A PROJECT REPORT ON “STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGIES OF MARUTI UDYOG LIMITED” SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISRATION OF Submitt! B" SHIKHAR TYAGI BBA #I TH SEM ROLL NO$%&'(()*( Submitt! T+ M,$S+m-. Kum/, Page 1o f 10 1
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8/14/2019 Marketing Strategies of Maruti Suzuk.doc Shani
I am student of IIMT College Of Management, pursuing BBA course. And towards
the partial fulfillment of it, I have undergone a project for the period of two months.
I have put my endeavor to ma e the o!jective accomplished in the stipulated time."espite all the limitations, o!stacles, hurdles and hindrances I have toiled my hand
to achieve the goal desired. Being a neophyte in the highly competitive world of
!usiness and in cooperate world, I have come across difficulties to ma e the
o!jective a reality. Anyhow with the ind help and genuine interest formally
supported !y e#treme support of my guide and college authorities, I am presenting
this hand carved efforts. The purpose of this project is to test the level of
competency of an employee !ased on the a!ove aspects. Competencies comprise the
nowledge, s ills, values, and attri!utes demonstrated through !ehavior that results
in competent and superior performance. Competency descri!es what superior
performances actually do on a jo! that produces superior results.
If anywhere something is found unaccepta!le or unnecessary to the theme you arewelcomed with your valua!le suggestions.
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8/14/2019 Marketing Strategies of Maruti Suzuk.doc Shani
At Maruti, they have a clear perspective on manpower. They see it as a uni6ue
resource, in the sense that optimal productivity of other resources depends largely on
the way human resources are utilised. The !asic philosophy of management thatunderlies the Maruti culture is that all employees of the company should !e moulded
into a team which then strives as one, to achieve commonly shared company goals
and o!jectives. To ma e this philosophy tena!le, the Company ta es several
initiatives. Inputs are sought from employees at all levels. They !elieve that
everyone should contri!ute to the formulation of company policies, goals and
o!jectives. &econdly, at Maruti, they encourage leadership in the !est sense of the
word. According to us, a leader is one who must !e impartial, must have the a!ilityto rise a!ove his own su!jectivity, and, most importantly, must practice what he
preaches.
They understand that the process of creating a sense of !elonging that all employees
can identify with is a lengthy one. To ensure that this translates into concrete reality,
they have ta en several simple !ut specific and well thought out measures. The first
step in this direction has !een the introduction of a common uniform for all
employees. Another measure is the creation of a common canteen where allemployees have lunch, stand in common 6ueues, and sit on the same ta!le. Common
toilets, common transport and similar facilities for all levels of employees are other
measures that reinforce their emphasis on genuine e6uality in the wor place.
At Maruti They do not !elieve in the notion of organisational hierarchies. As a
matter of fact, the management structure and systems in Maruti have !een designed
to promote decentralisation of authority. Maruti has a hori3ontal management
structure with only four functional levels of responsi!ility to facilitate 6uic erdecision ma ing.
Another focus area of the Maruti culture is the maintenance of a smoothly
functioning communication networ . Maruti !elieves that communication channels
!etween la!our and management cannot simply consist of having a la!our
representative on the Board of the Company. They have faith in the a!ility of la!our
to effectively participate in management and ma e constructive suggestions. To
encourage this, they ensure that there is a thorough dissemination of information at
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8/14/2019 Marketing Strategies of Maruti Suzuk.doc Shani
all levels, through newsletters or via a letter from the Chief 1#ecutive to all
employees. Meetings with the %nion are held regularly, and programmes !eing
contemplated !y the Company are discussed with the %nion. The &ahyog &amiti, acollection of representatives of non5unionised employees, training programmes in
4apan, 9uality Circles, productivity5lin ed incentive schemes, and an ethos of
discipline and teamwor , all contri!ute to the Maruti culture.
&everal measures of performance have made amply clear that Maruti has esta!lished
a truly healthy wor culture. They have met all project and performance targets
since inception. Their productivity levels are constantly improving. The Company
has had good la!our relations with employees from the very !eginning, and they
have !een successful in the e#port mar et. et, the Maruti culture is one that does
not !elieve in resting on its laurels. They adhere to the spirit of (ai3en, which states
that constant improvement is always possi!le. The most !asic tenet of productivity
that they hold dear is that : Today should !e !etter than esterday and Tomorrow
should !e !etter than Today:.
Maruti %dyog )imited *M%) was esta!lished in ;e! <=>< through an Act of
8arliament, to meet the growing demand of a personal mode of transport caused !y
the lac of an efficient pu!lic transport system.
&u3u i Motor Company was chosen from seven prospective partners worldwide.
This was due not only to their undisputed leadership in small cars !ut also to their
commitment to actively !ring to M%) contemporary technology and 4apanese
management practices *which had catapulted 4apan over %&A to the status of the top
auto manufacturing country in the world .
A licence and a 4oint 0enture agreement was signed !etween -overnment of India
and &u3u i Motor Company *now &u3u i Motor Corporation of 4apan in Oct <=>?.
The o!jectives of M%) then were@
• Moderni3ation of the Indian Automo!ile Industry.
• 8roduction of fuel5efficient vehicles to conserve scarce resources.
•
8roduction of large num!er of motor vehicles, which was necessary foreconomic growth.
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8/14/2019 Marketing Strategies of Maruti Suzuk.doc Shani
This structure ensures !etter communication and speedy decision ma ing processes.
It also creates an environment that !uilds trust, transparency and a sense of
!elonging amongst employees.
F+, I;? -t+,-%
Maruti %dyog )imited, a su!sidiary of &u3u i Motor Corporation of 4apan, has !een
the leader of the Indian car mar et for a!out two decades. Its manufacturing plant,
located some ?J m south of ew "elhi in -urgaon, has an installed capacity of
,JK,KKK units per annum, with a capa!ility to produce a!out half a million vehicles.
The company has a portfolio of << !rands, including Maruti >KK, Omni, premiumsmall car 'en, international !rands Alto and 7agon$, off5roader -ypsy, mid si3e
1steem, lu#ury car Baleno, the M80, 0ersa, &wift and )u#ury &%0 -rand 0itara
N)H.
In recent years, Maruti has made major strides towards its goal of !ecoming &u3u i
Motor Corporation/s $ and " hu! for Asia. It has introduced upgraded versions of
7agon$ 'en and 1steem, completely designed and styled in5house.
Maruti/s contri!ution as the engine of growth of the Indian auto industry, indeed its
impact on the lifestyle and psyche of an entire generation of Indian middle class, is
widely ac nowledged. Its emotional connect with the customer continues.
Maruti tops customer satisfaction again for si#th year in a row according to the 4.".
8ower Asia 8acific ?KKJ India Customer &atisfaction Inde# *C&I &tudy.
The company has also ran ed highest in India &ales &atisfaction &tudy.
The company/s 6uality systems and practices have !een rated as a :!enchmar forthe automotive industry world5wide: !y A 0 Belgium, glo!al auditors for
International Organisation for &tandardisation.
In eeping with its leadership position, Maruti supports safe driving and traffic
management through mass media messages and a state5of5the art driving training
and research institute that it manages for the "elhi -overnment.
The company/s service !usinesses including sale and purchase of pre owned cars
*True0alue , lease and fleet management service for corporates * ? , Maruti
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Many of their MA&&s are at remote locations where they do not have dealers.
In order to increase the penetration, in terms of sales volumes, of their
products in these remote areas, they are e#ploring opportunities to integratesome of the MA&&s into the sales process in order to increase sales of their
cars and related products and services such as spares and accessories,
insurance and financing.
-enuine Accessories
They have also entered the !usiness of mar eting car accessories under the
!rand name Maruti -enuine AccessoriesD, or M-A, through their dealership
networ . They see to provide customers with the opportunity to customi3e
their vehicles with accessories such as music systems, security systems, car5
care products and utility products.
7arranty and 1#tended 7arranty 8rogram
They offer a two5year warranty on all their vehicles at the time of sale. Their
dealers are re6uired to address any claim made !y a customer, in accordance
with practices and procedures prescri!ed !y them, under the provisions of thewarranty in force at that time. The dealers su!se6uently claim the warranty
cost from them. They analyse warranty claims from dealers and either claim
the cost from vendors, in the case of defective components, or !ear the cost
ourselves, in the case of manufacturing defects.
They offer an e#tended paid5warranty program mar eted under the !rand,
;orever oursD for the third and fourth year after purchase. They have
entered into arrangements with insurance companies to cover the costs ofwarranties offered under this program. The e#tended warranty program is
intended to maintain the dealer s contact with the customer and increase the
revenue generated from sale of spares, accessories and automo!ile5related
services. An effort is made during the period of the e#tended warranty to
encourage the customer to e#change his e#isting Maruti car for a new Maruti
car, or upgrade to a new Maruti car.
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As the largest manufacturer and leader in the small car segment, they continually
see new ways to utili3e their vast car parc, range of products and e#tensive sales
and service networ to e#pand the si3e of the passenger car mar et in India. They
have recently launched new initiatives to develop the mar et for automo!ile
insurance, automo!ile finance, leasing and fleet management, and pre5owned cars.
They aim to provide customers with a one5stop shopD for automo!iles and
automo!ile5related products and services, and !uild on their wide customer !ase and
e#tensive sales and service networ to ma e availa!le to their customers a widerange of Maruti5!randed services at different stages of ownership, which they refer
to as the EK degree customer e#perienceD.
Atit.i D ?+ B./?/% One5stop shop
Inspired !y the spirit of India. Atithi "evo Bhava, in &ans irit, means a guest is
li e -odD. It captures the Indian tradition of honouring guests. It/s also the
inspiration for the welcome you ll receive at a Maruti &u3u i dealership, and the
caring relationship they share with those who drive their cars. At Maruti &u3u i, you
will find all your car related needs met under one roof. 7hether it is easy finance,
insurance, fleet management. services, e#change Maruti &u3u i is set to provide a
single window solution for all your car related needs.
That/s why they have Maruti True 0alue, the !est place to !uy and sell
relia!le used cars. Maruti ;inance an agglomeration of the !iggest finance
companies in India !rought together !y Maruti &u3u i to ensure that the
dream car is within everyone/s reach. &imilarly, Maruti Insurance !rings
together some of the !iggest names in the car insurance industry to provide
insurance solutions to every type of car consumer. Then, finally, there is ? ,
which offers fleet related solutions.
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e#ports to around EK countries glo!ally and recently made a foray into the highly
competitive %( mar et !y e#porting its first shipment of >?K cars.
8ropelled !y the strong performance in year ?KKJ, +yundai Motor India is on the
threshold of yet another grand milestone of rolling out its ROne millionth car which
is e#pected soon.
Tata Motors
Tata Motors is one of the largest companies in the Tata -roup with a total
income of %&S ?. J !illion. More than million Tata vehicles ply on Indian
roads ma ing Tata a dominant force in the Indian automo!ile industry.
Tata Motors is India/s only fully integrated automo!ile manufacturer with a
portfolio that covers truc s, !uses, utility vehicles and passenger cars. It
would !e no e#aggeration to say that Tata Motors provides the wheels for
India/s growth.
Tata Motors has the uni6ue distinction of giving India its first and only indigenously
!uilt passenger car 5 The Tata Indica and the premium feature sedan 5 The Tata
Indigo. The Indica, launched in <==>, reached the ?,JK,KKK sales mar within J?
months of launch.
Tata Motors owes its leading position in the Indian automo!ile industry to its strong
focus on indigenisation. This focus has driven the Company to set up world5classmanufacturing units with state5of5the5art technology. 1very stage of product
evolution5design, development, manufacturing, assem!ly and 6uality control, is
carried out meticulously. Their manufacturing plants are situated at 4amshedpur in
the 1ast, 8une in the 7est and )uc now in the orth.
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The ;ord Motor Company has a rich legacy of translating !etter motoring ideas tothe roads. It has manufactured nota!le !rands such as the ;ord, )incoln, Mercury
and the 4aguar. It is among the top five industrial corporations in the world and is
availa!le in more than ?KK countries around the world.
;ord has entered the Indian mar et through a tie 5 up with Mahindra Motors to
manufacture the ;ord 1scort. A project that has !een set up with a investment of
$s.<HKK crore. ;ord India )imited is a su!sidiary of ;ord Motor Company, currently
;ord has a H>Q sta e, which is going up to =?Q soon. The Maraimalai agar 8lant
of ;ord India )imited, located roughly GJ .m.from Chennai, provides employment
to over ?KKKK people.The plant has the capacity to manufacture <,KK,KKK vehicles
per annum, e6uipped with state5of5the5art vehicle manufacturing technology from
;ord.
8resently offering seven different models, ;ord India )imited *;I) is catching up
fast with the Indian consumer. This is secured through a 6uality chec program
!ased on the principles of O0A 5 C * ew Overall 0ehicle Audit 5 Customer
wherein daily random chec s are conducted from a customer/s point of view. To !e
dou!ly sure, routine calls are made to dealerships to chec the 6uality of cars
delivered to them.
At Mahindra/s dealerships are present trained professionals who provide the
!est levels of service in India. Its intensive manpower training, advanced
service e6uipment and dedicated consumer satisfaction are the are its plus points which is !eing followed !y the entire industry.
Ac nowledgement has come in the form of the 4 " power <==H India Initial 9uality
and Customer &atisfaction Awards. These internationally acclaimed and recogni3ed
awards voted the ;ord 1scort as the Best 9uality car and the Mahindra ;ord and its
dealerships were rated the highest in Customer &atisfaction. This is an honour as it
its only the second time in automotive history that the same !rand2manufacturer has
received !oth the awards in the same year.
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-eneral Motors India, incorporated in <==G as a JK5JK joint venture company withthe C.(. Birla -roup of Companies, !ecame a fully owned su!sidiary of -M in
<=== when -MOC !ought the remaining shares. The company was restructured in
<=== and was converted from a 8u!lic )imited company to a 8rivate )imited
company. -M A8+ ))C currently holds >E percent of voting shares, and +olden
*Australia holds <G percent. The &8O !usiness was integrated with the main
!usiness in the same company in ?KKK.
In India, -M strengthened its presence with new product launches Chevrolet Optra
in ?KK and Chevrolet Tavera *Multi %tility 0ehicle in ?KKG. &imilarly in ?KKG,
-M India is e#pected to register a growth of =KQ over ?KK . 7ith sales volume
going up, the mar et share of -M India has gone to nearly ?Q. The sales volume in
?KK was <J,<JJ units while ?KKG figure is e#pected to !e around ?H,KKK units. In
?KKG, the company sold a total of ?E,<EE cars as against <J,<JJ cars in ?KK
registering a growth of H Q while overall passenger car growth during the year was
only around ? 5?GQ. These included =<=< Chevy Optras in 1ntry /"/ )u#ury sedan
segment, > E= Opel Corsas and >G<H units of the new generation premium multi5
utility vehicle *M%0 Chevrolet Tavera.
The e#isting -M India plant was originally !uilt !y +industan Motors. In <==G, -M
India entered into a JKQ 4oint 0enture partnership with +industan Motors and
moderni3ed the GJ,KKK5s6uare5meter plant near +alol, GJ ilometers northwest of
0adodara, in the western state of -ujarat. In ;e!ruary, <===, -M !ought theholdings of +indutan Motors and -M India !ecame a <KKQ su!sidiary of -eneral
Motors Corporation of %&A. The plant produces the Opel Corsa, Corsa &ail,
Chevrolet Optra, and Chevrolet Tavera. The Chevrolet ;orester and Opel 0ectra are
sold as CB%s *Completely Built in %nits and as imported from 4apan and -ermany
respectively.
Toyota Motor Corporation is the third largest automa er in the world. They
have G dealers in India and in "elhi they have ? dealers, first one is R&outh
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The glo!al automotive industry e#hi!its most of the characteristics of mature
industries and closely follows their !usiness cycles. 7hile vehicle industry sales
have !een strong for the past several years, they have started to slow recently due to
the current glo!al economic slowdown. "eteriorating economic conditions result in
a drop in consumer confidence, which 6uic ly impacts automotive sales due to their
!ig5tic et status and the relative low cost of e#tending the life of an e#isting vehicle
through maintenance and repair.
The advent of the Internet as a research tool *HJ to >K percent of auto consumers
research using the Internet has shifted power to consumers, further increasing
pressure on prices. At the same time, government regulation and consumer demands
for sophisticated features have increased development, production, and mar eting
costs. $egional economic fluctuations favor consolidation among car companies,
suppliers, and retailers 5resulting in fewer, larger companies that have more
complete product lines targeted at e#isting and new mar ets. Consolidation hasheightened competition in all vehicle segments. )ow5cost manufacturers are
e#panding !eyond their home mar ets with entry level vehicles, traditional
passenger car manufacturers are e#panding into the light truc mar ets, and lu#ury
manufacturers are moving down mar et with passenger cars and &%0s. As a result
of these product and mar et e#tensions, consumers find it difficult to e#hi!it !rand
loyalty !ecause vehicles have unclear !rand identities, similar features, and
compara!le prices. In addition, an overpopulation of dealers has resulted in local and
regional competition among same ma e dealers. This further reduces margins and
damages the !rand images the car companies spend large amounts of money to
!uild.
$elations !etween the car companies and their suppliers traditionally have !een
difficult. In response to competitive pressure, suppliers have !een forced !y the car
companies to provide higher56uality components at constantly lower costs. The
resulting decrease in margins and the reduction in volume due to slowing sales have
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increased the pressure to consolidate and forced some suppliers to the !rin of
!an ruptcy. "ealers too have a long history of adversarial relationships with the car
companies. Independent entrepreneurs who view some of the car companies withs epticism or serious mistrust, dealers !elieve that many manufacturer5sponsored
customer satisfaction programs are actually designed to force smaller dealers out of
!usiness or to gain control of customer relationships that the retailers !elieve they
:own.:
These difficult relationships have prevented car companies and dealers from
ma#imi3ing the lifetime value of their com!ined customers. There are few
incentives or efficient methods for dealers and car companies to share critical data,
resulting in ineffective management of product, service, and household information.
In addition, consumers receive conflicting mar eting communications from the two
groups, which results in reduced !rand value.
KEY INDUSTRY PAIN POINTS
• D =, /-i;> -/0 - /;! m/, t -./, 5 The long5term !attle for mar et
share continues to intensify. In the mature automotive industry, where
!usiness cycles drive sales fluctuations, mar et share is critical to
survival. Consumers are less !rand5loyal than in the past, and every
mar et segment has an increasing num!er of vehicle choices. To
increase sales and gain ground in the mar et share !attle, companies
must improve their a!ility !oth to ac6uire first5time customers and to
develop customer loyalty to their current !rands. To achieve theserelated o!jectives, companies must set an aggressive goal 5deliver the
!est cus tomer e#perience in the automotive industry.
Qu/0it" :,+!u=t-% In ovem!er ?KK<, they were one of the first automo!ile
manufacturers in the world to receive the I&O =KK<@?KKK certification. They
!egan to e#port products in <=>>, primarily in order to !enchmar our products against international 6uality standards. They have e#ported products
to appro#imately HK countries, including countries in 7estern 1urope. Their
products for e#port are manufactured using the same assem!ly line as our
products for the domestic mar et.
E1t ;-i? -/0 - /;! - ,?i= ; t +, % They !elieve that they have the largest
networ of dealers and service centers amongst car manufacturers in India. As
of March <, ?KK , we had <H> authori3ed dealers with ?G sales outlets in
<E< cities. They estimate their car parc to !e in e#cess of .J million vehicles.
To service this car parc, at March <, ?KK , they had G? dealer wor shops
and <,JGJ Maruti Authori3ed &ervice &tations, or MA&&s, which covered >=>
cities in India !ac ed !y 1#press &ervice Centers on K highways across the
country. In addition to the distri!ution of their cars, their dealership networ
is a critical resource in our efforts to provide customers with a one5stop
shopD for automo!iles and automo!ile related products and services such asautomo!ile finance, automo!ile insurance, Maruti5certified pre5owned cars
availa!le for purchase, and leasing and fleet management, in order to promote
customer loyalty.
B,/;! -t, ;>t.% They have !een present in the Indian mar et for almost
twenty years and have !uilt their !rand on the !asis of the values of trust and
relia!ility. Most of their principal competitors have !een present in the Indian
passenger car mar et for a significantly shorter period. Certain manufacturershave ceased to manufacture certain products shortly after introducing them, or
have left the mar et altogether. In contrast, they continue to support the
maintenance of their products. This has contri!uted to the strength of their
!rand. In ?KKK, ?KK< and ?KK?, 4. ". 8ower Asia 8acific, Inc. ran ed us o. <
in the India Customer &atisfaction Inde#, which assesses customer satisfaction
with product 6uality and dealer service. They !elieve that this was the first
time that a volume leader in the automo!ile industry anywhere in the worldwas ran ed first on the 4" 8ower Customer &atisfaction Inde#. ;O
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C+;-um , i- strictly, the ultimate consumer of a product, the ultimate user of a
product the person who derives the satisfaction or the !enefit offered. The
/consumer/ is not necessarily the customer, since there are often /customers/ in the
!uying2 distri!ution chain moreover, the consumer is fre6uently not the person who
ma es the !uying decision for instance, in the case of many household products,
where the housewife may ma e the purchase !ut consumption or use is !y the wholefamily. /Consumer/ is not normally applied to the purchase of industrial goods and
services where the customer is usually a corporate !ody. evertheless, consuma!le
goods are sold to industry for corporate purposes and the consumers of these goods
can !e identified for mar eting practice.
C+;-um , b ./?i+, i- the study of !uying ha!its or patterns of !ehaviour of
consuming pu!lic either in general or in specific groups.
The comple#ity inherent in understanding consumer !ehaviour has led to the
construction of models of the !uying process which indicate the stages
through which the consumer passes from the time he or she first !ecomes
aware of a need for a product or service to the time when a product is
purchased, a !rand selected, and the consumer evaluates the success of his
purchase decides whether to !uy that particular product and 2 or !rand again.
It the same time, such models usually indicate the social and psychologicalforces which shape the potential !uyer/s action at each stage in the process.
The two principal aims of such model !uilding are the prediction of future
!ehavior !ased on measurement of relevant varia!le and the e#planation of
this !ehavior in terms of theoretically relevant constructs.
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Brave people, puling the change. Innovators are very important communication.
E/,0" A!+:t ,-
$especta!le people, opinion leaders, try out new ideas, !ut in a careful way.
E/,0" M/ +,it"
Thoughtful people, careful !ut accepting change more 6uic ly than the average.
L/t M/ +,it"
& eptic people, will use new ideas or products only when the majority is using it.
L/>>/,!-
Traditional people, caring for the :old ways:, are critical towards new ideas and will only accept it if the
new idea has !ecome mainstream or even tradition.
The !i<<u-i+; +< i;;+?/ti+;- =u,? *innovation adoption curve of $ogers is useful to remem!er thattrying to 6uic ly and massively convince the mass of a new controversial idea is useless. It ma es more
sense in these circumstances to start with convincing innovators and early adopters first. Also the
categories and percentages can !e used as a first draft to estimate target groups for communication
purposes.
Di<<u-i+; , - /,=. <+=u- was on five elements@ < the characteristics of an
innovation which may influence its adoption ? the decision5ma ing process that
occurs when individuals consider adopting a new idea, product or practice the
characteristics of individuals that ma e them li ely to adopt an innovation.
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Target Mar eting, provides Focus for your !usiness. It helps to esta!lish
critical Operational goals and defines what must !e done to achieve them
W./t Cu-t+m ,- W/;t
• Mar eting is more than an activity, it is an attitude
• Instead of trying to get customers to !uy what the firm li es to ma e,
or happens to have on hand, the mar eting oriented firm tries to
produce or sell what its customers want which can be sold at a profit.
• "o not simply throw out everything that you now have and replace goods or
production machinery with completely new items.
• HOWE#ER AS YOU ANALY2E YOUR MARKET AND
CUSTOMER PROFILES AND SO GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF
THEIR WANTS DESIRES AND PERCEI#ED NEEDS YOU CAN
BEGIN TO REORIENT YOUR BUSINESS O#ER TIME TO TAKE
BEST AD#ANTAGE OF THESE NEW INSIGHTS$ CONSIDER
BOTH THE SHORT TERM AND LONG4TERM IMPLICATIONS OF
DE#ELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING THE RIGHT TARGET
MARKETING STRATEGY FOR YOUR BUSINESS$
Cu-t+m , Attitu! -
• ;or a long time, people have !elieved that advertising can !e used to change
people/s minds a!out what they want. This is an incredi!ly difficult processat !est, and an e#tremely e#pensive one. Because of these two factors, it is a
process that smaller firms simply cannot afford to pursue. Instead, it is much
more productive for any si3e firm to tune in to target customer attitudes as
they currently e#ist. Once they have identified the actual prevailing attitudes,
they can !egin to organi3e company resources ; ! ! t+ =+;-t,u=ti? 0"
/!!, -- /;! -/ti-<" t. - /ttitu! - t. " u -ti+; i-
"What are the existing customer attitudes?"
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7ith this as an o!jective, developing an understanding of e#isting customer
attitudes !ecomes essential, and their identification !ecomes an important part
of the mar eting process. Once these customer attitudes, needs or preferencesare identified, the entire firm can then organi3e itself to satisfy these needs as
completely and efficiently as possi!le.
T/,> t M/, ti;>
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In August, ?KK Maruti crossed a milestone of e#porting KK,KKK vehicles since its
first e#port in <=>E. 1urope is the largest destination of Maruti s e#ports and
coincidentally after the first commercial shipment of G>K units to +ungary in <=>H,
the KK,KK mar was crossed !y the shipment of JH< units to the same country. The
top ten destinations of the cumulative e#ports have !een etherlands, Italy,
-ermany, Chile, %.(., +ungary, epal, -reece, ;rance and 8oland in that order.
The Alto, which meets the 1uro5 norms, has !een very popular in 1urope where a
landmar ?KK,KKK vehicle were e#ported till March ?KK . 1ven in the highly
developed and competitive mar ets of etherlands, %(, -ermany, ;rance and Italy
Maruti vehicles have made a mar . Though the main mar et for the Maruti vehicles
is 1urope, where it is selling over HKQ of its e#ported 6uantity, it is e#porting in
over HK countries.
Maruti has entered some unconventional mar ets li e Angola, Benin, "ji!outi,
1thiopia, Morocco, %ganda, Chile, Costa $ica and 1l &alvador. The Middle51ast
region has also opened up and is showing good potential for growth. &ome mar ets
in this region where Maruti is, are &audi Ara!ia, (uwait, Bahrain, 9atar and %A1.
The mar ets outside of 1urope that have large 6uantities, in the current year, are
Algeria, &audi Ara!ia, &rilan a and Bangladesh. Maruti e#ported more than J<,KKKvehicles in ?KK 5KG which was J=Q higher than last year. In the financial year ?KK 5
KG Maruti e#ports contri!uted to more than <KQ of total Maruti sales.
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Corporates, don/t tal a!out e#ceeding customer satisfaction 5 that/s passe 5 the time
has come to Yda33le the customer/. But to do that, first you must get customer
relationship management *C$M in place. In the conte#t of India, this is very crucial
as the recent 7orld 1conomic ;orum $eport on -lo!al Competitiveness has ran ed
India G out of G= nations surveyed, on Ycustomer orientation/.
Managing customer relationships is not only comple# !ut is also multi5faceted and
thus calls for an inter5disciplinary approach. 8articularly, as in the ew 1conomy,the customer has !ecome very demanding and the emphasis needs to !e on !eing
consumer5centric. Technology solutions as applied to various front5end functions
could aid in !uilding a via!le lin !etween the organisations and customers
irrespective of geographical separation. This has to !e !ac ed with appropriate
systems and processes to mine the right type of data !y the right function in an
organisation.
Besides technology, systems and processes, another important lin is human
resource, If C$M is the ey, +$ would !e the nerve centre for any C$M activity.
At Maruti %dyog )td the first step for a company to enhance value through C$M
was to identify its target !ase. At Maruti, the categories which emerged were@
F Two5wheeler owners
F Customers ta en away from the competition
F &ervices sector.
After identifying the target, the ne#t stage was to !uild on customer relationships.
Maruti, therefore, !egan evaluating the current data!ase of consumers to identify
those who wanted Maruti service or !etter still, wanted to upgrade up the value
chain in Maruti products. Third, it !egan wor ing in tandem with the oil industry to
get data feed!ac on two5wheeler consumers5and identify those ready to move into
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;indings@ According to all the respondents they have proper information a!out their
most profita!le customers. Companies use Informal Meetings, &ales Interaction and
calls to collect relevant information needed to maintain good customer relationship.
The most effective companies li e Tata Motors use all the a!ove while most of othertrac the data during sales interaction. All the Automo!ile majors surveyed used
C$M software for trac ing Customer Information. According to the officials
Customer and &upplier ;eed!ac are gathered through Call Centers, Mails and
"irect Interviews. There are other methods too !ut the a!ove three are the most cost
W./t -t :- ./- t. =+m:/;" t/ ; t+ im:,+? t. t+t/0 1: ,i ;=
+< it- =u-t+m ,-
♦ According to the Maruti %dyog )imited Officials@ &ales e#perience is the
most important factor, accounting for H per cent of the &&I score, and
includes issues such as fulfillment of commitments and lac of hassles
during the sales process, overall honesty and integrity of the dealership
personnel and sufficient time to ma e the decision. Maruti entered the
Indian car mar et, to provide fuel efficient, low5cost vehicles, which wererelia!le and of high 6uality. It also offered customers a friendly sales and
after sales service. 7ith high customer satisfaction ratio and Total
automo!ile value these o!jectives shaped Maruti as !ig -iant in the field
of automo!iles.
♦ According to +yundai Motors *India Officials@ +yundai/s !ig hit was its
compact family car named &antro which !ecame a huge hit with its launch
and capture hearts of millions with increasing satisfied customers day !yday. 7hen +yundai forayed into the Indian mar et it moved 6uic ly to set
up a networ of dealers and service stations 5 it has close to ?EK of the
latter. &ervice was identified as a powerful differentiator to the way things
were done and word of mouth did the rest. It was one of the ways to eep
the +yundai customer within our fold. Also, these are advanced cars,
which can/t !e repaired !y a corner mechanic. +yundai offers service for
less, it/s easily reacha!le and allows fle#i!ility and customers appreciatethat. +yundai Motor India )td *+MI) launched Achieve 9<8<D 6uality
campaign on March ?G, ?KKE primarily focusing on achieving the -lo!al
o.< 9uality Brand image. The campaign has !een initiated across the
+yundai vendor fraternity. This new initiative will strengthen the 0endor
6uality organisation and will ensure the major part 6uality improvement
such as &i# &igma Activity, training and improve the Tier ? suppliers. The
campaign will also help the suppliers to improve their CJ& * C Correct
Container, Correct 9uantity Correct )ocation and J& &orting,
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8/14/2019 Marketing Strategies of Maruti Suzuk.doc Shani
• Colla!oration !etween vehicle manufacturers and dealers.
<. A strong feed!ac mechanism and interface for communicating with
customers. TATA Motors chose IBM as its partner to provide an
infrastructure solution. IBM created a &ie!el solution to provide a "M&
solution for TATA Motors and then provided a relia!le and scala!le IT
infrastructure for developing and deploying its "M& application. The IBM
solution has simplified the IT infrastructure for TATA Motors. The !enefits
include 5 low total cost of ownership, a more comprehensive view of
customers, enhanced customer e#periences and improved loyalty. 7ith
reengineered !usiness process, the company can also analyse customer
interactions and other information more accurately, improve capacity
planning and increase profita!ility. ;aced with increasing competition from
a!road, a cyclical !usiness environment, and the challenge of a widely
dispersed dealer networ , Tata Motors implemented &ie!el Automotive, a
comprehensive customer relationship management *C$M solution designed
specifically for companies in the automotive industry. &eamlessly integrated
with Tata Motors dealer management system and &A8 !ac 5officeapplications, &ie!el Automotive has delivered significant !enefits across the
e#tended organi3ation, including improved customer satisfaction, increased
revenue and productivity, and reduced costs. Apart from providing its
customers with high performance automo!iles, Tata Motors strongly
!elieves in customer safety. &everal cases have !een cited where passengers
driving Tata vehicles have !een saved after terri!le accidents. Tata Motors
esta!lished a crash5testing facility, the only one of its ind in the country, in8une in <==E. The small wor force of ?< mem!ers including engineers aims
to control the serious ris s and intrusions in accidents. The company !elieves
that this factor has !een vital to the success of the Indica and other products
under the company s passenger car unit. The ey things that the critical
people spend time on <. Commitment to 6uality manufacturing standards ?.
"eveloping new products . Customer &afety and satisfaction G. -lo!al
e#pansion orms.
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8/14/2019 Marketing Strategies of Maruti Suzuk.doc Shani
T & Automotive/s TC& &tudy has, since its inception in ?KK?, surveyed over ?J,KKK
car !uyers and has!uilt a si3ea!le sample !ase. &ome of the ey findings, indicators
and inferences from the ?KKJ study are@
8rogressive reduction in car ownership cycle5time from an average of E< months in
?KK? to J months in ?KKJ@ This shortened cycle5time is !ringing these owners for
repeat purchases sooner and will, therefore, further fuel the growth of the four5wheeler mar et. This trend is already visi!le in the growing additional2replacement
purchases. -rowth in additional *multi5car households and replacement purchases
up from J< per cent in ?KK? to EJ per cent in ?KKJ@ This will impact the volume
growth in higher5end segments as the current car owners show upward mo!ility.
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Increasing !udget for future purchases@ ;uture intenders with a !udget of $s E la h
plus have increased from GG per cent in ?KK? to J> per cent in ?KKJ. 7hile first5time
!uyers are declining as a composition of total volumes, the figure in a!solute termsis high, fuelled !y the up5gradation !y two5wheeler owners The study also throws
up the 6uestion as to whether it is also possi!le that the first5time car !uyer who is
generally a two5wheeler owner, is getting more fuel efficiency conscious and
tending towards postponing the car purchase decision due to the high cost of fuel. Of
course a shift in composition is also to !e e#pected with the upper premium compact
and mid5si3e segments projected to grow at a much faster rate than rest of the
industry. The TC& study was conducted from August through Octo!er across ?<cities. &mall sample models have not !een featured in the charts. These include the