Consumer Satisfaction of Passenger Car

Submitted to: Prof. Ashwini Sovani

Submitted by: Richa, 08BS0002658 Richa Misra, 08BS0002463 Richa Suneja, 08BS0002675 Section B

A Report on Consumer Satisfaction Of Passenger Car Maruti Wagon-R

Distribution List: 1. Prof. Ashwini Sovani, Faculty Member, IBS Pune

Acknowledgement Success of a project is never a result of one mans effort, it springs out of multiple or combined efforts, assistance and guidance. Now when we have acquired substantial knowledge about the subject and we would like to thank, Prof. Ashvini Sovani for her cooperation, willingness to share her knowledge and making us work on such a crucial and informative project. We would also like to thank IBS Pune for providing me such an exposure to enhance my knowledge, skills and gain experience. We appreciate their faith, support and expect the same in future course of our project.

Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 6 OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................... 6 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................ 6 DATA ANALYSIS: ........................................................................................................................................ 8 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................. 8 SCOPE OF THIS PROJECT ........................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 10 BRIEF BACKGROUND ABOUT MARUTI WAGON-R .................................................................... 10 WHY MARUTI WAGON-R? ................................................................................................................ 11 COMPANY SPECIFIED FEATURES ............................................................................................................. 12 Safety Specifications ............................................................................................................................... 14 OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................................. 16 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................... 17 BASIS FOR THE METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 19 CLASSIFICATION OF DATA ....................................................................................................................... 19 QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD.................................................................................................................. 19 SURVEY RESEARCH .................................................................................................................................. 20 SAMPLING METHOD ............................................................................................................................... 21 Questionnaire design .............................................................................................................................. 21 DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................... 23 Age Factor ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Time of purchase .................................................................................................................................... 24 Travel/Day ............................................................................................................................................... 25 Monthly fuel Expenditure ....................................................................................................................... 25 Average (Mileage) ................................................................................................................................... 26 Satisfaction Level for Various Features................................................................................................... 27 Technical Aspects .................................................................................................................................... 31 FIELD FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................... 33 Area Visited ............................................................................................................................................. 33 TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS ............................................................................................................................ 34 FINDINGS AND INFERENCES........................................................................................................................ 37

AGE GROUP ............................................................................................................................................. 37 DAILY TRAVEL .......................................................................................................................................... 37 FUEL CONSUMPTION .............................................................................................................................. 37 HIGH FUEL EFFICIENCY ............................................................................................................................ 38 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 39 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 40

Executive Summary
This project aims at finding the consumer satisfaction level for passenger cars. The researchers have taken the car brand Maruti Wagon R for the survey. And through this project the researchers aim to find out the level of satisfaction of consumers about this car. And they also intend to find out what are the parameters on which the satisfaction level of consumers depends and which of those parameters matter more in judging the satisfaction level.

OBJECTIVES
To understand customer response toward various passenger cars To gain better understanding of the factors which influence the consumer satisfaction level and their impacts while buying/using a passenger car To determine the customers perspective and their responses towards passenger cars and particularly Wagon-R Providing better understanding of consumer satisfaction of passenger cars. Identifying there expenditure patterns based on average consumption of fuel.

METHODOLOGY
1. Deciding on the factors which affect the satisfaction level of a consumer while using a car The factors which we will consider for judging the satisfaction level: Time of purchase Monthly travel Purpose (Office or Luxury) Monthly fuel expenditure Frequency of maintenance After Sales service by company Average Extra accessories provided by the company

Various Criteria for judging satisfaction level: 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Delivery time Schemes offered by dealers (Installments, Easy Finance) Ease of availability of color at the time of purchase Leg space Engine noise Driving Comfort Cooling Jerks Vibrations Seat comfort Mileage Luggage space Height of the car Average Technical Aspects of Wagon-R Quality of accessories provided by the company Overall satisfaction level Preparing a questionnaire with all the above factors in consideration Field survey to gain some facts and figures for the purpose of data analysis Getting around 100-120 samples filled on field. The samples included people from almost every age group and every profession. Applying the appropriate multivariate analysis technique for the purpose of data analysis. Analyzing the findings from the analysis. Reaching to a conclusion based on the findings. Providing our recommendations.

DATA ANALYSIS:

45% of the respondents had bought their car 1 - 2 years back 41% of the owners of Wagon-R car lies in the age group of 20 30 years of age. Majority of the owners travel less than 50 kms per day Majority of the respondents had monthly fuel expenditure between Rs1000 to Rs2000. 51% of the sample population has mileage of the car between 14-17 kms per liter Overall satisfaction level of 80% of the respondents is average or high.

CONCLUSION
The researchers have come to the conclusion that the inference of the satisfaction level which they have reached according to their hypothesis is almost in accordance with the satisfaction level that the consumers have rated. And level of satisfaction depends on many factors like average consumption of Fuel, Mileage, etc.

SCOPE OF THIS PROJECT

This project is basically to find out the consumer satisfaction of passenger cars. But the researchers have basically concentrated on only one car brand in order to avoid the complexities. Due to this study has limitation of limited sample Nearly 75% of the surveys (25% telephonic) are limited to Pune city only which is students and office people hub which makes it more biased toward young people. This project tries to ascertain various factors which affect level of satisfaction in consumers mind.

Introduction

BRIEF BACKGROUND ABOUT MARUTI WAGON-R

Maruti Suzuki Maruti Suzuki Brands Maruti Suzuki City Car 800 Zen Estilo Alto Wagon-R Subcompact Swift Compact SX4 DZiRE SUV Gypsy Grand Vitara Microvan Omni Versa

Historic models Zen 1000 Esteem Baleno

The Maruti Wagon-R is a made for India version of Suzuki Wagon R. The Wagon-R was born out of Japanese kei-jido-sha restrictions which dictated a limited length and engine size. This boxy, tall-boy design has now completed five years of presence on Indian roads. Maruti's launch of the car was ill-timed. Despite being one of the world's first tall-boy designs (along with models from Daihatsu and Daewoo), the Wagon-R was not first-to-market in India. The Hyundai Santro, a less avant garde version of the Hyundai Atos was the first tall-boy design to hit the Indian roads. It preceded the Maruti-Suzuki Wagon R by a two year lead. The Wagon Rs breadbox shape did not immediately cut ice with the Indian consumer and the car saw slow sales initially. The car is powered by a 1061 cc four cylinder, sixteen valve, multipoint fuel-injected engine producing 64 bhp (47.7 kW) at 6200 rpm and 84 newton-metres (62 ftlbf) of torque at 3500 rpm. The car comes with a variety of trim levels. These include the LX (sans power steering), LXi (power steering), VXi (fully loaded) and the AX (automatic). The car normally comes with a 5speed manual transmission and seats 4 (including the driver) comfortably. Light kerb weight (750775 kg) makes for a nimble car with good acceleration and a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). The car's fuel economy is somewhere in the range of 13 to 14 km/l (7.7 to 7.1 l/100 km) in city driving and 18 to 20 km/l (5.6 to 5.0 l/100 km) on the highway.

In Pune (Maharashtra), prices for various variants are as follows: Variant MARUTI WAGON R AX BS III (WITH IMMOBILISER) MARUTI WAGON R LX DUO BS III (WITH IMMOBILISER) MARUTI WAGON R LX BS III (WITH IMMOBILISER) MARUTI WAGON R VXI BS III (WITH IMMOBILISER) MARUTI WAGON R VXI BS III (WITH ABS and IMMOBILISER) MARUTI WAGON R LXI BS III (WITH IMMOBILISER) MARUTI WAGON R LXI DUO BS III (WITH IMMOBILISER) Non Metallic 432044.65 330565.30 313670.77 362144.70 390970.70 339655.12 359343.31 Metallic 435219.32 333739.85 316845.32 365319.37 394145.37 342829.79 362517.98

WHY MARUTI WAGON-R?

1. MIDDLE SEGMENT CAR In todays environment when roads are flooded with cars, traffic is a Major problem. So car with smaller size are in great demand 2. CAR FOR EVERYONE Big Range of Price (313670 435219), we can see in chart above. This makes sure car for each income group.

COMPANY SPECIFIED FEATURES

1. 16 VALVES HYPERTECH ENGINE Powered by 16 valves, 4 cylinder hypertech engine WagonR is geared to deliver high power of 64 bhp. The 4 valves per cylinder ensure breathing of the engine and deliver high fuel efficiency.

2. ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING Electronic Power Steering makes sure that you get smooth driving.

3. 32 BIT ONBOARD PROCESSOR Onboard processor makes sure intelligent, fast engine response and better pick-up.

4. Swept Back Headlamps

New Swept back headlights can take you on your feets

5. Sport Tail Light

Sporty tail light and spoiler gives sports looks to new Wagon-R

6. Integrated Spoiler with high mount Stop Lamp

Safety Specifications

1. Crumple Zone

These Zones absorb the force of impact in the event of collision. On impact, the energy flow through the body structure ensures complete passenger safety

2. iCATS

iCATS or Intelligent Computerized Anti-Theft System, is a smart pre-fitted vehicle security device that allows car to start only when original key is inserted. And you pay lower insurance premium with iCATS.

3. Air Bags

The Wagon-R VXi is fitted with dual SRS Airbags for added protection during collision

4. SMART FUEL OPTIONS

The smart way to save on fuel and maintenance costs and save environment too.

OBJECTIVES
To understand customer response toward various passenger cars (Wagon-R) To gain better understanding of the factors which influence the consumer satisfaction level and their impacts while buying/using a passenger car To determine the customers perspective and their responses towards passenger cars and particularly Wagon-R Providing better understanding of consumer satisfaction of passenger cars. Identifying there expenditure patterns based on average consumption of fuel.

METHODOLOGY
1. Decided the factors which affect the satisfaction level of a consumer while using a car The factors which we will consider for judging the satisfaction level: Time of purchase Monthly travel Purpose (Office or Luxury) Monthly fuel expenditure Frequency of maintenance After Sales service by company Average Extra accessories provided by the company

Various Criteria for judging satisfaction level: Delivery time Schemes offered by dealers (Installments, Easy Finance) Ease of availability of color at the time of purchase Leg space Engine noise Driving Comfort Cooling Jerks Vibrations Seat comfort Mileage Luggage space Height of the car Average Technical Aspects of Wagon-R Quality of accessories provided by the company Overall satisfaction level

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Prepared a questionnaire with all the above factors in consideration Field survey to gain some facts and figures for the purpose of data analysis Getting around 100-120 samples filled on field. The samples included people from almost every age group and every profession. Applied the appropriate multivariate analysis technique for the purpose of data analysis. Analyzed the findings from the analysis. 8. Reached to a conclusion based on the findings. 9. Provided our recommendations.

BASIS FOR THE METHODOLOGY

CLASSIFICATION OF DATA
Business research can be classified into 2 categories i.e. Primary research and secondary research. Primary research includes collecting primary data. Primary data is collected directly from respondents using data collection methods like survey interviews, questionnaires, measurements, direct observation etc. Here the researcher is directly involved in the collection of information required to answer the research questions. Secondary data is the data that already exists which has been collected by some other person or organization for their use. Sources of secondary data include websites, journals, books etc. Source of primary data for the present study is collected through questionnaire and answered by the small investors. The secondary data is collected through Internet search.

QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD
As it is seen that survey research is carried out by having the questionnaire filled up. A questionnaire is a set of questions to be asked from respondents in an interview, with appropriate instructions indicating which questions are to be asked, and in what order. A questionnaire serves four functions viz. enables data collection from respondents, lends a structure to interviews and provides a standard means for writing down answers and help in collecting data. Under this method, list of questions pertaining to the survey were prepared for all those who own Wagon-R car. Structured objective type questions were prepared for the respondents with fixed response categories. All of the questions were of multiple-choice type. The questions have more than one alternative. As it is known now that primary data was collected through survey methods. Loop holes in secondary data can be filled by primary data i.e. by survey methods. They provided valuable information on peoples opinions and perceptions about various issues with a bearing on the research problem.

SURVEY RESEARCH

Classification of survey research methods

Degree of Structure & Disguise in Questionnaire Design Structured Unstructured Disguised Undisguised

Temporal Basis Mode of Communication

Personal Interviews Door-to-Door Interviewing

Telephonic Interview

Self-administered Interviews

Mail Survey

Central - location Telephonic interview

Executive Interview

Computer assisted Telephonic Interviewing

Malls intercept Interviewing

Completely Automated Telephone Surveys

SAMPLING METHOD
The Basis Of Sampling: In the case of survey of Wagon-R cars, people those who own Wagon-R car were chosen randomly regardless of their age, occupation, etc. Therefore, Random Sampling was taken Sample Size - 150 (110- Local i.e. Aundh, Baner, KP, etc.) (40- telephonic i.e. across India)

Questionnaire design
Steps undergone while preparing questionnaire 1) Preliminary Decisions: Many decisions were taken before framing the actual questionnaire. These decisions related to information required, the target respondents and the choice of interviewing techniques. The decisions as follows, a) Required information:- Information required was regarding the satisfaction of passenger cars and the research was carried out to estimate the satisfaction level of Maruti Wagon-R b) Target respondents:- Target respondents here in this research survey were the people who owned Wagon-R across India c) Interviewing technique:- Personal Interview, Mall Intercepts, Telephonic Interview, Mail Survey were techniques used for interview.

2) Question content: a) The usefulness of data: - Each question contributed to the survey. b) Effectiveness in producing data :- Which have some contribution in conclusion c) The participants ability to understand:- Easy language and easily understandable d) The respondents willingness to answer

3) Response format: The format usually deals with issues relating to the degree of freedom that should be given to respondents while answering the questions. a) Open ended questions:These type of questions require the respondents to respond in their own words without being restricted. b) Close ended questions:Questions which restrict the respondents answers to pre defined response actions, are called close ended questions. In this research, the researcher has used close ended question in order to get the required response in required direction. Ex. Multiple choice, binary, etc.

In our survey, most of the question were closed ended.

4) Question wording: It tests the abilities of the person framing questions, his effectiveness in cross communication. The effective translation of the desired question content into appropriate words does the trick in gathering responses. The questions in this research were put into simple words by the researchers to gather as much accurate information as possible.

5) Questionnaire sequence: It relates to the proper sequencing for better and effective response. The questions should be in a proper flow and the questions should not come out abruptly. The questionnaire prepared for this research had proper flow of questions with one question related to another. For ex. Lead in questions, qualifying questions, warm up questions etc

Using structured and formal methods of data collections as seen in survey research is not effective all the time and has many disadvantages. A major drawback in using quantitative methods is the problem of deliberate falsification where the respondents knowingly fabricate the answer to private and sensitive questions. It becomes difficult to probe into subconscious mind of respondents to collect factual data. For that we have to use quantitative analysis.

DATA ANALYSIS
Age Factor

Age group
1 12 20-30 14 41 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 32

Age is an important factor to estimate the satisfaction level as different people may give importance to different attributes than the factors which young people prefer. Ranges of age taken by the researcher to make the analysis simpler and make its understanding simple are: 20 - 30 30 - 40 40 - 50 50 60 60 - 70 The above pie chart shows the %age of people who lie in different ranges. Majority that is 41% of people who own Wagon-R car lies in the age of 20 to 30 yrs. This implies that the Wagon-R car basically targets the youth and people in this age group are working professionals and have to travel through traffic. As in the present scenario, ease of driving has got much more affinity than other features of the car due to traffic congestions. Unavailability of parking space, fuel consumption and maintenance influences the young peoples choice of buying this small, easy to drive vehicle. And people in this age group are busy working professionals and usually have issues relating to time.

Time of purchase

Time of Purchase
% o f p e r s o n 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 last Year 1-2 years time period >3 Years

The above graph shows that that majority of buyers fall in the range of 1-2 years, so we can infer that sale of Wagon-R right now is not as good as 2 years back. This may be because of strong competition from foreign Auto-Players.

Travel/Day

travel per day (kms)

more than 100 50 - 100 20 - 50 less than 20 0 10 20 30 40 50

% of respondent

A most of the respondents were students and office going people, and most of the office going respondent live near their office itself so they dont have to travel a lot.

Monthly fuel Expenditure

Monthly expenditure
19 30 <1000 1000-2000 >2000

51

According to the above bar graph, majority people spend monthly on fuel between Rs1000 to Rs2500. The expenditure on fuel varies from person to person on the basis of: Total monthly usage of the car and Mileage of the car This inference has been drawn from the data of frequency of maintenance services used by the customers and average of the car.

Average (Mileage)

Average (Mileage)
>17

14 - 17

10 to 13

10

20

30 % of respondent

40

50

60

We can infer from the above graph that most of the people fall in range of 13-17kms per liter in city conditions which shows high fuel efficiency for Wagon-R users. Fuel Efficiency depends on Travel per day and usage. So, all factors are inter-related.

Satisfaction Level for Various Features

In the following parts we will see, what consumer thinks about various characteristics of WagonR on the following index: 1. 2. 3. 4. Very Low Low Average High 5. Very High

Delivery Time
0% 3% 13% 1 37% 2 3 4 47% 5

schemes offered
0% 3% 19% 9% 1 2 3 4 5 69%

engine noise
0% 10% 23% 1 2 3 35% 32% 4 5

Ease of driving
3% 6% 24% 1 18% 2 3 49% 4 5

jerks
0% 16%

Color
0% 6%

22%

1 2 3 4

22% 34% 38%

1 2 3 4 5

37%

25%

Vibrations
0% 0% 15% 1 2 3 55% 30% 4 5

Seat Comfort
0% 31% 12% 13% 44% 1 2 3 4 5

Mileage
0% 15% 6% 1 2 40% 39% 3 4 5

luggage space
10% 0% 10% 1 32% 48% 2 3 4 5

height of Car
0% 0% 1 31% 35% 2 3 34% 4 5 37%

Body of Car
0% 7% 0% 1 2 56% 3 4 5

Quality of accessories provided

0% 15% 6% 1 2 40% 39% 3 4 5

Overall Satisfaction
3% 3% 29% 1 26% 2 3 39% 4 5

Technical Aspects
In the following graphs we will see level of satisfaction that is provided to customer from various technical point of view like: Engine, cooling, Gear, etc. INDEX: 1-Completely Disappointed Completely 2- Didnt Meet Expectation 3 Met Expectation 4- Above Expectation

engine
0% 14% 29% 1 2 3 4 57% 29%

cooling
0% 28% 1 2 43% 3 4

efficiency
0% 20% 9% 1 2 71% 3 4 46%

gears
0% 11% 1 2 43% 3 4

FIELD FINDINGS
Before moving on to the field findings, the researchers need to discuss the barriers which they faced while filling the questionnaires: 1. Language barrier There were many people who could not make out the language followed by the researchers i.e. English. They had to be communicated in the local language 2. Difficulties in interpreting the questionnaire There were many people who were confused in many of the questions. So researcher had to provide explanation for many questions 3. Time constraint As most of the target sample consists of office going people, time constraint was always there. 4. Biased behavior toward brand Some people feel too much attached to Maruti, so they tend to get biased.

Area Visited
1. 2. 3. 4.

Food Joints Parking lots Malls like Ozone, Central, etc. Busy Roads

TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS
One objective of sampling is hypothesis testing. In this survey, the hypothesis testing began by making some assumptions about the population parameter.Then the sample was gathered and sample statistic was determined. To test the validity of the hypothesis the difference between the hypothesized value and the actual value of the sample statistic was determined.If the difference between the hypothesized population parameter and the actual value would be large then the hypothesis will be rejected. If it would be small then it will be accepted. There are two hypotheses : 1) Null hypothesis(H):This asserts that there is no difference between the statistic and the population parameter and whatever observed difference is there is merely due to chance. 2) Alternative hypothesis (H): Any hypothesis which contradicts null hypothesis is called an alternative hypothesis. After taking sample data mean and standard deviation will be calculated .In this survey we have taken totally 9 variables on which Y is dependent. Each variable can take any value among 1,2,3,4 and 5. 1-----very low 2-----low 3-----average 4-----high 5-----very high

Due to similarity and interdependency some veriables are going to be clubbed.They are as follows Y(overall satisfaction level) X1(delivery time) X2(schemes offered) X3(engine noise) X4(Ease of Driving) X5(jerks) X6(color) X7(vibration) X8(seat confort) X9(mileage) X10(luggage Space) X11(Height) X12(Body) X13(Quality of accessories)

Formula for Y is Y=(X1+X2+X3+X4+X5+X6+X7+X8+X9+X10+X11+X12+X13)/13 Once the value of Y is known ,mean and standard deviation will be calculated, And before getting into hypothesis null hypothesis is to be mentioned . Here we are taking null hypothesis as 3(Average satisfaction level) Alternative hypothesis is taken as <3 . H=3 H<3 Assumption : Level of significance is 5%

observed standardized value=( x-)/ =13.98 H=3 H<3

The observed value lies in accepted region, we can accept null hypothesis. Thus the level of satisfaction for Wagon-R is Average according to the researchers hypothesis.

FINDINGS AND INFERENCES

The major chunk of Indias population lies in the age group of 20-30 i.e. the youth comprises the major part of Indias population. According to the statistics, the largest segment of car users is also the same group.

AGE GROUP
Maruti Wagon-R being one of the most trusted Brand and stylish also is able to attract youth of India: 41% of Wagon-R owners are in 20-30 age group 32% of Wagon-R users are in 30-40 age group 14% in 40-50 age group 12% in 50-60 age group Mere 1% in 60-70 age group

So we can say that Wagon-R attracts youth and Middle age office going people due to its compact size and High mileage.

DAILY TRAVEL
As majority of the respondent are office going and students, they generally doesnt live far from their place of working. So nearly 80% of the respondent fall under 50 kms per day. 37% of Wagon-R owners, travel less than 20 kms every day 43% of Wagon-R owners, travel 20-50 kms every day 18% travel 50-100 kms 2% travel more than 100 kms

FUEL CONSUMPTION
Majority of owner have their monthly expenditure in between 1000-2000 i.e. 51%. As most of the people travel less than 50 kms per day, fuel consumptions is in between Rs.1000-2000. For 19% of the owners, monthly expenditure is less than Rs.1000 For 51% of the owners, it lie between Rs.1000-2000 For 30% of the owners, it is above Rs.2000

HIGH FUEL EFFICIENCY

Wagon-R was able to give high mileage even in city conditions as against its competitor Santro, which has low fuel efficiency as compared to Wagon-R. For 26% of owners, mileage is in between 10-13km per liter For 51% of owners, mileage is between 13-17 kms per liter For 23% of owners, mileage is above 17 kms per liter

RECOMMENDATIONS

Researchers recommend that Wagon-R is an appropriate car in the B segment with above average level of satisfaction for the middle income group people because as per their findings, this car has above average level of satisfaction among majority of the owners of Wagon-R. Another recommendation is that the researchers have taken a sample of just 150 Wagon users which represent the rest of Wagon-R users population also. This is a very small sample considering the large population in mind. Thus whatever inferences the researchers found out, they cannot be applied to all the Wagon-R. Based on study, we can say Wagon-R must focus more on youth and try to make it more stylish so that it can keep youth attached to its brand.

Bibliography
Business Research Methods (ICMR Publications) Business Research Methods(Donald and Cooper) www.marutiwagonr.com