a project report on identifying car preference and buying behaviour of the car owners

IDENTIFYING CAR PREFERENCE AND BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF THE CARIDENTIFYING CAR PREFERENCE AND BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF THE CAR OWNERSOWNERS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Serial Number Title Page Number

1. Executive Summary 7

2. Introduction To Study 11

3. Objectives Of The Study 14

4. Company Profile 16

5. Research Methodology 45

6. Analysis And Interpretation 48

7. Findings 70

8. Recommendations 74

9. Conclusion 77

10. Bibliography 78

11. Annexure 80



TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure Number Figure Name Page Number

1. Toyota automatic loom (Type G) 18

2. Replica of the Toyota Model AA 19

3. Corolla car 22

4. Board of directors, TKM 28

5. Milestones of Toyota 34

6. Chief Executive Officer, Shodha Toyota 36




EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Competitive pressures and increasing complexity have led automotive companies to look for an

edge wherever they can find it. Improved consumer insight into vehicle shopping and buying

behavior can provide that valuable advantage.

This presentation contains insight that can help the vehicle dealer develop and execute

more effective strategies in areas such as sales, marketing and advertising, after-sales service,

Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

PROBLEM IN BRIEF:

The automotive world today is changing; consumers are changing. And the speed of

change is continuing to accelerate with passage of time. The car dealers are finding it difficult to

respond faster and more effectively to these changes.

Hence, this study focuses on the identification of current consumer preferences & buying

behavior with respect to the cars.

KEY FINDINGS:

Trend in ownership of the cars:

Majority of the people prefer owning more than one car.

About 44% wish to change car after 4-5 years of purchase.

60% of the respondents change the car mainly for ‘style and looks’.



Vehicle buyers want their information fast: About 65% of the population expected the response of the dealer to be provided

‘within 24 hours’.

About 19% of the respondent opted to ‘change the dealer’ for not getting the

information from the dealer in specified time.

Consumers are going “green”:

76% of the people say that ‘Fuel efficiency’ is the most important factor while choosing

a car.

75% of them are conscious about the fuel efficient cars and about 67% of them

‘currently own fuel efficient cars’.

Consumer interest in online vehicle buying yet to develop:

94% of the respondents preferred to ‘visit the dealer personally’ to buy car. Only 4% of

the were interested to buy it over ‘internet’.

Media from which consumers collect information on cars:

For about 58% of respondents, TV is the main source from which they collected

information about cars.

Key factors in vehicle choice:



About 45% 0f the surveyed population preferred ‘white’ colour cars. This was because

they believed that it makes them feel superior.

50% of the surveyed customers preferred diesel engine.

Customer Loyalty: Establishing and Maintaining a Dialogue:

60% of them said that ‘Vehicle quality’ makes the more loyal towards the brand.

For 62% of the customers, the ‘high service quality’ was found to be the factor of high

motivation when it comes to buying another car from the same dealer.

Around 91% of them replied that ‘Personalized Communication’ with the dealer is

important.

About 58% of them preferred to discuss about ‘future vehicle preferences’ with dealer.




INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY


INTRODUCTION TO STUDY

Consumer’s preference towards a product or service always will not remain invariable. It

changes with passage of time. It is very much dependent on the consumer’s prior experience with

the same or similar product.

Knowing the consumer preferences would be of great help to the marketer. They are

gradually replacing the old business strategies by a new wave of dynamic, fashion-conscious

strategies that serve to get brands recognized in an increasingly fast-paced and savvy consumer

market. The manufacturers are striving for trendy-looking cars as a way to draw buyers who

once may have been sold on power, performance, warranties or amenities.

The preferences of the consumers are changing so rapidly that the marketer are put to

make great efforts to be in pace with them. This study focuses on the identification of present

consumer preferences with respect to the cars. It also indicates new consumer attitudes towards

the vehicles they are purchasing.

The scope and depth of this study is to explore new and evolving preferences within the

retail side of the automotive industry. It involves the, web usage, changing preference of the

consumer concerning the communication with the dealer and trend in the customer loyalty. It

also explores the environmental issues including fuel efficient vehicles.

The scrutiny of all these aspects reflects today’s automotive landscape and provides the

dealers with the knowledge about the trend in the market according to which he can modify or

change the activities to respond to the market profitably.

Buying a car used to be a simple process: A consumer would check out some ads, talk to

a few friends and head into the dealer for more information. Today that process has grown more

complex, as consumers increasingly rely on new tools such as the Internet, blog sites, Web



forums and online social networks. This increased sophistication has resulted in changing buying

patterns as well as a shift of power in favor of the consumer. Keeping up with the pace of change

isn’t easy for many vehicle manufacturers and dealers.

Interestingly, significant commonalities are found among responses obtained by

surveying the consumers. This report highlights these results and hence provides certain useful

recommendations to the dealer and also to the manufacturer to some extent. The executive

summary provides an overview of key findings from the study, and the sections that follow offer

more in-depth data and analysis.

The automotive world today is changing; consumers are changing, establishing and

retaining loyalty among today’s knowledgeable and fickle consumers is more challenging than

ever and the speed of change is continuing to accelerate. My hope is that the study will provide

automotive companies with insights that can help them respond faster and more effectively to

these changes.




OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY


Objectives

1) Identify the trend in ownership of the cars.

2) Identify the consumer interest to go green.

3) Spot the consumer tendency in searching information and required speed

of response from dealer to Consumer Query.

4) Study importance of various factors like brand, color, size, model etc., in

consumer’s choice of car.

5) Recognize the consumer’s likelihood to purchase car over the internet

online.

6) To find out the factors motivating consumer loyalty towards brand




PROFILE OFTOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION, JAPAN


Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan, and currently

is the world's largest automaker. In terms of name recognition, Toyota is also the only car

manufacturer to appear in the top 10 of the Brand name Recognition ranking.

In 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product Type-A engine

and its first passenger car (the Toyota-AA) in 1936. “Kiichiro Toyoda” founded the company in

1937 as a spin-off from his father's company Toyota industries to create automobiles. Toyota

also owns and operates Lexus and Scion brands and has a majority shareholding in ‘Daihatsu

Motors’, and minority shareholdings in Fuji Heavy Industries, Isuzu Motors, and the engine,

motorcycle and marine craft manufacturer Yamaha Motors. The company includes 522

subsidiaries.

Toyota is headquartered in Aichi, Nagoya and in Tokyo. In Addition to manufacturing

automobiles, Toyota provides financial services through its division Toyota Financial Services

and also creates robots. Toyota Industries and Finance divisions form the bulk of the Toyota

Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.

History

In 1933, ‘Toyoda Automatic Loom Works’ created a new division devoted to the production of

automobiles under the direction of the founder's son, Kiichiro Toyoda.

Fig.1:Toyota automatic loom (Type G)


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Kiichiro Toyoda had traveled to Europe and the United States in 1929 to investigate automobile

production and had begun researching gasoline-powered engines in 1930. Toyoda Automatic

Loom Works was encouraged to develop automobile production by the Japanese government,

which needed domestic vehicle production partly due to the worldwide money shortage and

partly due to the war with China. In 1934, the division produced its first Type-A engine, which

was used in the first Model A1 passenger car in May 1935 and the G1 truck in August 1935.

Production of the Model AA passenger car started in 1936. Early vehicles bear a striking

resemblance to the Dodge Power Wagon and Chevrolet, with some parts actually interchanging

with their American originals.

Fig.2: Replica of the Toyota Model AA, the first production model of Toyota in 1936

Although the Toyota Group is best known today for its cars, it is still in the textile business and

still makes automatic looms, which are now computerized and electric sewing machines, which

are available worldwide.

During the Pacific War (World War II), the company was dedicated to truck production

for the Imperial Japanese Army. Because of severe shortages in Japan, military trucks were kept

as simple as possible. For example, the trucks had only one headlight on the center of the hood.

The war ended shortly before a scheduled Allied bombing run on the Toyota factories in Aichi.

After the war, commercial passenger car production started in 1947 with the model SA.

In 1950, a separate sales company, ‘Toyota Motor Sales Co.’, was established (which lasted until

July 1982). In April 1956, the ‘Toyopet dealer chain’ was established. The following year, the


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‘Toyota Crown’ became the first Japanese car to be exported to the United State and Toyota’s

American and Brazilian divisions, Toyota Motor Sales Inc. and Toyota do Brazil S.A., were also

established.

Toyota began to expand in the 1960s with a new Research and Development facility, a

presence in Thailand was established, the 10 millionth model was produced, a Deming Prize and

partnerships with ‘Hino Motors’ and ‘Daihatsu’ were established.

The first Toyota built outside Japan was in April 1963, at Port Melbourne in Australia By

the end of the decade, Toyota had established a worldwide presence, as the company had

exported its one-millionth unit.



COMPANY OVERVIEW

The Toyota Motor Company was awarded its “First Japanese Quality Control Award” at the start

1970s and began participating in a wide variety of Motor sports. Due to the 1973 oil crisis,

consumers in the lucrative U.S. market began turning to small cars with better fuel economy.

American car manufacturers had considered small economy cars to be an “entry level” product,

and their small vehicles were not made to a high level of quality in order to keep the price low.

Japanese customers, however, had a long-standing tradition of demanding small fuel-

efficient cars that were manufactured to a high level of quality. Because of this, companies like

Toyota, Honda, and Nissan established a strong and growing presence in North America in the

1970s.

In 1982, the ‘Toyota Motor Company’ and ‘Toyota Motor Sales’ merged into one

Company, the Toyota Motor Corporation. Two years later, Toyota entered into a joint venture

with GM called NUMMI, the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc, operating an automobile

manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. The factory was an old General Motors plant that

had been closed for several years. Toyota then started to establish new brands at the end of the

1980s, with the launch of their luxury division Lexus in 1989.

In the 1990s Toyota began to branch out from producing mostly compact cars by adding

many larger and more luxurious vehicles to its lineup, including a full sized pickup, the T100

(and later the Toyota Tundra), several lines of SUVs, a sport version of the Camry, known as the

Camry Solar, and the Scion brand, a group of several affordable, yet sporty, automobiles targeted



specifically to young adults. Toyota also began production of the world’s best selling hybrid car,

the Toyota pries, in 1997 with a major presence in Europe

Due to the success of Toyota Team Europe, the corporation decided to set up TMME,

‘Toyota Motor Europe Marketing & Engineering’, to help market vehicles in the continent. Two

years later, Toyota set up a base in the United Kingdom, TMUK, as the company’s cars had

become very popular among British drivers. Bases in Indiana, Virginia and Tianjin were also set

up.

In 1999, the company decided to list itself on the New York and London Stock Exchange

with over 30 million sold, the Toyota Corolla is the best selling car in the world.

Fig.3: Corolla car.

In 2001, Toyota's Toyo Trust and Banking merged to form the UFJ, United Financials of

Japan, which was accused of corruption by the Japan's government for making bad loans to

alleged Yakuza crime syndicates with executives accused of blocking Financial Service Agency

inspections. The UFJ was listed among Fortune Magazine's largest money losing Corporations in

the world, with Toyota's chairman serving as a director. At the time, the UFJ was one of the

largest shareholders of Toyota. As a result of Japan's banking crisis, the UFJ was merged again

to become Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.


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In 2002, Toyota managed to enter a Formula 1 works team and establish joint ventures

with French motoring companies Citroën and Peugeot, a year after Toyota started producing cars

in France.

On December 7, 2004, a U.S. press release was issued stating that Toyota would be

offering Sirius Satellite Radios. However, as late as Jan. 27, 2007, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM

Satellite radio kits were not available for Toyota factory radios. While the press release

enumerated nine models, only limited availability existed at the dealer level in the U.S. As of

2008, all Toyota and Scion models have either standard or available XM radio kits. Major Lexus

dealerships have been offering satellite radio kits for Lexus vehicles since 2005, in addition to

factory-equipped satellite radio models.

In 2007, Toyota released an update of its full size truck, the Toyota Tundra, produced in

two American factories, one in Texas and one in Indiana. "Motor Trend" named the Tundra

"Truck of the Year," and the 2007 Toyota Camry "Car of the Year" for 2007. It also began the

construction of two new factories, one to build the Toyota Rav4 in Woodstock, Ontario and the

other to build the Toyota Highlander in Blue Springs, Mississippi.

Toyota Philosophy:

Toyota's management philosophy has evolved from the company's origins and has been

reflected in the terms “Lean Manufacturing” and “Just In Time Production”, which it was

instrumental in developing.

The Toyota Way has four components:

1) Long-term thinking as a basis for management decisions,

2) A process for problem solving,

3) Adding value to the organization by developing its people, and



4) Recognizing that continuously solving root problems drives organizational learning.

The Toyota Way incorporates the Toyota Production System.

The Toyota Production System:

Toyota has long been recognized as an industry leader in manufacturing and production.

Three stories of its origin have been found, one that they studied Piggly-Wiggly's Just-In-Time

Distribution System, one that they followed the writings of W. Edwards Deming, and one that

they were given the principles from an Army training program. It is possible that all are true.

Regardless of the origin, the principles, described in Toyota's management philosophy, ‘The

Toyota Way’, are as follows:

1) Base your goals management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of

short-term.

2) Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.

3) Use “pulls” systems to avoid overproduction.

4) Level out the workload.

5) Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time

6) Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee

empowerment.

7) Use visual control so no problems are hidden.

8) Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes.

9) Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to other.



10) Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy.

11) Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping

them improve.

12) Go and see you to thoroughly understand the situation (genchi genbutsu).

13) Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement

decisions rapidly.

14) Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement.

Achievement of Toyota:

Toyota has grown to a large multinational corporation from where it started and

expanded to different worldwide markets and countries by becoming the largest seller of cars in

the beginning of 2007, the most profitable automaker ($11 billion in 2006) along with increasing

sales in, among other countries, the United States.

Toyota has introduced new technologies including one of the first mass-produced hybrid

gas-electric vehicles, of which it says it has sold 1 million globally (2007-06-07), Advanced

Parking Guidance System (automatic parking), a four-speed electronically controlled automatic

with buttons for power in addition, economy shifting, and an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Toyota and Toyota-produced Lexus and Scion automobiles, consistently rank near the top in

certain quality and reliability .

In the ‘Fortune Global 500’, Toyota Motor is the sixth largest company in the world.

Since the recession of 2001, it has gained market share in the United States. Toyota's market

share struggles in Europe where its Lexus brand has three tenths of one percent market share,

compared to nearly two percent market share as the U.S. luxury segment leader.



In the first three months of 2007, Toyota together with its half-owned subsidiary Daihatsu

reported number one sales of 2.348 million units. Toyota's brand sales had risen 9.2% largely on

demand for Corolla and Camry sedans. The difference in performance was largely attributed to

surging demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.

In November 2006, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas added a facility in San Antonio Toyota

has experienced quality problems and was reprimanded by the government in Japan for its recall

practices.

Toyota currently maintains over 16% of the US market share and is listed second only to GM in

terms of volume. Toyota Century is the official state car of the Japanese imperial family, namely

for the Emperor of Japan Akihito.

Global Presence of Toyota

Toyota has factories all over the world, manufacturing or assembling vehicles for local

markets, including the Corolla. Toyota has manufacturing or assembly plants in:

Japan, Australia, India, Canada, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom,

United States, France, Brazil, Pakistan, Argentina, Czech Republic, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand,

China, Vietnam, Venezuela, Philippines, Russia.



Toy


PROFILE OFTOYOTA KIRLOSKAR MOTORS, BANGALORE


Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. LTD

Mr. H Nakagawa, MD Mr. M Kawabata, DMD Mr. S Tomonaga, DMD

Fig.4: Board of directors TKM

“Toyota Kirloskar Motors” is a joint venture between Kirloskar Group and Toyota Motor

Corporation, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited (TKM) aims to play a major role in the

development of the automotive industry and the creation of employment opportunities, not only

through its dealer network, but also through ancillary industries.

TKM's growth since inception can be attributed to one simple, yet important aspect of its

business philosophy – “Putting Customer First”. While managing growth, TKM has maintained

its commitment to provide quality products at a reasonable price and has made every effort to

meet changes in customer needs. TKM firmly believes that the success of this venture depends

on providing high quality products and services to all valued customers through the efforts of its

team members. TKM, along with its dedicated dealers and suppliers, has adopted the “Growing

Together” philosophy of its parent company TMC to create long-term business growth. In this

way, TKM aims to further contribute to progress in the Indian automotive industry, realize

greater employment opportunities for local citizens, improve the quality of life of the team

members and promote robust economic activity in India.

All Toyota employees are expected to embody these values in their daily work, including

environmental protection activities. To “respect” the environment, they go to the source to



identify and analyze problems (“Genchi Genbutsu”), move forward to “challenge” conventional

ideas and old habits, to improve further (“kaizen”) through “teamwork.”

The framework provided by The Toyota Way enables the company to respond to, among

other things, the environmental challenges at various stages of the life-cycle of a vehicle. These

include greenhouse gas emissions, waste reduction, increased recycling and the banning of

hazardous substance use in parts and components. These challenges will have inevitable

consequences for Toyota's organization and employees, and are aiming to balance them with

their desire for future growth.

In 1992, the Toyota Guiding Principles were established in direct response to the

international initiatives agreed to at the Rio ‘Earth Summit’. This summit focused on the

potential for a clash between trade and environmental rules, and resulted in a statement of

principles about forest management, conservation and sustainable development.

The Toyota Guiding Principles are a cornerstone of their corporate management

philosophy. These principles were updated in 1997, to ensure they continue to provide Toyota

with a clear path towards achieving sustainable development. These principles have been

explored and developed in Toyota's Global Vision 2010, adopted in April 2002, which proposes

a series of long-term policies on the theme of “Innovation into the Future”. Toyota's Global

Vision 2010 guides management in its response to long-term social changes, combining

consideration for the environment, the benefit to their customers of value-added products and the

encouragement of their employees through shared prosperity and social involvement.

Based on the Guiding Principles, which codify Toyota’s business spirit, the Toyota Earth

Charter (adopted in 1992 and revised in 1997) embodies a comprehensive approach to global

environmental issues. It outlines Toyota's basic policy and action guidelines towards effective

environmental management and improvements. The Toyota Earth Charter underlines a

commitment to environmental excellence, not only through broad principles, but in concrete

examples of what can be done through action guidelines. In connection with the Toyota Guiding

Principles and the Toyota Earth Charter, a European Environmental Policy was developed as a



means of linking principles, goals, targets and action plans with management structures and

systems.

TKM firmly believes that employees are the main source of strength for the organization.

The human resources management in Toyota seeks to create a corporate culture where values

such as “Continuous Improvement” and “Respect for People” are fully reflected in all actual

corporate and individual activities. The company takes maximum care to ensure stability of

employment and strives to improve working conditions. To develop human resources and

improve the technical skills of its employees, TKM's young team members are regularly sent to

Japan, Indonesia, and Taiwan for training programs. More than 425 team members have

benefited from such programs at various Toyota plants worldwide. TKM also believes in

continuously improving its products and practices. Every team member is encouraged to give

suggestions to improve the product, efficiency of processes or working conditions. They are also

appropriately rewarded for the same. Thus TKM seeks to progress by empowering its

employees.

The first Toyota automobile to be sold was the ‘Qualis’, which re-badge Toyota Kijang in the

multi purpose vehicle (MPV) segment in January 2000. The name is said to have been derived

by combining ‘Quality’ and ‘Service’. Due to the high quality, capacity and comfort, it soon

became a best seller, selling over 21,000 units and garnering 35 per cent share in the segment.

Today Toyota Kirloskar sells 4 car models in India. It stopped producing the “Toyota Qualis” to

make way for the ‘Toyota Innova’, which was launched in India in 2005. The most expensive car

from Toyota is a very powerful SUV - the Land Cruiser “Prado”.

Toyota production system was born out of the need. The two main pillars that this system

is based on are, ‘Just-In-Time’ and ‘Automation’. The Toyota production system relies on the

absolute elimination of waste as essential. Toyota is by far the largest Japanese automotive

manufacturer, producing more than 4.5 million vehicles per year equivalent to one car

manufactured every six seconds. S



Toyota’s plant in India is situated at Bidadi, Karnataka, which is a green belt. Toyotas

commitment towards the environment is very high. Toyota all over the world provides a wide

range of innovative reasonably prized high quality products through an exclusive dealer’s

network with the best sales and after sales service at the global Toyota standards. Timely

customer’s feedback through the service network also allows the company to respond to

emerging customer needs and introduced new products tailored to the Indian market.

VISION STATEMENT

“Contributing to Indian industry and economy, thorough technological transfer, human

resource development and vehicles that meet the global standards at the cooperative price,

contributing to well being and stability of the team members. Contributing to the overall

growth for our business associates and the automobile industry”.

MISSION STATEMENT

“Our mission is to design, manufacture, and market automobiles in India and overseas

while maintaining the high quality that meets global Toyota quality standards, and offers

superior value and excellent after sales service. We are dedicated to proving the highest

possible level of value to the customers, team members, communities, and investors in India”.

Guided by principles of ‘Growing Together’ Toyota group companies have contributed to the

automotive industry in each country they operate in, through strong partnerships based on high

level of localization and technology transfer along with manufacturing and sales activities.

Toyota group of companies provide extensive know-how related to the product

development, manufacturing and sales through the technological transfer to local co-operations.



In addition, those corporations transfer technology to their affiliated companies. In this manner,

manufacturing and sales level are steadily improved on a broad basis. Toyota products made in

India have become interestingly competitive because of continual, compressive improvements

made in operations. The introduction of the world famous Toyota production system and the

progressive technology has advanced industrial innovation.

Toyota’s professionals in manufacturing and sales contribute to higher competitiveness

and the growth of the Indian industries in this Toyota’s Lexus and Toyota’ branded vehicles rank

annually among the world’s highest quality cars in third party surveys of customer satisfaction.

Recognition

At TKM, we look forward to improve continuously not only our products but also our

processes and service. Our obsession with perfection has been recognized by various institutions

such as JD Power and TNS Automotive, as well as automotive publications like Overdrive, as

the reason for the success of Toyota products in India and across the globe.

Local Community Development

At TKM, every effort is made to contribute to society. A residential school at Bidadi,

reconstructed by Toyota, now houses 75 students, mainly belonging to backward communities.

In the aftermath of the tragic earthquake in Gujarat, TKM and its dealers played a major role in

distributing food, clothing and relief in remote affected area. TKM also takes a lead role in

contributing to the community, distributing books and bags in local school etc.

Toyota Techno Park India

A global first for Toyota Park India (TTPI), in Bidadi near TKM is a non-profit industrial

infrastructure company conceived around the new Toyota Kirloskar motors automobile plant.

TTPI’s objectives are to “foster ancillary industries in India to help promote local industries



through technological transfer and expand employment opportunities. Five joint ventures have

already been established with Toyota group of companies in TTPI involving TK Kirloskar

Automotive Ltd., Stanzen Logisticas Center Pvt. Ltd., and Transystem Logistics International

Pvt. Ltd.

Toyota’s concern towards: Environment, Technology & Employment

Toyota is committed to manufacture technically advanced and environment friendly

products. Their plant at Bidadi surrounded by a green belt, meets high environmental standards

and has also obtained ‘ISO 14001’ certificate on April 2001.

Toyota has always believed that the best way to serve society by providing automobiles

that will not only make people happy, but will also be the environmental friendly. Waste water at

TKM is collected purified so that it can be used for fishponds and rise field. To realize high

quality vehicle production at responsible prices, Toyota seeks the best balance between human

resources and advanced robot technology.

Toyota Legacy (100 million vehicles)

Toyota legacy –meeting the automotive need of more than 160 countries accumulated

domestic production of 100 Million vehicles.

By October 1999, Toyota had reached domestic production of more then 100 million

vehicles and a worldwide cumulative production of about 112 million vehicles since its

naissance. This world class records is proof of our continuing effort to satisfy customer

expectations. Research and development has made possible technological advancement in



quality manufacturing, safety, efficiency, and environmental preservation all of which contribute

to enhancing customer satisfaction.


Fig.5 Milestones of Toyota



PROFILE OFSHODHA TOYOTA, HUBLI


Toyota Kirloskar motors ltd, In the presence of the honorable minister for large and medium

industries, Government of Karnataka, Mr. R.V.Deshpande, the Deputy Managing director to

TKML, Mr.K.K. Swamy and Director of Marketing TKML, Mr. Aoki inaugurated the “Shodha

Toyota” facility on 29 April 2001. Mr. Prasad Deshpande and Mr. Prakash Nayak promoted this

dealership. The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ganesh Kumar Nair, heads ‘Shodha Toyota’, who

look after all the 3s (i.e., sales, service and spare parts) activities of the organization.

Shodha Toyota consists of following board of directors:

Managing Director: Mr. Prasad Deshpande.

Chief Executive Officer: Mr. Ganesh Kumar Nair. (Fig.6)

Director: Mr. Prakash Nayak.

Mrs. Kalpana Kayak.

Mr. Meghana Deshpande..

Fig.6

It is engaged in sale and service to Toyota vehicles, and covers 12 district of north

Karnataka viz: Hubli, Dharwad, Gulburga, Bellary, Haveri, Hospet, Bijapur, Belgaum, Bidar,

Davangere, Bagalkot & Gadag. The customer base includes industrial houses, businessmen,

government departments and others. They have implemented quality management system

accordance with 9001:2000 and they are in the process of obtaining the desired result to meet the

international standards of the Toyota in India. It is one of the first of its kind in Hubli, similar to

other dealership.


Mr. Ganesh Kumar


‘Shodha Toyota’ is duly equipped with state of arts tools and equipments and necessary

spare parts from the day of commencement of this operation. It is the latest to join the network of

exclusively Toyota 3s dealership, which signifies sales, service, and spare parts under one roof,

is the Toyota’s approach to the customer care service. The sales, service, and spare parts officers

and the dealership have given extensive training by the Toyota.

In Shodha Toyota, they recruit the candidates by making the advertisements, reference

etc., and they have only one selection process for candidates. Employees are satisfied with all the

facilities in the company. It is one of the leading dealer automobile in North Karnataka. The

company has good market in the north Karnataka and rural area.

MISSION STATEMENT

“Total customer satisfaction as our mission”

To achieve this we will always strive to improve processing continuously & deliver quality

service as per customers needs and thus build “Customer for Life”.

Objectives:The organization has framed a list of objectives to achieve the mission statement.

Managing director in co-ordination with General Manager has defined following quality

objectives for Shodha Toyota:

To understand and define the customer vehicle requirement clearly and executing the order

as per the sales process to achieve 100% customer satisfaction.

To procure the spare parts and Materials from approved suppliers & keep the optimum

stock levels so that customer requirements are fulfilled.



To understand and define customer service needs clearly and executing them as per service

processes, as to achieve 100% customer satisfaction.

To allocate work to competent personnel and improve their competences through effective

training.

To improve the processes continuously at every opportunity.

To maintain pressure free environment, hygienic facilities and clean atmosphere with an

aim to serve the people and society.

To meet the requirements all interested practiced viz., suppliers, directors, employees.

Toyota Kirloskar motors ltd., suppliers, statutory and regulatory bodies with an aim to

enhance stakeholders satisfaction.



DEPARTMENTS OF SHODHA TOYOTA

The Shodha Toyota consists of following three departments:

Human resource department.

Sales department.

Service department.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

Recruitment

“Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating and

encouraging them to apply for the job in the organization”.

Recruitment represents the first contact a company has with potential employees.

Objectives:

To determine the present and future requirements of the organization in conjunction with

the personnel and job analysis activities.



Increase the pool of job candidates with minimum cost.

Mutt the organizations legal and local obligations regarding the composition of its work

force.

Increase organizational and individual effectiveness in short and long term.

Start identifying and preparing potential job applicant who will be appropriate candidates.

Evaluate the effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and source fro all types of the

job applications.

Source Of Recruitment:

Source of the recruitment in Shodha Toyota is classified into two brand categories:

Internal Sources External sources

a) Promotions Press advertisements

a) Placement agencies

b) Unsolicited applications

c) Recommendations

d) Employee referrals.

Selection



Selection is the next step to the recruitment this is the logical step to sleeting the qualified

and competent people to fill the job in the organization.

Selection process:

In Shodha Toyota they have one solution process means they have only one step in the

selection process. That is one interview. they conduct one interview to the candidate on that

interview they select the candidates.

Functions Of HR Manager Issuing appointment letters to the new employees and collecting necessary certificates.

Induction training for the newly receipted employees

Issuing I-cards to new employees

Maintaining attendance register

Maintaining the list of newly joined and dropped out employees in the last week of every

month.

Issuing inter office notice/circular whenever necessary

Make entry the details of PF and ESI contribution for every month.

Notification of national and festival holidays

Earned leave maintenance.



Organizing training as per the training schedule

Preparing leave plan for service staff every 45 days

Sending I HT-soft copy Report to TKM Bangalore, before third of every month and hard

copy reports should be sent before 10th of every month.

Submitting sales status report to TKM by 30th / 31st of every month

Submitting PF and ESI returns.

SALES DEPARTMENT

Sales manager

Assistant sales manager assistant sales manager

(6.dist) (6. dist)

It is an important part of Shodha Toyota. The Toyota sales process has six modules which follow

the steps in Toyota sales process.

These modules include:

Preliminary activities

Approach and qualifying

Presentation and demonstration



Negotiating and closing

Delivery

Follow up.

Preliminary activities:

Collection of the customer databases of the customers and generation of the yearly sales

target activity takes place. The general manager and the sales manager this activity. Sales target

are set for particular year further it also includes the monthly sales planning which depends on

the ability of the sales officers and the potential area for the monthly sales target will be allocate

to each of the sales officers.

Approach and qualifying:

Sales Territory of Shodha Toyota is distributed within 12 districts. Each district has one

assistant sales manager who collects the information of the customers and informs the sales

manager. Here then the sales manager sends direct mail advertising about the vehicle to the

customer. Qualifying includes whatever the customer is a potential buyer. People may be

targeted according to their standard of living destination and their ability to pay.

Presentation and demonstration:

Once the customer approaches the showroom the presentation demonstration activity is

carried out. This activity includes of the vehicles and features such as safety and security, style

design interiors information regarding the engine.

Negotiating and closing:



The customer decides to buy the vehicles the sales manager negotiates with him and

further documentation takes place. Once the customer is satisfied the deal is closed he will be

given some other trial benefits like financial options, free on year insurance etc.

Delivery:

After the execution of the above mentioned activities, delivery of vehicles take place.

Follow up

Responsibility of the show room extends not only till the vehicle is sold, but there is an

extended courtesy which includes a phone from the sales department on 3rd day, followed by a

‘Thank You Letter’ along with a phone call by the sales manager and a photograph taken on the

date of delivery of the owner.

Responsibilities of the sales manager: To plan and set the target and sales of vehicles.

Monitoring daily targets of all sales officers.

Conducting sales meeting regularly.

Monitoring daily customer /weekly report enquires.

Ensuring effective territory coverage by the sales officers.

Achievement of the sales target.

Identifying the inventory for event/ promotional activities with TKM.

Coordinating for customer relation management.

Motivating sales officers, their performance review and periodic appraisal.

Coordinating training program to ensure show room house keeping, perfect condition of the

display vehicles and test-drive veneries.

To attend management review meeting and indicating corrective and preventive actions.

SERVICE DEPARTMENT



Head customer service officer, heads workshop or servicing department he is assisted by

a service manager 3 service advisors, a controller and parts in charge then assist the service

manager gives it to any of the advisors, who then prepares a job card, jots all the problems, what

the customers complaints are about. He then advises for the repair, replacement, and the further

process of repairs and general check up starts that is when the responsibility is handed over to the

chief technicians who carry on the work and after all mechanical work is completed, the vehicle

is sent to washing where ever the outer body is given the water mad the interiors are given air

blow.

In the same way, accidents cases are dealt with and the procedures of repair goes hand in

hand with the insurance agent who inspects the vehicle and then gives orders for the further

repairs. On an average 15 vehicles are serviced in a day.

Functions Of Service Manager:The service manager is the leader of the dealer service workshop. He is responsible for

the following:

Plan, lead, organized and control the service department.

Analyze and ensure customer satisfaction.

Direct staff towards the customer oriented thinking.

Coordination service and ware house operation.

Observe dealership guidelines and fulfill the manufacturer’s priority tasks.

Generate profit for the dealership, monitor cost effectiveness, analyze major service.



Indicators and develop market for leadership.

Manage service shop infrastructure, environmental and safety issues.




RESEARCH METHODOLOGY


Definition Of The Problem And Research Objectives:

Preference of the customers with respect to the cars is very rapidly changing along with

the time. The customers are demanding exclusivity and newer aspects when it comes to buying

or owning of cars. This has put all the car manufacturers and dealers into confusion. They are

constantly looking for new ways to serve their customers. Hence the problem here is to: Identify

the changing consumer trends and preferences, with regards to cars and hence respond to them

profitably.

Objectives:

7) Identify the trend in ownership of the cars.

8) Identify the consumer interest to go green.

9) Spot the consumer tendency in searching information and required speed of response

from dealer to Consumer Query.

10) Study importance of various factors like brand, color, size, model etc., in consumers’

choice of car.

11) Recognize the consumer’s likelihood to purchase car over the internet online.

12) To find out the factors motivating consumer loyalty towards brand

Development Of The Research PlanThis calls for the decision to be made on the subsequent aspects:

Data sources:

The sources of data that were utilized in this project were both primary and secondary

data. The primary data was the data obtained by surveying the consumers, where as the

secondary data was the information about the existing customers of the dealer. The secondary

data was used to know the precedent preference of the customer.

Research approach:



This indicates the approach used to collect the primary data. Here, the research approach

used is the ‘survey research & observational data collection’, as it best suited to obtain the

required information to satisfy the project’s objectives.

Research instruments: Usually, for Marketing research there are two main search instruments in collecting the

primary data: Questionnaires and Mechanical devices. Here, the research instrument used was

‘questionnaire’. Most of the questions in the questionnaire were of closed ended type with

several options for the respondent’s convenience along with a few open-ended questions

intending short answers.

Sampling Plan:

After deciding on the research approach and instruments, the sampling plan was

designed, which called for decision on the Sample unit, sample size and sample procedure.

Sample unit: This indicates the target population that will be sampled. The target population

selected for this project consisted of all those people who owned a car.

Sample size: The sample size selected was “60”.

Sample procedure: The sample procedure selected was “convenience sampling”.

Contact methods:

Here the contact methods used:

- Telephonic interviewing.

-Personal interviewing.

Area of survey:

Shodha Toyota is the only dealer for north Karnataka, which includes 12 districts out of

which the most potential places: Hubli, Dharwad, Belgaum, Bellary were concentrated more.

Certain Sample units from other districts were also included.




ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION


Q1: Number of cars owned by respondentsFrequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid one car 28 54.9 56.0 56.0two cars 14 27.5 28.0 84.0

more than two 7 13.7 14.0 98.0none 1 2.0 2.0 100.0Total 50 98.0 100.0

Missing System 1 2.0 Total 51 100.0

Graph:1

56%

28%

14%

2%

one

Two

More Than Two

None

Series1

Interpretation: 56% of the surveyed population at least own car. 28% of the respondents

owned more than two cars and 14% of them owned more than two cars. 2% of them presently

did not have, but had possessed car but due to some reasons had sold it.

Q2: Frequently of the changing carFrequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid 1yr-3yrs 15 29.4 38.5 38.54yrs-6yrs 17 33.3 43.6 82.17yrs-9yrs 3 5.9 7.7 89.7

above 10 yrs 4 7.8 10.3 100.0Total 39 76.5 100.0




Graph:2

Interpretation: About 43.6% of the respondents wished to change their car after 4-6 years of

purchase, about 38.5% wished to change their car after 1-3 years of purchase. Therefore

about82% of them would change the car between 1-6 years of purchase. Maximum number of

the respondents in this group owned small cars.

7.7% of them wanted to change after 7-9 years of purchase and about 10.26% of the

respondents wished to change their car after 10 years of purchase. Hence, around 18% of them

preferred to change their car after 7 years of purchase, out of which about 14% of them were

customers who owned Toyota car.

Q3: Factors influencing consumer’s decision to change car


frequency of changing the cars

38.46%43.59%

7.69% 10.26%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

1yr-3yrs 4yrs-6yrs 7yrs-9yrs 10yrs and above

years

perc

enta

ge o

f cus

tom

ers

Series2


Graph:3

60%

50%

30%

56%

46%

34%

4%

8%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Stlye and looks

Driving and riding comforts

Upgrade status

Fuel effeciency

Service and maintainance frequency

Upgrade technology

Exchange offers

Cash discounts

financial schemes

Series1

Interpretation: 60% of the consumers changed their car for ‘Style and Looks’. 56% of them

changed their car for ‘Fuel Efficiency’. 50% of them changed their car for the sake of ‘Driving &

Riding Comforts’, 46% of them change car for the sake of ‘Increased Service and Maintenance

Costs’. 34% of the people change car to upgrade themselves with new technology and about 30%

of the people change it to upgrade status. Only 8% of the change it for cash discounts and 4% of

the population change car for the good financial schemes and exchange offers available.

Q4: The extent to which consumers agree with the statement that, “The car you

drive reflects your societal status”.Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Strongly agree 7 13.7 14.0 14.0Agree 22 43.1 44.0 58.0



Neither agree nor disagree 6 11.8 12.0 70.0Disagree 14 27.5 28.0 98.0

Strongly disagree 1 2.0 2.0 100.0Total 50 98.0 100.0


Graph:4

14%

44%

12%

28%

2%

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither Agree nordisagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Series1

Interpretation: 44% of the population ‘agrees’ with the statement where as 28% of them

‘disagree’. 14% of ‘strongly agree’ where as only 2% of them ‘strongly disagree’.

About 12% of the surveyed population say that they ‘neither agree nor disagree’ with the

statement that the car they drive reflects their societal status.

Q5: Speed at which the customer wants the response from the dealer

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid immideately 2 3.9 10.0 10.0

within 1 hour 5 9.8 25.0 35.0within 24 hours 6 11.8 30.0 65.0within 48 hours 4 7.8 20.0 85.0

more than 48 hours

3 5.9 15.0 100.0



Total 20 39.2 100.0 Missing System 31 60.8

Total 51 100.0

Graph:5(PTO)

Interpretation: 30% of the respondents want the reply form the dealer for the forwarded query

within 24 hours. 25% of them demand the response for the query within one hour, and 20% of

the people want their queries to be answered within 48 hours. 15% of the customers are ready to

wait more than 48 hours for the response of the dealer to their queries where as 10% of the

respondents demand that their quires must be responded by the dealer immediately. Therefore,

65 % of respondents need the quires to be responded within a day and about 35% of them can

wait till 48 hours.



Q6: The reaction of the customer if he does not get the information sought, in specified the time.

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid wait patiently 26 51.0 53.1 53.1change the brand 5 9.8 10.2 63.3change the dealer 9 17.6 18.4 81.6

change both brand and dealer

3 5.9 6.1 87.8

opt for the competitors car 5 9.8 10.2 98.0other reaction 1 2.0 2.0 100.0

Total 49 96.1 100.0 Missin

gSystem 2 3.9

Total 51 100.0

Graph:6

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Wai

tpa

tient

ly

Cha

nge

bran

d

Cha

nge

deal

er

Cha

nge

both

bra

ndan

d de

aler

Opt

com

petit

ors

car

Oth

erre

actio

n

Series2



Interpretation: About 54% of the respondents say that they are ready to ‘wait patiently’ for

the reply; about 19% say that they would be ‘changing the dealer’ if they did not get the response

from the dealer on specified time. 10.20% of the population would ‘change the brand’ and again

10.20% of the people would go for the ‘competitor’s car’. About 7% of the customers would opt

to ‘change both brand and dealer’

The above two questions i.e., Q5 and Q6 are cross tabulated below using the SPSS software to

get the following results.

CROSS TABULATION

Action of customer against the dealer for not / wrongly providing the information sought Total

The time within which the customer wants reply from dealer for the information sought

wait patiently

change the dealer

Change both brand and dealer

opt competitors car

immediately Count 0 1 0 1 2 % within The time

within which the customer wants reply from dealer for the information sought

.0% 50.0% .0% 50.0% 100.0%

within 1 hour Count 4 0 0 1 5 % within The time


80.0% .0% .0% 20.0% 100.0%

within 24 hours Count 4 0 1 1 6



% within The time within which the customer wants reply from dealer for the information sought

66.7% .0% 16.7% 16.7% 100.0%

within 48 hours Count 3 0 0 1 4 % within The time


75.0% .0% .0% 25.0% 100.0%

more than 48 hours Count 2 0 1 0 3 % within The time


66.7% .0% 33.3% .0% 100.0%

Total Count 13 1 2 4 20 % within The time


65.0% 5.0% 10.0% 20.0% 100.0%

Q7: Level of motivation that each of the specified factors provide to the customer

to purchase another car from same dealer.

Graph:8


10%

26%

62%

18%

14%

8%

28%

20%

42%

50%

30%

46%

50%

42%

50%

56%

48%

24%

8%

36%

36%

50%

22%

24%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Highly motivatesMotivatesDosent motivate


Interpretation: ‘Popularity of the dealership name’ highly motivates only 10% of the

consumers, where as 42% of them say it would motivate them and 48% conclude that it is not a

motivational factor to buy another car from same dealer. . ‘Dealers trustworthiness’ is the factor

of high motivation to 26% of the people, it motivate 50% of the people and doesn’t motivate

remaining 24% of them. The ‘service quality’ is the one which highly motivate 62% of the

population; 30% of them say it would motivate them and the remaining 8% say that it would not

motivate them. ‘Hospitality and friendliness of the sales staff’ highly motivates only 18% of the

consumers, the same would motivate 46% of them, and to the remaining 36% it is not a

motivating factor. ‘Knowledge of the sales staff’ would highly motivate only 14% of the

population, where as to 50% of population it just motivates and to the remaining 36% it would

not be a motivating factor. ‘Awareness of my history to the dealer’ would highly motivate only

to 8% of the population, motivates 42% of the people, and will not motivate the remaining 50%

of them. ‘Experience of previously purchased car from same dealer’, highly motivates only 28%

of the consumers, motivates 50% of the consumers and doesn’t motivate 24% of them. ‘Good

Personalized Communication’ highly motivates 20% of the respondents, motivates 56% of the

respondents and will not motivate 24% of the respondents to buy another car from same dealer.

Q8: Preference of the customers to pay extra to get extra features while buying

the car?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid yes 32 62.7 64.0 64.0

no 18 35.3 36.0 100.0Total 50 98.0 100.0




Graph:9

Yes64%

No36%

Interpretation: 64% of the customers are ready to pay extra to get extra features in car where

as the rest 36% of the customers do not prefer to pay extra. That is they want extra features of the

car with zero cost.

Q9: Through which media do you collect the information about cars?

Graph:10

58%

38%

12%

12%

2%

40%

22%

4%

TV

Print Media

Car dealer

Internet

Finance service broker

Family and Friends

Automotive magazines

Others

Series1

Interpretation: 58% of the respondents surveyed said that TV is the first main source from

which they collect the information about the cars, 40% of them said that they ‘family and



friends’ is the important source from which they gather information on cars. To 38% of the

respondents ‘print media’ is found to be the source of information on cars. 22% of the consumers

refer the ‘automotive magazines’ for information on cars. 12% of them get the information from

‘internet’ and another 12% of them another 12% of them collected it from the car dealers. Other

sources accounted to only 4%.

Q10: Colour and Brand of car preferred by the consumersColour: Graph:12

White45%

Black16%

Red14%

Silver13%

Champagne5%

Grey7%

White

Black

RedSilver

ChampagneGrey

Interpretation: From the pie chart above it is clear that 45%of the consumers opted for

‘White’ colour; 16%, 14% and 13% of the consumers preferred ‘Black’, ‘Red’ and ‘Metallic

silver’ colours respectively. 7% preferred to go for ‘Grey’ colour whereas only 5% said that they

preferred ‘Champagne’ colour.

Brand:Graph:13


Maruti36%

Honda9%

Toyota20%

Skoda9%

Chevrolet0%

Tata17%

Mahendra3% Hyundai

6%HyundaiMarutiHondaToyotaSkodaChevroletTataMahendra


Interpretation: 36% of the population preferred ‘Maruti’ brand of car, further 20% of them

favored ‘Toyota’ brand of cars, 17% of them went for ‘Tata’. About 9 % of the consumers

preferred ‘Skoda’ another 9% of them went for ‘Honda’ brand. Only 6%, 3%, and 0% of them

were towards ‘Hyundai’, ‘Mahindra’ and ‘Chevrolet’ brands respectively

Q11: Preference of the above-mentioned colour is because:

Graph:14



0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Manypeople are

using it

It makesme feelsuperior

Attractspeolple'sattention

Upcomingfashion

I like It Othersselect itfor me

otherreason

Series1

Interpretation: 53% of the customers preferred particular colour because ‘they liked it’.

Around 37% of them

Q12: The reasons why the customers shift to different Brand:

Graph:15

59.18%16.33%

18.37%30.61%

40.82%16.33%

38.78%42.88%

30.61%28.57%

32.65%24.49%

20.41%

Vehicle qualityIt fits personal needs

Experiment something newExperience luxury

Fuel effeiciencyPopularity of brand name

SafetyAfter sales service

Exterior designPrice of vehicle

FeaturesInterior design

Size of car

Series1

Interpretation: According to about 60% of the consumers ‘Vehicle quality’ is the most

important reason why they shift to different make or brand. For about 43% of consumers ‘After



sales service’ stood the main reason for shifting brand. Further, for about 41% of the consumers

‘Fuel efficiency’ happens to be the reason for changing the brand. For 38.78% of the people

‘Safety’ was the factor which was important. ‘Features’ in the car was the reason for 32.65% of

the consumers to shift the brand. 30.61% provided the reason of ‘Exterior design’ and again

another 30.61% of them gave the reason of ‘Experience luxury’. 28.57%, 24.49% and 20.41%

shifted the brand because, ‘Price of car’, ‘Interior design’ and ‘Size of the car’ were the reasons

respectively. For 16.33% of them the reason for changing car stood ‘Popularity of brand name’

and again another 16.33% changed it to fit to their personal needs.

Q13: Consciousness about environment friendly car/ fuel-efficient car among

the respondents?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid very conscious 15 29.4 30.6 30.6

conscious 22 43.1 44.9 75.5neither conscious nor

unconscious7 13.7 14.3 89.8

unconscious 5 9.8 10.2 100.0Total 49 96.1 100.0


Graph:16

Very conscious

Conscious

Very unconscious

Unconscious

Neither conscious nor unconscious

0.00%5.00%10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%50.00%

Series1



Interpretation: From the above graph it is clear that 45% of the respondents are ‘Conscious’

& 30% of them are ‘Very Conscious’. About 15% of the population is ‘Neither Conscious Nor

Unconscious’. Only 10% of the population is unconscious about the “Green Cars”. And 0% of

the population is ‘Very Unconscious’.

Q16: Consumers currently own fuel-efficient car / planning to buy / seriously

thing to buy fuel-efficient car:

Graph:17

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid currently own 16 31.4 66.7 66.7

planning to buy 6 11.8 25.0 91.7thinking seriously 2 3.9 8.3 100.0

Total 24 47.1 100.0 Missing System 27 52.9

Total 51 100.0

Currently owning67%

Planning topurchase

25%

Seriously thinking8%

Interpretation: Consumers currently owning the ‘fuel efficient car’ account to 67%. Those

who are planning to purchase account to 25% and those who are seriously thinking about

possessing a fuel efficient car account to only 8%.



Q17: Way selected by the customers while purchasing car:

Frequency

Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid personal visit 47 92.2 94.0 94.0over internet 2 3.9 4.0 98.0

over telephone 1 2.0 2.0 100.0Total 50 98.0 100.0


Graph:18

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Series1 94% 4% 2% 0% 0%

Personal visit

Internet Telephone Some other person

Other way

Interpretation: 94% of the customers preferred to ‘personally visit’ the dealer to purchase car.

Only 4% of the population preferred to purchase car over ‘internet’ and 2% made it over

‘telephone’.

Q18: What would motivate you to buy cars over internet?



Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid ability to contact concerned person

7 13.7 14.0 14.0

ability to negotiate price online 3 5.9 6.0 20.0delivery to home or the nearest

location1 2.0 2.0 22.0

ability to see photos / vedios of the cars

2 3.9 4.0 26.0

ability to compare cars online 3 5.9 6.0 32.0ability to get quotations 4 7.8 8.0 40.0

nothing motivates 29 56.9 58.0 98.08 1 2.0 2.0 100.0

Total 50 98.0 100.0 Missin

gSystem 1 2.0

Total 51 100.0

Graph:19

14%

6%

2%

4%

6%

8%

58%

2%

Ability to contact concerned person

Ability to negotiate price online

Delivery to home or nearest location

Ability to see photos and videos of cars

Ability to compare cars online

Ability to get quotation

none

All

Series1

Interpretation: 58% of the people replied that nothing would motivate them to buy car over

internet. However, ‘Ability to contact concerned person’ motivates 14% of the surveyed

population. Further, 8% of the respondents were likely to be motivated by ‘Ability to get

quotations’ and 6% were likely to be motivated by ‘Ability to compare cars online’. Another 6%



felt that ‘Ability to negotiate price online would motivate to some extent and around 4%

demanded ‘Ability to see photos and videos of cars’ both in use and out of use. 2% of the

respondents said that the facility of getting ‘Delivery to home or nearest location’ would

stimulate them to use net and another 2% of the respondents felt that all the facilities are

essential.

Q19: Importance of personalized communication with the dealer to the customer

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid very important 21 41.2 43.8 43.8important 23 45.1 47.9 91.7

neither important nor unimportant

2 3.9 4.2 95.8

unimportant 2 3.9 4.2 100.0Total 48 94.1 100.0

Missing

System 3 5.9

Total 51 100.0

Graph:20



Very important

Important

Neither important nor unimportant

Unimportant

Very unimportant

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

Series1

Interpretation: About 50% and 47% of the respondents say that personalized communication

is ‘important’ and ‘very important’ respectively. About 14% of them say that it is ‘Neither

important nor unimportant’ again 14% of them say that it is unimportant. The respondents saying

that it is ‘very unimportant’ accounts to 0%.

Q20: Consumers are ready to share information with the dealer regarding:

Graph:21



0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Futu

reve

hicl

epr

efer

ence

s

Con

tact

info

rmat

ion

Veh

icle

buyi

nghi

stor

y

Futu

repu

rcha

sein

tent

ion

Prio

rre

asea

rch

hist

ory

Life

styl

ein

form

atio

n

Abo

utne

eds

and

pref

eren

ces

Series1

Interpretation: About 57% of the population is ready to share the information about ‘Future

vehicle preferences’, and about 48% 0f the respondent’s want to share with the dealer about the

‘needs and preference’. Around 18% of the respondents prefer sharing information about their

‘Vehicle buying history’, and around 15% prefer sharing ‘Future purchase intention’ and again

another 15% want to share about ‘Future purchase intention’. 12% and about 18% of the prefer

sharing information on ‘Life time information’ and ‘Prior research history’ respectively.

Q21: Consumers expect the following things out of the dealer, from whom they

buy their car:

Graph:22



54.55%43.18%

12.50% 20.83% 29.17% 25.00%

60.42% 56.25%

45% 56%87% 79% 70.83% 75.00%

39.58% 43.75%

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

120.00%

Series2Series1

Interpretation: 54% of the consumers expect service reminders where as 45% of the

respondents do not. 48% of the respondents expect ‘Post test drive survey’ where as 56% do not.

Only 12.5% of them want ‘Email newsletters’ from the dealer where as 87% of them did not.

20% of the respondents expect ‘News letter via post mail’ where as about 79% of them do not.

About 29% of the consumers expect ‘Welcome pack after purchase’ where as about 71% do not

expect. 25% of the consumer expect ‘Invitations to special events’ where as 75% did not expect.

About 60.42% of the customers demand ‘Customer satisfaction survey after service’ where as

about 39.5 did not expect. Around 56% expected ‘Customer satisfaction survey after purchase’

where as about 43% did not expect.

Q22: The importance of the various factors to the customer while choosing car:



Graph:23

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Very unimportant

Unimportant

Neither important norunimportantImportant

Very important

Interpretation: ‘size’ is very important to about 54% of the consumers and is important to

about 38% of them. ‘Free accessories’ is very important to about 14% of the consumers and is

important to 48% of them. 36% say ‘cash discount’ is very important and to 34% of them it is

important. 74% of the respondents say ‘Reliability of the brand’’ is very important and 16% say

it is important. ‘Safety’ is very important to about 72% and 24% of them say it is important.

‘Price of the car’ is very important to 40% of the consumers and 50% of them say it is important.

‘Exterior design’ is very important to 46% and another 46% of them say it is important. ‘Interior

design’ is very important to 44% of the customers and to 50% of the respondents say it is



important. 44% of the respondents say ‘Interior design’ is very important and 50% of them say it

is important. ‘Warranty coverage’ is very important to 62% of the respondents and to about 30%

of the consumers say it is important. 30% of the consumers say ‘’Low finance rates’ is very

important factor in the vehicle choice and 28% say it is important. ‘Colour of vehicle’ is very

important to 52% of the consumers and to 32% of the consumers it is important.20% of the

respondents say ‘Road tax’ is very important and 54% say it is important. To 76% of the

consumers ‘Fuel efficiency’ is very important and 24% say it is important. 68% of the

respondents say ‘Engine quality’ is very important and 28% say it is important. 42% of them say

‘Vehicle availability’ is very important and 44% of the say it is important. 38% of them say

‘Product future and options’ is very important and 48% say it is important.




FINDINGS


The following significant things were found:

Almost all of the respondents, who were surveyed, possessed at least one car and

majority of the people change car after 1 year and before 6th year of purchase. Among

them majority of the people comprised owners small car owners. Those who wished to

change car after 7 years of purchase accounted to about 18%, out of which only the

consumer who owned cars accounted to about 14%.

The factors that influence the most on the people to change their car are: Style and looks

(60%), Fuel efficiency (56%), Driving and riding comforts (50%), and to considerable

extent the service and maintenance frequency (46%) would also influence the

consumers.

In total, 58% of the people agree that the car they drive reflects their societal status.

Total 65% of the customers want their information within one day where as the rest say

they can wait more than 48hrs.

About 57% of the customers say that they are ready to wait patiently to dealers response

for the information sought. The rest percentage of the customers my change brand, or

may change dealer or change both brand and dealer or may opt the competitor’s car. A

few might respond in other way.

The cross tabulation between ‘ the time within which the customers wanted reply’ and

‘their reaction if they did not get the response in specified time’ gave interesting result

that, out of every 20 customers seeking information on specified time, the dealer would

be loosing 6 of them fro not providing information on said time to the customers.



‘Good personalized communication’ is one of the important aspects, which motivated

the dealer’s existing customers to buy another car from same dealer. ‘Quality service’ is

the next vital aspect, which highly motivated the consumers.

The highest preferred type of engine was found to be the ‘diesel engine’ 50%. Next came

the ‘petrol engine’, which accounted to 40%.

Majority of the people (64%) preferred paying extra money to get extra features in the

car they want to buy.

Majority of the people (52%) were reluctant to spend extra money on accessories.

Television, Family and friends and Print media were found to be the main sources from

which the consumers collected the information on cars and they accounted to 58%, 40%

and 38% respectively.

The customer who preferred ‘White colour’ accounted to 45%. 16%, 14% and 13% of

the people opted ‘Black’, ‘Red’ and ‘Silver’ respectively. According to 53% of the

consumers this preference in the colour is mainly because they ‘like it’, according to

about 37% of the consumers it is because it ‘makes them feel superior’ and according to

about 35% of them it is because they feel that these colours ‘attract peoples attention’.

About 60% people opinion is that ‘Vehicle Quality’ is the main factor, which makes

them more brand loyal. Furthermore, for around 43% of the consumers ‘After sales

service’ is the main factor that makes them more brand loyal then comes ‘Fuel

efficiency’.

Around 76% of the consumers are conscious about the fuel-efficient cars.



67% of the consumers currently own Fuel-efficient cars

Around 94% of the consumers prefer to personally visit the dealership firm to buy the

car. That is they want to touch and feel the product personally and converse with the

concerned person.

There are very less consumers using net for buying cars. 58% of the people are reluctant

to use net and say that nothing can motivate them. Among the minimums, the highest

percentage i.e., 14% of them say that ‘Ability to contact concerned person over net’

might motivate them to use net more.

About 57% of the customers prefer to share with the dealer the information about

‘Future vehicle preference’ and around 47% like to share about their ‘needs and wants’.

Majority of the consumers expect the dealer to carry out customer satisfaction survey

after sale and after service and also send them service reminders via telephone/e-mail.




RECOMENDATIONS


The following are the recommendations to the company. These recommendations are obtained

based on the analysis of the findings.

EXCHANGE OFFERS:

The company must conduct exchange offers for the Toyota big car owners (existing

customers) who have completed their 6 years after purchase and to those who have

completed 4 years after purchase in case of the small cars.

PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Promotional activities must emphasize chiefly on style and looks, driving and riding

comforts, societal status and fuel efficiency. Using TV and print media largely for

advertisements would make the company profitable.

RESPONDING QUICKLY TO CONSUMER QUERIES:

Improve ability to respond quickly to consumer queries. An effective lead management

is very important than ever. An integrated continuous approach to lead management can

significantly improve conversion rates and decrease the overall cost of selling cars.

GETTING MOST OUT OF WEB:

Get the most out of the web. With at least some consumers who consider buying their

vehicles online. Integrate C2C tools more tightly into the marketing mix.

PERSONALIZED COMMUNICATION:

Personalize communication with customers do not mass customize. This can have a

positive impact on the vehicle repurchase decisions. Hence, effective CRM program and

the use of advanced technologies would increase effectiveness and efficiency and

improve delivery of services to the consumer. This calls for careful and effective

management of customer information such as personal profiles.



IMPROVING CUSTOMER LOYALITY:

Focus on improving customer loyalty. Improved hospitality and friendliness of sales

staff and service of high quality must be provided, as they are the main factor that boosts

consumer loyalty.

IMPROVE SHOWROOM ATMOSPHERE:

Since 94% of them prefer personal visits, provide very comfortable and impressive

showroom atmosphere.

STOCK DEMANDED COLOURS IN CAR:

Stock more cars only of those colours that are demanded i.e, White, Black, Red &

Metallic silver. This reduces the loss of customer resulting from shortage of demanded

color cars and helps to promote sales.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE VEHICLE DESIRED:

Concentrate more on improving the mileage of the car as customers are becoming

conscious about fuel efficiency.




CONCLUSION


CONCLUSION

Consumer attitudes about the vehicle buying process have become increasingly sophisticated, as

have the tools at their disposal. This has resulted in the need for automotive companies to

fundamentally re-think over their approach to critical areas such as sales, marketing and

advertising, post-sale communication, CRM and manufacturer/dealer collaboration. In some

cases this may involve a change of mindset as well as significant financial investments, but these

opportunities hold the potential for great returns and are, in fact, necessary in today’s market.

Addressing these changes and challenges will not be possible in a single step. This will be a

process of evolution. But companies that start this process well prepared with the right consumer

information and insight will be heading in the right direction.



BIBILOGRAPHY



Marketing Management ( Philip Kotler ).

Statistical Techniques (Gaur).

Icfai journals: Consumer behaviour.

News Papers.

Google Search: “Cars Online”, “Future car trends AOL Autos”



ANNEXURE


a project report on identifying car preference and buying behaviour of the car owners

Documents

vehicle dealer

car preference

car dealers

vehicle quality

vehicle shopping

vehicle choice

online vehicle

vehicle buyers