24654699 Marketing Project at Automobile Dealer

8/8/2019 24654699 Marketing Project at Automobile Dealer

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AUTOMOBILE SALES TREND ANALYSIS

IN DECEMBER 2008

A MINI PROJECT REPORT

Submitted by

ANEESH K B (08AD04)

ANOOP GOPINATHAN (08AD06)

GOPAKUMAR (08AD10)

SARATH S PILLAI (08AD34)

AZHAR ZIA K (08AD42)

in partial fulfillment for internal assessment

of

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

AT

POPULAR VEHICLES AND SERVICES, LTD

KOLLAM BRANCH

PSG INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, COIMBATORE

JANUARY 2009

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5.18 TOTAL SCHEME FOR DECEMBER 2008 21

5.19 SALES COMPARISON LAST YEAR VS CURRENT YEAR 22

6 DECEMBER SALES OF MARUTI SUZUKI 22

7 DECEMBER SALES AT POPULAR 23

8 CONCLUSIONS 24

9 REFERENCES 25

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1. INTRODUCTION

Peter Drucker refers to it as the Industry of Industries. It is the

backbone of Petroleum, Steel and manufacturing sectors. It creates

employments for thousands and gives birth to many entrepreneurs.

It satisfies one of the most basic needs of a human being mobility.

It is none other than the Automobile Industry!

It is well known fact that Automobile industry is the cornerstone of

some of the most influential economies in the world like USA and

Japan. Indian Automobile industry is all set to play the same role in

Indian Economy. Indian Automobile today is one of the most

modern, growing and vibrant automobile markets on the global

map. India is second biggest two-wheeler market in the world. The

four-wheeler market in India is also one of the fastest growing and

most promising. No wonder, it has become a centre of attraction for

most of the global automobile players.

2. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

To understand the pulse of Indian Automobile market, one has to

look at its historical developments. Till early 80s, Indian markets

were controlled by the government policies influenced by Fabian

Socialism, central planning and burocratic red-tapism. All production

capacities were licensed. The import duties were astronomically

high to protect the domestic market from global competition.

Foreign investments were not allowed in domestic ventures.

On the other hand, due to population and inefficient public transport

system, the demand of automobile far exceeded the supply. The

waiting periods touched maddening levels of 10-12 years. Buoyed

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by such a magnitude of impending demand, Manufacturers got into

monopolistic frame of mind. Operating on virtually negative working

capital, there was neither any incentive nor business compulsion to

upgrade the technology or to build reliability in the product.Manufacturers focussed on cost cutting and value engineering. The

after sales service also did not get its due importance in the scheme

of things.

Manufacturers attitude had a rub-off on the Dealers mentality as

well. There was no compelling reason to provide world class buying

ambience and after sales service. It was a Sellers Market dominated

by handful manufacturers. The choice of models, features, styling

was very limited. The manufacturers and the dealers who stagnated

in this era found it difficult to survive in the competitive open

markets at a later date. Those who survived had to pay dearly

regain the confidence from the customers.

3. AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY TREND

The figures for April-December 2008 over April-December 2007

indicate that domestic sales of automobiles decelerated with a

negative growth rate of (-) 4.82 percent.

The cumulative growth of the Passenger Vehicles segment during

April-December 2008 was 12.79 percent. Passenger Cars grew by

12.75 percent, Multi Purpose Vehicles by 23.60 percent and UtilityVehicles by 8.95 percent in April-December 2008 compared to the

same period last year.

In April- December 2008, the Commercial Vehicles segment grew by

2.98 percent over the same period in 2007. Light Commercial

Vehicles recorded a growth of 13.84 percent; however, Medium &

Heavy Commercial Vehicles witnessed a fall by 4.55 percent.

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Three Wheelers sales fell by 8.54 percent with sales of Goods

Carriers decreasing by 19.34 percent. Passenger Carriers also fell

with a negative growth rate of 0.84 percent during the period.

Two Wheeler sales registered a negative growth of 8.04 percent

during April-December 2008 over April-December 2007. Though

Moped and Scooter segments grew by 18.23 percent and 14.68

percent respectively, Motorcycle and Electric Two Wheeler

segments declined by 12.43 percent and 39.27 percent

respectively.

Automobile Exports saw a growth rate at 18.15 percent during April-

December 2008. Exports of two wheelers segment grew by 27.07

percent, Commercial Vehicles exports grew by 17.88 percent and

Passenger Vehicles exports at 4.89 percent in April-December 2008

over the same period last year. Three Wheelers exports declined by

2.23 percent during this period.

4. MARUTI UDHYOG SALES REPORT AND FORECAST FOR FY

2008 2009

Maruti Suzuki launched its new model A - star on Nov 19, 2008 in

Delhi. It was indicated that the sales for the fiscal ended Mar 2009

will not fall below of last fiscal ended Mar 2008 despite tough times

for sales of cars in last couple of months.

Incidentally, for the first seven month ended Oct 2008, Marutiregistered a sales growth of 3.7% to 446524 units. Maruti's monthly

sales pattern in the last three months has been erratic with decline

in monthly sales volume for August 2008 and October 2008 by 9.2%

and 7.1% respectively. But the sales for the Sep 2008, thanks to

dispatches for Diwali were higher by 5.3%.

For the fiscal ended Mar 08 the company has clocked a sales of

763493 units (13.1% yoy growth), which means that in the five

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month ended Mar 08, its sales volumes were about 333084 units.

So, if Maruti has to close the year with the flat sales volume (and

not more) in FY 2008-09, it will mean that for the balance five

months ending March 2008, the sales volume will be about 316969units, which actually represents a yoy fall of 4.8%.

The global commodity prices have crashed significantly, especially

from October 2008. But the company also indicated that the benefit

of lower input costs will kick in from February 2009. This means that

the tough times for the auto sector in general, and passenger

vehicle segment in particular are here to stay for the rest of the

current fiscal.

5. POPULAR VEHICLES AND SERVICES LTD.

5.1 COMPANY PROFILE

Popular Vehicles & Services Ltd. established in 1983-84 was amongthe first batch of Maruti Udyog dealers appointed in India. A

subsidiary of the Popular Group which traces its history to 1939 and

has interests in automobile spares and education, Popular Vehicles

& Services Ltd. has established an envious position in automobile

retailing. It is the first Maruti Dealership in Kerala, started in 1983-

84 at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. The Kochi

branch has been functioning since October 1985 and the Thirddealership was started at Kozhikode in 1996. Popular's first Maruti

Dealership outside kerala was inaugurated on March 2003 at

Chennai. The group has grown into a business house with a turnover

over Rs.1000 crores and an Employee strength above 4500.

Maruti Udyog Ltd has adjudged the Kochi-based Popular Vehicles

and Services Ltd, as the No.1 Platinum Plus Maruti dealer in thecountry. The ranking is done based on different parameters

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MONDOVI MOTORS Though it is new in operations in kerala, its

parent company has around 75 years of excellence in automotive

industry. Today, Mandovi boasts of the largest network among all

the Maruti dealers in Karnataka and in Kerala it has 5 Showroomsand Sales Information Centers, 8 Workshops and 3 Showrooms for

Used Car Sale (True Value). It has a team of over 800 dedicated

professionals committed to provide the best possible service to its

customers.

5.5 INNOVATIVE MARKETING STRATEGY

For Maruti Udyog, the largest carmaker in the country, winning the

customers confidence has never been an issue. The company, over

the past few years, has refreshed the product line-up either through

minor model changes or through new product introductions, thus

keeping the customer interest in its products intact.

While such measures have helped boost sales, Popular Vehicles and

Sales have devised a few innovative marketing schemes to drive

volumes. The idea, company officials said, was not just to attract

customers, but also to offer customers in specific segments a

relationship. Moreover, the basic objective was to bring focus to a

particular area.

5.5.1 RURAL FINANCING

Popular has made the entire procedure of financing very simple. A

lot of nationalised banks are now willing to finance vehicles in these

upcountry areas. Secondly, many of the private finance companies

are now focussing on these areas. Companies like Magma, Mahindra

Finance and Cholamandalam are few of these institutions focussing

big on rural areas. We give attractive EMIs and the lowest interest

rate possible. Marutis study on panchayats across the country said

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there are 20 lakh potential customers waiting to be tapped. That is

what the scheme tries to take advantage of.

Our dealerships are wide spread and cover many rural areas underit. The area gets energised and people looks at buying cars because

someone else in the area has bought one. Hence the company aims

to generate large numbers in the coming months from this area.

5.5.2 e-COMMERCE INITIATIVES

This is one of the highest revenue generators amongst Marutis e-

commerce business with revenues in excess of Rs 20 crore.

Bookings are invited through a website Maruti created for the

scheme www.marutinri.com and generates a hit rate of 2500

per day. Over 10,000 registrations on the portal have generated

sales of over 900 units till date. The United States contribute over

70 percent of the total inquiries within the Dil Se scheme, while the

Alto leads the inquiries in terms of cars. There is also a great

demand from countries including UAE, UK, Japan and New Zealand.

Popular has strongly supported Maruti in this initiatives by actively

delivering prompt and efficient services to the customers. Some of

the additional features of this scheme is special discount, priority

and home delivery of the car, pick up and drop facility during car

service for the first two years, and discounts on labour charges and

car accessories.

5.6 POPULAR KNOWING CUSTOMERS NEEDS AND WANTS

Learned Wants Based on the prevailing socio economic trend, the

customers requirements are identified. Special efforts are being

taken to satisfy the varied wants of all the customers. The entire

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customers are divided into different clusters based on their wants.

Periodically various offers are brought up throughout the year to

meet the expectation of all the customers. Timely, we introduce

certain combo packages that includes alloy wheels, keyless entry,seat cover and Pioneer stereo with sub woofers. This package is

mainly sought after by youngsters. Also in the after sales,

customers demanded more of service packages, hence Populars

Unlimited Care Package was introduced.

Social Wants Man is a social being and he cannot remain

unaffected by society. This is taken as a principle and no customer

will purchase their vehicle without considering the sanction and

recognition of the society. His wants are influenced by his status in

the society. Every person will try to improve his status in the society

and at Popular we help this to happen. This is why vast customer

database is maintained by each dealer. The customers who seem

interested are contacted from time to time and a track of their

progress is maintained and updated in frequent intervals. Also it is

believed that maintaining highest customer satisfaction is the key to

success and that meeting the wants of each customer will only help

to increase the sales and services.

Rational needs Certain people are very rational and his decisiojn is

based on logic and justifications while taking the buying decision.

Such customers will have to satisfy himself with the price, quality,

durability, reliability and service and only then decides whether to

purchase or not. When enquiries are generated through walk ins or

in person, the main preference is identified. If the current situation

is not satisfactory for making the purchase, his feed back is taken

and it is noted separately. Whenever there arises any change in the

unsatisfactory parameter, the same customer is contacted once

again. If all the condition is alright, it will be converted into sales.

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Emotional Needs At popular, we take into consideration the

emotional feelings of customers. For certain customers their heart

dominates over their head and mind. Like, making their first car

purchase. The showrooms have provision to take photo shoot out atthe time key is received. Also, an instant vehicle pooja can be

conducted on request. All these utilities help us to build up the

quality of services we offer.

5.7 POPULAR GENUINE ACCESSORIES: THE ADVANTAGE

Popular Genuine Accessories is a new initiative to offer you high

quality accessories at competitive prices. World Class engineering

and design processes is involved in the development of each and

every item. Many of these items are imported from Suzuki, Japan by

Maruti. All the accessories have perfect mechanical and electrical

compatibility with the vehicle and offers you unmatched

performance.

ITEM THE ADVANTAGE

AlloyWheels

Perfect Match with vehicle. Safe and reliable. VirginAluminium from ISO certified sources. 100% X-Ray tested.Endurance tested. Excellent finish. Better cooling. BetterBraking efficiency.

Body Cover High Quality imported Fabric. Water-resistant. 1-YearWarranty. UV Ray protection (UV rays cause paint fading).Very light and easily handled. Matches body profile perfectly.Clamp mechanism. Comes in convenient carry bag.

Carpets Imported materials used. Perfectly fits the contour of vehiclefloor. Attractive designs, matching the interior. Odour free.Fire resistant. Fully Washable. Anti Slip mechanism to preventslipping on floor. Special thread interlocking. Dust absorbing.Reinforced cushioning at drivers area to prevent balding.

Door Visors Perfect fit with vehicle profile. Unique attachment provided forstrong fit. Suzuki (Japan) product. Weatherproof. Offersprotection from sun-rain. Long lasting and unlike other visors,do not become brittle or crack.

Fog Lamps Comes with complete electric wiring, protection relay, switch

and lamps. Electrically compatible with the vehicle electricalsystems, therefore perfectly safe for the vehicle. No need to

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5.8 PRODUCT PRICE

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5.9 CUSTOMER CARE AND SALES PROCESSES

Service organisations are particularly dependent on levels ofcustomer care, as the people element in the marketing mix

reflects. Customer care can play an equally important role, however,

in manufacturing, production and other organisations providing

goods and services. For customer care programmes to be successful

they need to span the entire organisation.

Popular guarantees 100% customer satisfaction and has, over the

years, developed a more conscientious approach to individual

customers. There is Customer care training provided. Though this

may initially be a very lengthy process as the ball starts rolling

through all sectors of the organisation and costs will grow too, as

further investment is required to update and maintain the initiative

in the future. To provide an effective customer care services, every

employee is highly motivated. There are frequent internal news

letters circulated which strengthens the bond throughout the

organisation. Frequent performance appraisal throughout the

organisation is conducted to evaluate the employees and provide

career developmental opportunities to potential employees.

The customer care programme at Popular has mainly six main

stages, as follows:

Objectives setting:For every month, target sales will be fixed by the

Sales Manager at the showroom.

Current situation analysis: Present industrial trend is observed

closely and various promotional offers are introduced to boost sales

if there is a chance for a slump in sales. Also, a customer service

audit is conducted both internally and externally. Monthly, a sales

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target is fixed by the Sales Manager. All the strategic areas like

schools, hospitals, government offices etc are located within a

particular area and the contact details of all the employees is

obtained.

Strategy development: Develop a strategy for raising levels of both

customer service and sales from the current to the desired standard

based upon any change in trends and the economic conditions

prevailing. Each region is divided into 4 zones. Each zonal level will

be under the charge of a supervisor under whom there are four

sales executives. It is the duty of these sales executives to

generate on field enquiries and to follow up the customers based

on the appointment fixed.

Functional planning:Define training needs and other requirements

such problem-solving sessions or teambuilding exercise to execute

the strategy. Daily, a meeting of all the staffs at their respective

branch is convened. Here they discuss their daily programmes and

targets to meet plus they also discuss about their previous days

work among the team. They consider the response of all the

individual customers met.

Implementation: Implement training and other initiatives through

workshops, seminars. The prospective customers are segregated

and the issues raised by certain customers will also be addressed.

Some customers may not be satisfied with the present offers and

price. In such cases efforts will be put up to make maximum

adjustments and convert it to sales.

Monitoring: Results are tested through customer and employee

surveys and evaluation of the training methods is also conducted.

The programme is improved and updated on a continuous basis.

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5.10 SALES PROMOTION

The competitive nature of the automobile industry has prompted

the companies to take up new and innovative marketing strategiesto thwart the competition. All the companies as a part of their

marketing strategy offers a range of vehicles in all the segment to

make sure that the customer is driving one of their vehicles only.

Advertisement : Advertisements on the Audio visual medium

are a rage as it gives the car makers an opportunity to flaunt

their cars. Flashy cars can be demonstrated on television but

when it comes to the finer prints of the cars, print and online

media comes to the rescue. The online medium offers a

greater flexibility to the car companies since they come with a

lot of interactive features like demonstrating the interiors of

the car with its salient features. The print medium on the

other hand provides an opportunity to the car makers to

explain the function of a car in detail.

Check up camps : The company organises check up camps

occasionally where the health of the vehicle is tested by

company trained technical professionals. The present health

status is reported to the owner. Moreover, vehicles that has

done check ups will be given nearly 10% discount for their

service and spares. Also at the camps, the resale value of the

vehicle is calculated and interested parties are given fast loan

to exchange their vehicle for a new one. There is also an

option to get a used car through the Maruti True Value as an

exchange.

Displays : Popular organises various displays at all major fairs,

functions etc. This is to make people aware more about the

company, its product and the various schemes and offers that

are available. This is an opportunity to establish the company

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identity among the masses, build their trust and attract more

customers.

Mouth to mouth : All the employees of popular are

enthusiastic to meet the customer satisfaction. Hence, in thecourse of time, Popular was able to build trust in the heart and

mind of the people. Moreover, it is believed that ensuring the

customer with quality products and services is the better than

all other means. Infact, most of the sales that occurs is

through reference of our customers which makes mouth to

mouth communication an important element in promoting the

sales.

5.11 SALES ACCOLADE

Overall Excellence Award Recipient since inception

HR Practices Award Winner since inception

Best Innovative Marketing Initiatives

No.1 in All India Technical Skill Competition.

Highest Man Power Retention in Service

Best Showroom (Kottayam)

5.12 SERVICE AND AFTER SALES

For any dealer the service is of strategic importance and the value

of service offered is both as a profit centre and as a marketing tool.

As this awareness has become established, there has been a

considerable increase in the resources being made available to

maximise its value to the overall profitability, directly and indirectly,

of the company. After-sales service plays a crucial role in ensuring

the long-term credibility of company and brand image. Popular

always lives up to its image as the leader on quality and customer

satisfaction to the fullest. In substance, the quality, image and

responsiveness of the service has significantly influenced the

decision to buy and thus gain market share. issues of service are

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significantly more important than the product price and product

features in the final purchase decision.

5.13 SERVICE PROMOTION

Various service promotions are offered at the Popular Service

Centres in addition to the Maruti Extended Warranty. The main

among them are the Popular Unlimited Care Packages in which

customers are given the best service for their vehicle.

5.13.1 POPULAR UNLIMITED CARE PACKAGE

The entitre package is divided into two categories. Customers

buying a Maruti from Popular can opt for Popular UCP Category A.

Customers buying it from elsewhere or having a used Maruti can opt

for category B only.

5.13.2 SERVICE FEATURES

The only CRM Package of its kind in India

Unlimited After Sales Care for Unlimited Years

Free Registration

Total Peace of mind

Recognised by Maruti Udyog as the most innovative service

package in India

5.13.3 POPULAR UCP BENEFITS : CATEGORY A

Free repair/maintenance/service for first year

Free paid periodic service in first year

Free 1st specified engine oil change in first year

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Free replacement of all spares even those not covered under

warranty; except tyres, tubes, petrol, engine oil

Free exclusive accident repairs benefit with comprehensive

insurance policy from specified insurer with nil depreciationand nil policy excess in first year.

Popular Birthday Special on completion of first year free

engine tuning, wheel balancing, topping of engine oil, gear oil,

brake fluid, coolant

Free 3 year Critical Component Care (CCC)

2 free Reassurance check (RACs) between paid periodic

services.

24 hours breakdown Assistance from Popular Service Centre

Help Hotline: Call 630 (AirTel) or 767 (Vodafone) on your

respective mobile and get connected to nearest service centre

Normal accident repairs facility

5.13.4 POPULAR UCP BENEFITS: CATEGORY B

Free 3 year Critical Component Care (CCC)

2 free Reassurance check (RACs) between paid periodic

services.

24 hours breakdown Assistance from Popular Service Centre

Help Hotline: Call 630 (AirTel) or 767 (Vodafone) on your

respective mobile and get connected to nearest service centre

Normal accident repairs facility

5.14 SERVICE ACCOLADE

Only Dealer to Represent MSIL in the World Technical Skill

Competition

Only Dealer to represent & Win in the Asian Skill Competition.

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All 5 Silver Master Technicians in Kerala are from Popular

( Total 15 in the Country)

123 Bronze Masters out of 1051 in the Country.

12 out of 14 times winner/runner up in All India Technical SkillCompetition.

5.15 TARGET CUSTOMERS

At Popular, the ultimate aim is to have a relationship with all the

family. For this the entire team at Popular is striving very hard, right

from the base. What is unique is the various schemes that attracts

customers from every walks of life. The major customers are

Government employees, Corporate officers, Panchayath officers, Air

India officers, Insurance company officers, Banking finance officers,

Retail company officers, Telecom company officers and NRIs. The

corporate companies are further divided into three sub categories

i.e Platinum, Gold and Silver. There are different scheme for each

category of customers. To avail any offer under these schemes, the

customers are to present their Identity Card.

5.16 SHIFT IN TARGET CUSTOMERS

With global economic slowdown and in turn lay offs witnessed,

largely in the Indian IT industry - a large employee market in the

urban centres, it could play spoilsport. However the auto players are

expanding their horizon. They have increased their focus on the

rural areas and now are targeting the government employees owing

to the salary hike received from Central Government and State

Governments.

5.17 RURAL MARKET SEGMENTATION

Sl

No.

SEGMENTS CLAIMING DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

1 Doctors in Rural ID card issued by DPA

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Hospitals2 Rural Teachers Appointment letter, ID card, original

salary slip and letter from panchayathpresident

3 Tractor Owners Clear copy of tractor RC in the name

of the buyer4 Farmers Copy of land agreement duly signed

from Gram Panchayath/Kissan Passbook/Agriculture Loan letter

5 Traders in Rural Areas Copy of current financial year tradelicence issued from gram panchayathand duly attested by a panchayathmember

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5.18 TOTAL SCHEME FOR DECEMBER 2008

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MODEL CONSUMEROFFER

EXCHANGEOFFER

WHEELSOF

INDIA

CORPORATE SALES PANCHAYATH

AIRINDIASCHEME

INSURANCEOFFER

BANKINGOFFER

RETAILOFFER

TELECOMOFFERPLATINUM GOLD SILVER

M 800STD

7500 5000 5000 3500 3000 2500 3000 3000 5000 5000 5000 5000

M800

AC,DUO

7500 5000 5000 3500 3000 2500 3000 3000 5000 5000 5000 5000

OMNI5&8STR

7000 10000 3000 3000 2500 2000 3000 3000 NIL NIL NIL NIL

OMNILPG,

CARGO

7000 10000 3000 3000 2500 2000 3000 3000 NIL NIL NIL NIL

ALTOSTD

15000 10000 3000 3000 2500 2000 3000 3000 5000 5000 5000 5000

ALTOLX/LXI

15000 10000 3000 3000 2500 2000 3000 4000 5000 5000 5000 5000

WAGON R (P)

35000 15000 3000 3500 3000 2500 3000 4000 5000 5000 5000 5000

WAGON RDUO

25000 15000 3000 3500 3000 2500 3000 4000 5000 5000 5000 5000

ZEN 30000 15000 4000 3000 3000 2500 3000 4000 5000 5000 5000 5000

SWIFT(P)

NIL 10000 3000 3000 2500 2000 NIL 2500 5000 5000 5000 5000

VERSA 30000 NIL NIL 5000 5000 5000 NIL 10000 NIL NIL NIL NIL

SX4 NIL 20000 10000 15000 12000

10000 5000 10000 17000 17000 17000 17000

GRANDVITARA

NIL NIL 10000 20000 20000

20000 NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL

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5.19. SALES COMPARISON LAST YEAR VS CURRENT YEAR

SECTOR JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER TOTAL ShortFall

Growth%

2007

2008

2007

2008

2007

2008

2007 2008 2007

2008

2007 2008 2007 2008 2007

2008

KOLLAM 19 25 49 45 24 38 32 42 74 55 38 28 28 37 264 270 6

KOTTARAKARA 25 28 49 49 38 73 38 77 65 49 53 30 45 38 313 344 31

KARUNAPALLY 14 25 19 40 26 26 17 29 43 56 23 16 21 19 163 211 48

QUILON TOTAL 58 78 117 137 88 137 87 148 182 160 114 71 94 94 740 825 85 11.48

DEALERSHIPTOTAL

183 273 289 338 267 342 263 417 553 471 247 222 215 259 2017

2342

325 16.11

6. DECEMBER SALES OF MARUTI SUZUKI

Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited sold 56,293 vehicles in December 2008. This includes 4,264 units of

exports. The company had sold a total of 62,515 vehicles in December 2007.

During the month, Maruti Suzuki's sales volume in the domestic A3 segment went up by 98 per cent.

The sales figures for December 2008 are given below:

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7. DECEMBER SALES AT POPULAR

The parent company, Maruti Suzuki, has registered an overall sales loss in the month of December, 2008. The

sales in December at Popular Automobiles, Kollam is quite healthy as we see. This can be because of the various

promotional activities that have been offered to the customers because of the year end. There is also a change

Segment ModelsIn December Till December

2008 2007 % Change 2008-09 2007-08 % Change

A1 M800 2907 7190 -59.6 37307 51985 -28.2

C Omni, Versa 5350 8034 -33.4 56527 65559 -13.8

A2Alto, Wagon-R, Zen, Swift, A-star

36831 39575 -6.9 358751 367395 -2.4

A3 SX4, Dzire, Esteem* 6524 3291 98.2 52700 36902 42.8

Total Passenger Cars 51612 58090 -11.2 505285 521841 -3.2

MUV Grand Vitara *, Gypsy 417 311 34.1 5374 2792 92.5

Domestic 52029 58401 -10.9 510659 524633 -2.7

Export 4264 4114 3.6 44870 37990 18.1

Total Sales 56293 62515 -10.0 555529 562623 -1.3

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noticed in the customers perception. People now seem to give more

importance to the promotional offers to the resale benefit got while

registering their vehicle in the upcoming year. Also there is much

demand for the new A2 segment vehicle A Star which has furtherstrengthened the sales in December. Another interesting change in

the customer behaviour is that the number of sales made through

On Cash payment has increased by almost 40%. This might be due

to the on going financial crisis and banks have tightened their

lending procedures. Also in the month of December, the excise duty

has been further reduced by 4% by the government. This itself has

attracted many buyers.

Thanks to RBI measures to cut CRR by 350 basis points and repo

rate by 150 basis points, effected across October 2008 and earnly

November 2008, and as per Finance Minister's guidance, most of the

public sector banks have cut interest on advances, including auto

loans. But there is apprehension that the NPAs in general and in

retail loans in particular will go up, and hence the banks are

tightening their lending norms. It must be because of this we see a

new trend in which the number of ready cash purchases is

increasing constantly. Interestingly, it is also seen that most of the

sales have been made after exchange of old vehicles through Maruti

True Value

8 CONCLUSION

The report has highlighted the importance of providing the highest

customer satisfaction and how it affects the sales. Though in the

month of December, the sales were down, by developing

competitive strategies and by delivering high class products and

services, Popular Vehicles and Services were able to keep their sales

momentum. The report emphasises the importance of customer

loyalty to develop the business.

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9. REFERENCES

Marketing Management Text and Cases : Tapan K Panda SecondEdition

Popular Vehicles and services Catalogues and Pamphlets

http://www.automobileindia.com/automobile-industry/automobile-marketing.html

http://www.automobileindia.com/automobile-industry/auto-service.html

http://www.indiacar.net/news/n61017.htm

http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/marketing-management/38216-maruti-sx4-market-penetration-2.html

http://www.indiacar.net/news/n98620.htm

http://www.acdelco.com/service/maintenance.jsp

http://www.popularv.com

http://www.mandovimotors.in/about-us.asp

http://www.autocar.com
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24654699 Marketing Project at Automobile Dealer