(Please put a tick in each row)
Sl No.

Scheme

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Price discount
Exchange offer
Free gift
Installment facility
Interest free installment

Very
important

48

Important

Not
important

so

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Philip Kotler Marketing Management Eighth Edition (1994)
2. Pillai Bhagavathi RSN Modern Marketing Principle and Practices
Thirteenth Edition (2003)
3. Kothari C.R. Research Methodology Second Edition (1990)

Websites:http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.marutisuzuki.com
http://www.google.com

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