Grand Project Report on Suzuki Motorcycles

Emblem IDEA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY 3rd Floor, Aroma High School, Ashram Road, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad-380013 Centre Code: 01535

“A SURVEY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF SUZUKI ACCESS 125CC”

By RAVIKUMAR N. CHAVDA 520845152 A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Administration to Sikkim Manipal University, INDIA

SIKKIM-MANIPAL UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH, MEDICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL SCIENCES Distance Education Wing, Syndicate house, Manipal - 576104 1

STUDENT DECLARATION (ANNEXURE B)

I hereby declare that the project report entitled “A SURVEY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF SUZUKI ACCESS 125” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Administration to Sikkim-Manipal University, India, is my original work and not submitted for the award of any other degree, diploma, fellowship, or any other similar title or prizes.

Place: Date: _________________________

RAVIKUMAR N. CHAVDA Reg. No. 520845152

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EXAMINER’S CERTIFICATE (ANNEXURE C)

The project report of RAVIKUMAR N. CHAVDA entitled “A SUREVY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF SUZUKI ACCESS 125” is approved and is acceptable in quality and form.

____________________ ____________________ Internal Examiner

External

Examiners

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UNIVERSITY STUDY CENTRE CERTIFICATE (ANNEXURE D)

This is to certify that the project report entitled “A SUREVY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF SUZUKI ACCESS 125 ” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Administration to Sikkim-Manipal University of Health, Medical and technological sciences. RAVIKUMAR N. CHAVDA has worked under my supervision and guidance and that no part of this report has been submitted for the award of any other degree, diploma, fellowship, or any other similar title or prizes and that work has not been published in any journal or Magazine.

Reg.No.520845152

Certified ___________

_________ (Prof. Arnaz Bhatporia) 4

PREFACE In today’s competitive world the practical study forms an important part in each and every professional course. The MBA is a course in which the theoretical knowledge is backed by the practical study. That study is in the form of project. The Grand Project is one of the important parts of the curriculum. And each and every student has to work for the project. The Grand project enables the students to know more about the application of theoretical knowledge. The current situation of the market is made known to the students when they undertake the project. The project gives better insides into the application part of the theory. The companies in an industry and their operations can be better known by the students when they analyze the data. This project is on the survey on customer satisfaction level of Suzuki Access 125, Services of Suzuki dealer. We have analyzed the industry very deeply and carefully project.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This is really a matter of pleasure for us to prepare a project report as it was included in our course by the SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY. It gave us the opportunity to learn things practically what we learnt enterprise and their impact on the working of the company. I express my sincere gratitude to my faculty guide Prof. Ms. Arnaz Bhatporia of my institute and company guide Mr. Pareshbhai Mewada Marketing Manager SHIVALIK AUTOLINK PVT. LTD for his able guidance, continuous support and cooperation throughout my project, without which the present work would not have been possible. He continuously guided me till the last word of this project report and provided an excellent guidance to me. He made numerous valuable suggestions and corrections, which greatly improved the quality of work. The practical and theoretical knowledge that we have gained from them will help us in enhancing our career and managing things in the better way. I am immensely thankful to entire staff of college for their help and support they extended to me during the project.

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INDEX Sr. No. 1 2

3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20

CONTENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ABOUT THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY • BITRH OF AUTOMOBILE IN THE WORLD • INDIAN TWO WHEELER HISTORY ABOUT THE SUZUKI MOTORCYCLES • SUZUKI MOTORCYCLES GLOBAL HISTORY • SUZUKI MOTORCYCLES INDIA HISTORY • COMPANY PROFILE • MISSION OF SUZUKI PRODUCT OF SUZUKI MOTORCYCLES SHIVALIK SUZUKI (AUTHO, DEALEAR) MAJOR COMPETITORS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY SCOPE OF THE STUDY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION FINDINGS CUSTOMER REVIEW SWOT ANALYSIS LIMITATION RECOMMEDATIONS CONCLUSION BIBLOGRAPHY APPENDIX (QUESTIONNAIRE)

Page No. 8 10 11 15 26 27 32 34 35 42 53 56 62 69 70 71 77 97 98 99 100 101 103 104 105

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Satisfaction is a person’s feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from a comparing perceived performance in relation to his or her expectation. If the performance falls short of expectation, the consumer is dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations, he consumer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds expectation, the customer is highly satisfied or delighted. The study widely concentrates on the level of satisfaction amongst customers for which I did Exploratory Research to check the satisfaction level amongst the customers of Suzuki Access 125. This research was conducted in the Ahmedabad city. This research was done during the months of April and May. Hence the data displayed has been collected during the before mentioned period. To meet the research objectives, following activities have been performed.  An extensive search of relevant literature from news articles, internet,

books. This step guided the development of the methods and instruments for collecting data.  Designing the questionnaire.  Survey has been carried away by, one-on-one interviews. The Survey

included open-ended questions, dichotomous questions, and multiplechoice question.

 To know the image of product in the mind of consumer.

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 To compare the level of satisfaction before purchasing and after purchasing the Scooter.  To find out where people want to see the promotion schemes  To find out suitable location preferred by consumer  To know the most popular media for advertisement  To check the loyalty of the consumer towards the Suzuki brand  To know the most motivating factor for purchasing the bike  To know the preferable price from the customer  During this research it was found that Suzuki’s launched Access 125

has increased its market share by attracting new customers and helped to retain its old customers.

SMPIL, a company that is known for combining technology, quality and performance in their two wheeler, had taken an initiative to introduce some of their performance driven two wheeler in India this year. Suzuki has reported a growth of 47.66% in sales in the month of December ‘09 at 14806 units compared to 9986 units same month last year. This increase of sales is attributed to the tremendous response from the new product GS150R and ACCESS 125.

Suzuki would have to constantly innovate and come up with new products to maintain its dominance in the segment.

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BIRTH OF AUTOMOBILES IN THE WORLD The History of the automobile actually began about 4,000 years ago when the first wheel was used for transportation in India. Several Italians recorded designs for wind-driven vehicles. The first was Guido da Vigevano in 1335. It was a windmill-type drive to gears and thus to wheels. Vaturio designed a similar vehicle that was also never built. Later Leonardo da Vinci designed clockwork-driven tricycle with tiller steering and a differential mechanism between the rear wheels. In the early 15 th century, the Portuguese arrived in China and the interaction of two cultures led to a variety of new technologies, including the creation of a wheel that turned under its own power. By

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the 1600s, small steam-powered engine models were developed, but it was another century before a full-sized engine-powered vehicle was created. A Catholic priest named Father Ferdinan Verbiest is credited to have built a steam-powered vehicle for the Chinese Emperor Chien Lung in about 1678. There is no information about the vehicle, only the event. Since James Watt didn’t invent the steam engine until 1705, we can guess that this was possibly a model vehicle powered by a mechanism like Hero’s steam engine-a-spinning wheel with jets on the periphery.

Although by the mid-15 th century the idea of a self-propelled vehicle had been put into practice with the development of experimental vehicles powered by means of springs, clockworks, and the wind, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot of France is considered to have built the first true automobile in 1769. Designed by Cugnot and constructed by M.Brezin, it is also the first vehicle to move under its own power for which there is a record. Cugnot’s three-wheeled steam-powered vehicle carried four persons and was meant to move artillery pieces. It had a top speed of a little more than 3.2 km/h (2 mph) and had to stop every 20 minutes to build up a fresh steam. Evans was the first American who obtained a patent for “a selfpropelled carriage.” He, in fact, attempted to create a two-in-one 11

combination of a steam wagon and a flat-bottomed boat, which didn’t receive any attention in those days. During the 1830’s, the steam vehicle had made great advances. But stiff competition from railway companies and crude legislations in Britain forced the poor steam vehicle gradually out of use on roads. Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, both Germans, share the credit of changing the transport habits of the world, for their efforts laid the foundation of the great motor industry, as we know it today. First, Carl Benz invented the petrol engine in 1885 and a year later Daimler made a car driven by motor of his own design and the rest is history.

Daimler’s engine proved to be a great success mainly because of its less weight that could deliver 1000rpm and needed only very small and light vehicles to carry them. France too had joined the motoring scenario by 1890 when two Frenchmen Panhard and Levassor began producing vehicles powered by Daimler engine, and Daimler himself, possessed by the automobile spirit, went on adding new features to his engine. He built the first VTwin engine with a glowing platinum tube to explode the cylinder gasthe very earliest form of sparking plug. Charles Duryea built a motor carriage in America with petrol engine in 1892, followed by Elwood Haynes in 1894, thus paving the way for motorcars in that country. 12

For many years after the introduction of automobiles, three kinds of power sources were in common use: steam engines, gasoline or petrol engines, and electric motors. In 1900, over 2,300 automobiles were registered in New York, Boston, Massachusetts, and Chicago. Of these, 1,170 were steam cars, 800 were electric cars, and only 400 were gasoline cars.

In ten years from the invention of the petrol engine, the motorcar had evolved itself into amazing designs and shapes. By 1898, there were 50 automobile-manufacturing companies in the United States, a number that rose to 241 by 1908. In that year, Henry Ford revolutionized the manufacture of automobiles with his assembly-line style of production and brought out the Model T, a car that was inexpensive, versatile, and easy to maintain.

Herbert Austin and William Morris, two different carmakers, introduced mass production methods of assembly in the UK, thus paving the way for a revolution in the automobile industry. Austin Seven was the world’s first practical four-seater ‘baby car’ which brought the pleasures of motoring to many thousands of people who 13

could not buy a larger, more expensive car. Even the ‘bull-nose’ Morris with front mounted engine became the well-loved model and one of the most popular cars in the 1920s. Automobile manufacturers in the 1930s and 1940s refined and improved on the principles of Ford and other pioneers. Cars were generally large, and many were still extremely expensive and luxurious; many of the most collectible cars date from this time. The increased affluence of the United States after World War II led to the development

of

large,

petrol-consuming

vehicles,

while

most

companies in Europe made smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.

INDIAN TWO WHEELER HISTORY India is the second largest manufacturer and producer of two-wheelers in the world. It stands next only to Japan and China in terms of the number of twowheelers produced and domestic sales respectively. The Indian two-wheeler industry made a small beginning in the early 50s when Automobile Products of India (API) started manufacturing scooters in the country. Until 1958, API and Enfield were the sole producers. In 1948, Bajaj Auto began trading in imported Vespa scooters and threewheelers. Finally, in 1960, it set up a shop to manufacture them in technical collaboration with Piaggio of Italy. The agreement expired in 1971. In the initial stages, API dominated the scooter segment; Bajaj Auto later overtook

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it. Although various government and private enterprises entered the fray for scooters, the only new player that has lasted till today is LML.

Under the regulated regime, foreign companies were not allowed to operate in India. It was a complete seller market with the waiting period for getting a scooter from Bajaj Auto being as high as 12 years. The motorcycles segment was no different, with only three manufacturers viz Enfield, Ideal Jawa and Escorts. While Enfield bullet was a four-stroke bike, Jawa and the Rajdoot were two-stroke bikes. Enfield 350cc bikes and Escorts 175cc bike initially dominated the motorcycle segment.

The two-wheeler market was opened to foreign competition in the mid-80s. And then market leaders - Escorts and Enfield - were caught unaware by the onslaught of the 100cc bikes of the four Indo-Japanese joint ventures. With the availability of fuel-efficient low power bikes, demand swelled, resulting in Hero Honda - then the only producer of four stroke bikes (100cc category), gaining a top slot. The first Japanese motorcycles were introduced in the early eighties. TVS Suzuki and Hero Honda brought in the first two-stroke and four-stroke engine motorcycles respectively. These two players initially started with assembly of CKD kits, and later on progressed to indigenous manufacturing. In the 90s the major growth for motorcycle segment was brought in by Japanese motorcycles, which grew at a rate of nearly 25% CAGR in the last 15

five years. The industry had a smooth ride in the 50s, 60s and 70s when the Government prohibited new entries and strictly controlled capacity expansion. The industry saw a sudden growth in the 80s.

It was in the year 1954 that the Indian government ordered for total number of 800 motorcycles to man the Pakistani borders. In came the Bullets which were initially launched in England as a 350cc bike and it was upgraded to 500cc a year or so later. These bikes have remained unaltered, barring some cosmetic changes which have undergone over the years. Thus one can say without much of a doubt that the 1955 Bullet was one of the initial hits of the Indian two-wheeler industry and till today it continues to be a darling of the motorcycle enthusiasts. Enfield Bullet had a close competition with another sturdy bike named Rajdoot; as the bike was strong enough to handle the rough Indian roads. The company had roped in Indian Heman Dharmendra for the promotion of the bike. With more than 1.6 million vehicles on the road the Rajdoot motorcycle was one of the initial hits of the earlier years of two-wheeler history in the country. When heavy motorcycles were the order of the day, a relatively lighter bike had caught on the imagination of the Indian two wheeler user. Ind- Suzuki bike launched by the then TVS Suzuki group was an instant hit; however the bike could not sustain it's initial success due to the high import content in the vehicle and less of localization.

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In scooters Bajaj Chetak has been hugely responsible for adding momentum to the transport system of the country, till today it remains one of the most successful brands to have come out of the Bajaj stable. The scooter is named after the horse of legendary Rana Pratap Singh. These sets of two wheels have become a part of the Indian milieu and are often considered a representative of the Indian middle class aspiration. Very few two-wheelers have been able to emulate the success, which Bajaj Chetak has achieved over the years. Similarly LML Motors enjoyed a reasonable success with the launch of LML Select which came with new age technology and improved performance. The industry witnessed a steady growth of 14% leading to a peak volume of 1.9mn vehicles in 1990. The entry of Kinetic Honda in mid-eighties with In 1990, the entire automobile industry saw a drastic fall in demand. This resulted in a decline of 15% in 1991 and 8% in 1992, resulting in a production loss of 0.4mn vehicles. Barring Hero Honda, all the major producers suffered from recession in FY93 and FY94. Hero Honda showed a marginal decline in 1992. The reasons for recession in the sector were the incessant rise in fuel prices, high input costs and reduced purchasing power due to significant rise in general price level and credit crunch in consumer financing. Factors like increased production in 1992, due to new entrants coupled with the recession in the industry resulted in company either reporting losses or a fall in profits. India is one of the very few countries manufacturing three-wheelers in the world. It is the world's largest manufacturer and seller of three-wheelers.

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Bajaj Auto commands a monopoly in the domestic market with a market share of above 80%, the rest is shared by Bajaj Tempo, Greaves Ltd and Scooters India. a variometric scooter helped in providing ease of use to the scooter owners.

SEGMENTATION OF TWO WHEELER: A Two Wheeler Sector Sub-Segmenting in the three Segments .  Motorcycle  Scooter  Mopeds

TREND IN 2W VOLUMES BY CATEGORY:

TREND IN 2W SALES VOLUMES, DOMESTIC AND EXPORTS:

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Domestic Market Share for 2009-10 Passenger Vehicles

15.86

Commercial Vehicles

4.32

Three Wheelers

3.58

Two Wheelers

76.23

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GROWTH PROSPECTS AND KEY DRIVERS OF INDIAN TWO WHEELER INDUSTRY: The growth witnessed by the Indian two wheeler industry indicates the growing demand for low cost personal transportation solutions amongst the 300 million Indian middle class consumers. Despite this spectacular growth rate, the two-wheeler penetration (number of two wheelers per 1000 inhabitants) in India remains lower than other Asian countries. This fact provides an opportunity for continued growth in the market. India has the lowest Penetration of two wheelers as compared to countries like Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and China. In the present scenario, growth in the two wheelers Industry will be driven by several factors

RISE IN INDIA’S YOUNG WORKING POPULATION: With the rising levels of per capita income of people, the Indian two wheeler market offers a huge potential for Growth. This growth is relevant in the light of the fact that 70 per cent of India’s population is below the age of 35 Years and 150 million people will be added to the working Population in the next five years. The number of women in the urban work force is also increasing; this will lead to the Growth of gearless scooters.

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RISE OF INDIA’S RURAL ECONOMY AND GROWTH IN MIDDLE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS: The growth prospects of the Indian rural economy offer a significant opportunity for the motorcycle industry in India. The penetration of motorcycles amongst rural households with income levels greater than US$ 2,200 per annum has already increased to over 50 per cent. The current target Segment for two wheelers, i.e., households belonging to the Income category of US$ 2,200–12,000 is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10 per cent.

GREATER AFFORDABILITY OF VEHICLES: The growth in two-wheeler sales in India has been driven by an increase in affordability of these vehicles. An analysis of the price trends indicates that prices have more or less stagnated in the past. This has been part of the marketing strategy adopted by the manufacturers to gain volume, as well as conscious efforts adopted to bring down costs. The operating expenses of leading manufacturers have declined by around 15 per cent in the last five years. With greater avenues of financing, the customer’s capacity to own a two wheeler has improved.

RAPID

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE:

AND

SHORTER

The last five years have witnessed a sharp increase in new product launches in the two-wheeler industry. It is estimated that close to 50 new products

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have been launched by manufacturers during this period, filling up all price points and targeted at various consumer segments.

INADEQUATE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEMS IN MOST URBAN AREAS: The economic boom witnessed in the country and the increased migration to urban areas have increased the traffic congestion in Indian cities and worsened the existing infrastructure bottlenecks. Inadequate urban planning has meant that transport systems have not kept pace with the economic boom and the growing urban population. This has increased the dependence on personal modes of transport and the two wheelers market has benefited from this infrastructure gap.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE MARKET: Post 1991, the Indian two-wheeler industry comprising of motorcycles, scooters and scooterettes opened up tremendously. The Indian motorcycle industry has expanded at a 24% CAGR over the last five years, It Captured almost 80% of the market primarily at the cost of the scooter and Moped segment. The scooter segment though has witnessed a revival with the launch of scooterettes aimed at young women and adolescents. The two-wheeler market can be segmented into three categories on the basis of price – Entry segment (