1. INTRODUCTION

2. NEED OF THE STUDY

3. SCOPE OF STUDY

4. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

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1.1 OVERVIEW OF INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE

As India celebrates its 50 years of independence, the passenger car industry will

celebrated a centenary of its existence in India in 1998. Despite this head start, the

industry has never quite matched up to the performance of its counterparts in other

parts of the world. The all-pervasive atmosphere created by the government's

license raj was primarily responsible for this situation. The various layers of Acts

sheltered the industry from external competition and smothered the development of

the Indian automobile industry. Moreover, the industry was considered low priority

as cars were considered to be an "unaffordable luxury."

With the liberalization of the Indian economy, the passenger car industry was

finally deregulated in 1993 and many companies, both Indian and foreign,

announced their plans to enter the market. The last four years have seen companies

like Daewoo, Ford, GM, and Mercedes-Benz launches their cars in India. The

passenger car industry notched impressive growth rates between 26-30% during the

period FY 94-96 even though the economic slowdown has adversely affected the

industry in FY 98 with the growth rate tricking down to 1%. Nonetheless, times

have changed significantly - the days of the customer chasing the dealer to

purchase poor quality cars backed by inefficient service are history. Today, the

customer dictates the terms.

The segmentation of the passenger car market in India is vastly different from that

in the developed nations. In India, the economy segment accounts for the largest

share of the cars sold, as compared to mid-range segment in the mature markets.

The economy and the premium segment face the lowest competitive threats, while

the premium segment will witness intense competition due to lower volumes.

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1.2 PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATION

Tata motors one of India's largest private sector companies  with a turnover of over Rs 80

billions, is the country's leading commercial vehicle manufacturer and has significant

presence in the multi-utility and passenger car segments.

Tata motors was established on September 1, 1945, originally for the manufacture of Steam

Locomotives at Jamshedpur. By 1954, the company had diversified into the manufacture of

commercial vehicles in collaboration with Daimler Benz, Germany. By the time their

collaboration ended in 1969, Tata motors had become an independent producer of Medium

Commercial Vehicles with a great degree of indigenization. It had also developed the

capability of designing, testing and manufacturing such vehicles.

The widely successful Tata Indica, a Euro 2 compliant vehicle, is the country’s first

indigenously designed, developed and manufactured passenger car. Tata Motors followed

that up with the Tata Indigo, a sedan that was launched in December 2002. The company also

makes several other passengers vehicles, including the Safari, Sumo and Sierra.

The company’s products have received wide acceptance not only in India but also in the

Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia, Latin America and Europe.

Areas of business

The company manufactures medium, heavy and light commercial vehicles, multi-utility

vehicles and passenger cars. In the year ending March 2001, the company’s revenues from its

four manufacturing plants at three locations in India were Rs. 81.64 billion (US $ 1.73

billion). In 2000, they were Rs. 89.61 billion. (US $ 1.9 billion)

{The average exchange rate has been taken as Rs 47.0 to one US dollar.}

In the year ended 31 March 2001, the company’s total exports were worth about Rs 7.22

billion (US $ 153.6 million), against about Rs 6.09 billion (US $ 129.5 million) in the

previous year.

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Locations

The company’s manufacturing plants in India are at Jamshedpur, Pimpri and Chinchwad near

Pune in Maharashtra, and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Land has been acquired at Dharwad

(Karnataka) to build a fifth plant.

Collaborations

The company has technical tie-ups with:

The Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering (IDEA), S.P.A., Italy, for

assistance in small car body design and styling; and

Le Moteur Moderne, France, for the development of diesel and petrol engines for

passenger cars.

Subsidiaries

Tata Construction Equipment Company Ltd. (TELCON): Its principal business is

manufacture and sale of construction, material handling and earthmoving equipment.

Tata Technologies Ltd.: It oversees the IT requirements of Tata Motors and provides

services for SAP implementation, CAD/CAM-based design, and e-commerce

facilities to customers in India and abroad.

Sheba Properties Ltd: It is an investment and finance company and a wholly-owned

subsidiary of Tata Motors since its inception. It is registered with RBI as a Non

Banking Finance company.

Telco Dadajee Dhakjee Ltd. (TDDL): It is an investment and finance company and

proposes to undertake activities pertaining to the sales and service of Tata Motors’s

vehicles and spare parts.

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Minicar (India) Ltd.: Formerly known as Mazda Industrial Chemicals Ltd., this

company was incorporated on January 18, 1972 and is currently engaged in the

business of automobile sales and services.

HV Transmissions Ltd.: It was incorporated on March 13, 2000 with the objective

of acquiring the Heavy-Duty Gear Box Division of Tata Motors at Jamshedpur as a

going concern. It supplies transmissions and their parts to Tata Motors against

purchase orders raised by Tata Motors on HVTL.

HV Axles Ltd.: It was incorporated on March 13, 2000 with the objective of

acquiring the Heavy-Duty Axle Division of Tata Motors at Jamshedpur as a going

concern. It supplies axles and their parts to Tata Motors against purchase orders raised

by Tata Motors on HVAL.

Telco Automation Ltd.: It was incorporated on March 13, 2000 with the objective of

acquiring the Machine Tool and Growth Divisions of Tata Motors as a going concern.

As and when required, Tata Motors sources factory automation equipment from TAL.

Tata Technologies, USA: It was incorporated on August22, 1994 and became a

wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Technologies Limited on December 22, 2000. The

company is engaged in the business of computer consultancy and related services.

Strategic alliances

Tata Motors has several joint ventures and alliances. These include:

Tata Cummins Ltd., a joint-venture with Cummins Engine Company Inc., USA;

makes fuel-efficient, low emission, environment-friendly diesel engines;

Tata Holset Ltd., a joint-venture with Holset Engineering Company, UK, makes

turbochargers for diesel engines manufactured by Tata Cummins Ltd. and other

OEMs;

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Concorde Motors Ltd., a joint venture with Jardine International Motors (Mauritius)

for dealerships of passenger vehicles. Concorde has dealerships for Tata Motors

passenger vehicles in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Chennai and

Lucknow.

Tata Precision Industries Pvt. Ltd., Singapore, for the manufacture and sale of high

precision toolings as well as electronic and plastic components for the computer

industry;

Tata Motors Services Ltd., Singapore, for the sale of spare parts for Tata vehicles;

and

Nita Company Ltd., Bangladesh, for the assembly and sale of Tata commercial

vehicles.

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1.3 PROBLEMS OF THE ORGANIZATION

Given the city conditions, the consumers needed a very good overall performance

of cars, small cars taking less space has no parking problems, easy derivability in

heavy traffic conditions, easy gear shifts and good fuel efficiency. The small car

owners being mostly the professional class or the upper middle class were very

cost conscious and due to their busy life styles preferred low maintenance in their

cars.

Irrespective of these above aspects there is one more thing, which also needs attention is

customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is abroad term, which includes many things like

post sale service satisfaction, dealership locality towards customers, way of treatment at these

dealerships and service stations, solving the customers problems and concerns to their full

satisfaction and so on.

The occurrence of single problem is a source of dissatisfaction for customers. Problem

experience is not always something broken or loose. Many a times it is a function of

customers’ expectation of how a feature or a vehicle system should look or perform and any

performance short of this expectation is perceived as a problem.

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1.4 COMPETITION INFORMATION

The main purpose of this section is to have an insight into TELCO’s external environment.

Here, we shall be briefly looking at the factors influencing its external environment, its

competitors and the kind of competition it faces.

Competition leads to improvement on all fronts. If healthy, it brings the best out of an

industry. Newer and better technology, innovative and much better products and processes,

user-friendly and economical products providing maximum value to customers, and other

such advantages, all arise out of competition.

TELCO faces stiff competition in almost all its business segments but has emerged as the

winner when it comes to market success. Out of its three business segments namely, the

Passenger Car division, Utility vehicle division and the Commercial vehicle division, the

Passenger Car division is the area, which is seeing a lot of activity in the current period. And

this activity is all set to intensify with the launch of the all-new TATA Sedan in the later half

of the current year.

TELCO currently has two products in the passenger car segment- the Indica and the Safari.

It faces direct competition from almost all the major automobile players in the passenger

segment, namely Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Fiat, Daewoo and Toyota.

S.I.A.M. (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) has classified the Passenger Car

segment in India into further sub segments on the basis of their length,

1. Small Car segment (B segment)

2. Entry-level Mid Size segment (lower C segment)

3. Premium Mid Size segment (upper C segment)

4. Luxury Segment (D segment)

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TELCO currently has one offering in the Small Car segment- The Indica, and one offering in

the Sports Utility Vehicle segment - The Safari. The proposed offering, christened the TATA

Sedan shall compete in the entry-level Mid-Size Car segment.

TELCO also has plans to introduce another offering in the Luxury car segment code-named

‘Magna’. The Magna shall be launched some time during the later half of next year in 2003.

TELCO currently is tight-lipped about the Magna and has divulged no details regarding the

car but according to group Chairman Mr. Ratan Tata, the Magna shall be TELCO’s answer to

the Luxury Segment in India, which shall force the competitors to revamp their strategies.

And if the success of the Indica and the Safari is to be believed, these words are sure to see

light in the near future.

The Indica comes in both diesel and petrol variants. TELCO has redefined the rules of the

game by launching the all-new Indica V2, which has met with huge success in the recent

months. It has earned a lot of respect among all the small car manufacturers because of its

quality and value delivered to the customer, truly fulfilling its promise of More Cars per Car.

TELCO, for the year 2002 had promised a product of great pedigree, and the Indica V2 has

just delivered that.

The Indica is directly pitted against the Zen, Alto and Wagon-R from Maruti Udyog, the

Santro from Hyundai, the Palio and Uno from Fiat, and the Matiz from Daewoo.

The segmentation of the passenger car market in India is vastly different from that

in the developed nations. In India, the economy segment accounts for the largest

share of the cars sold, as compared to mid-range segment in the mature markets.

The economy and the premium segment face the lowest competitive threats, while

the premium segment will witness intense competition due to lower volumes.

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TABLE: 1.1

Traditionally, disposable income was perceived as the one critical factor that drove

passenger car demand. However, household income is no longer the single most

important factor in determining the demand for vehicles. Other critical factors are

the mobility needs of people and the availability of cheap finance. The top three

income groups - middle, upper middle, and high - have grown from 10% in 1986 to

17% of the population and covers over 52 million families. The number of high-

income households is growing very rapidly, more so in the rural areas. These

findings have revolutionary implications for the passenger car market. The

development of the used car market will also play a major role, as the customers

will be encouraged to trade in their old cars. The key to the growth of future

markets is to make maintenance-free vehicles, to improve the road infrastructure,

and to reformulate fuels and lubricants so as to reduce vehicle-operating costs.

Range Price ('000 Rs.) Models

Economy Maruti 800, Maruti Omni,

Premier, Ambassador, Hyundai Santro

Mid-range 350-450 Uno, Zen, Ford Ikon, Fiat Palio

Premium 450 - 1,000 Esteem, Opel Astra, Ford Escort,

Mitsubishi Lancer, Hyundai Accent

Luxury > 1,000 Opel Vectra, Rover Montego, Mercedes

benz

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2. NEED OF THE STUDY

(a) The study is mainly focussing on to get acquainted with the market sentiments,

current trends and the alternatives options.

(b) The study also interprets the need of automobile for the people and what are the

factors where they can influence.

(c) This study is also a need of the time and also acts as a precursor of the further

future car market.

(d) Automobile based industries is also facing nationwide arguments on its policies.

(e) So the car manufacturing is also in a need to know the market sentiments and the

alternatives to these policies.

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3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The research aims at finding the attitude of people towards the different brands of

cars, a conclusive research was conducted. The data collection form was designed in

the form of a standard questionnaire because it is more reliable than unstructured

format.

In this study an effort has been to several factors which need to be taken due

consideration to adhere to the advertising, sales promotion and various sales

influencing factors of the automobile market.

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5. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

In the fast changing competitive as well as economic scenario all around the world and the domestic front, the main objective of the study are:-

(a) The main significance of the study to analyze the strategies generally opted

by dealers and to focus on the Marketing mix of TATA Motors.

(b) This project is useful to know the buying behavior of car owners.

(c) Examine the psychographics of small size car customers.

(d) To probe the buying behavior of car owners.

(e) To find people expectations or satisfaction regarding the small cars.

(f) To judge the awareness level of small cars.

(g) To study the promotional policies of the automobile companies.

(h) Study the comparative adds promotion by tata and its competitors.

(i) Basically survey on the type of promotional setback faced by their product not

representing up to mark performance.

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1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2. LIMITATIONS

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1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A research design is the arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of data in a

manner that to, combine relevance to research purpose with economy in procedure.Research

Design is conceptual structure within which research is conducted. It constitutes

the blue print of collection, measurement and analysis of date. Research Design is

needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of various research operations,

thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximum information

with minimum time, effort and money. Research Design stands for advance

planning of methods to be used for collecting relevant data and techniques to be

used in the analysis .The design helps researcher to organize his ideas whereby it

will be possible for him to look for flaws and inadequacies.

Sources of Primary and Secondary data:

The major aim of the project was to analyze the Strategies of TELCO and to study

the consumer-buying behavior for small car customers.

For the first part secondary data was collected from various sources that included website of

TELCO and trade journal that were collected from TELCO’s Delhi Office.

By reducing the chance or the sample to influence results through different questions and

through different judgment of answers and what to record, the structured questionnaire

produces more reliable results i.e. if the research project is repeated in the same manner,

similar results will be obtained.

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Most of the questions asked in the questionnaire were closed ended with a few

open-ended questions also, to know consumers general views. Some questions are

designed for the purpose of cross checking the sample genuineness in filling the

questionnaire.

For the purpose of analysis, ranking scale is used to rank the preferences of

attributes of the customers. (Semantic differential scale is used to understand the

images of brands of cars as perceived by the consumers. This scale is used because

it permits the development of descriptive profiles that facilitates the comparison of

competitive items.)

Universe: The universe is entire group of items the researchers wish to study and

about which they plan to generalize. For this, the universe consists of people of

Delhi who own small car. Selecting the sample for this project, a probability

sampling method is used. Probability sampling method is those in which every item

in the universe has a known chance of being chosen in the sample. Here the sample

size consists of 60 residents of Delhi. The probability sampling is preferred

because:

It is the only sampling method that provides essentially unbiased estimates

having measurable precision. If the investigator requires this level of

objectivity, then some variant of probability sampling is essential.

The probability sampling permits the researchers to evaluate in quantitative terms,

the relative efficiency of alternate sampling techniques in a given situation.

Usually this is not possible in non-probability sampling.

STEP IN SAMPLING PLAN :-

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Sampling Frame: The list of sampling units from which sample is taken is called

sampling frame. Jaipur city map was studied thoroughly and samples were selected

from the place in a scattered manner to get effective result.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:

CONVIENIENT SAMPLING

SAMPLING SIZE: Total sample size is 100. The following sample size

according to area wise is as follows:

20 Raapark

20 Shodila

20 Gpo, M.I Road

20 Rambagh circle

20 Tonk Road

Source of data collection:-

Primary:

For my survey primary data have been used as a questionnaire to collect the data.

Secondary:

The secondary data has been collected from the following modes:

Magazines

Newspaper

Data through internet sources

Data collected from organization

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INTERPRETATION

On the base of market research, 18-25 age customers satishfied is 2%, 26-35

age customers is satisfied 18%, 36-50 age customers is satisfied 365 & 50

above age customers is satisfied 165, That is total no of satisfied customers

is 725, and unsatisfied customers is 55 (26-35 age), 36-50 unsatisfied

customers is 8% and 50 above unsatisfied customers is 6% that is total no of

unsatisfied customers is 19% and 18-25 age customers are not decided 1%,

26-35 age customers 2% are notdecided, 36-50 age customers are 6% are not

decided, that is total 9% customers are not decided.

Occupation wise:

Satisfied person (%)

Unsatisfied person (%)

Neither satisfied nor unsatisfied (%)

Serviceman 31 3 1

Businessman 19 7 0

Student 10 5 2

House 12 4 6

Total 72 19 9

INTERPRETATION

On base of market research, I have find out serviceman customer are 31% satisfied 3% unsatisfied, businessman are 19% satisfied 7%unsatisfied,student are 10% satisfied & 5% students are unsatisfied, and 125 housewife are satisfied,4% housewife are unsatisfied & 6% housewife are not decided for satisfaction.

Facilities provided by Tata Motors Ltd.

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18

Sample size – 60

Respondents:

Owners of Santro – 14

Owners of Zen - 14

Owners of Indica – 14

Owners of Maruti 800 – 9

Owners of other cars – 9

TABLE: 4.1

Interpretation

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Most of the respondents are in an income bracket of Rs.20001 to Rs.25000 and

above Rs.25000. This indicates that most of the car owners belong to either upper

of upper middle class segment.

Performance of a car clearly outweighs its style and cost on the consumer’s list of

priorities to buy a car. Performance be it engine make up, fuel efficiency in city

conditions, smoothness, pick up, derivability, is consumer’s first preference in

their look out on attributes in making a decisions for buying a car. Very few

consumers surveyed gave style and cost as their priorities to buy a car. A mere

25% of respondents gave style and 30% gave cost as their reasons to buy a car.

85% of respondents i.e. 51 out of 60 respondents gave performance of a car as a

factor for making a purchase decision.

Out of a total of 60 respondents surveyed, 30 respondents gave performance, 7

performance and style, 11 performance and cost, 2 style, cost and performance, 4

gave style and 4 gave cost as the reasons for purchasing their car.

When the consumers were asked to rank the factors, they consider being important

in buying a car, ranking the factors from 1 to 7 where ‘1’ is the highest preference

rank ‘7’, the lowest preference rank, performance of the car was ranked the highest

on the preference scale. Performance, on an average of 60 respondents was ranked

‘1.48’ showing that the consumers sought performance in a car as the first

important factor in making a purchase.

The car owners as the second most important factors ranking them 2.9 and 2.7

respectively considered the cost and low maintenance of a car.

After sales service and brand name were the third and fourth preferences of the

respondents with 3.4 and 3.86 as their respective rankings. Safety was ranked 4.35

on the preference scale and credit facility stood at the car owners’ lowest

preference with a rank of 6.43.

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Given the city conditions, the consumers needed a very good overall performance

of cars, small cars taking less space has no parking problems, easy derivability in

heavy traffic conditions, easy gear shifts and good fuel efficiency. The small car

owners being mostly the professional class or the upper middle class were very

cost conscious and due to their busy life styles preferred low maintenance in their

cars.

The small car consumers are high search information seekers, most of them using

at least 3 sources of seeking the information. They believe that extensive search is

necessary to make a good buy. Having owned fewest carts previously, they had

very less information about the cars.

The survey showed that a highest number of consumers sought friends as a source

of information. Even as a majority of them went for magazines and other car

owners as a source of seeking information, a good number of consumers went to

dealers for getting the information. Television as a source of information was used

by less number of consumers and a very few of them went to mechanics in search

of information.

Most of these small car buyers being first time purchasers usually go for friends,

automobile magazines or other car owners to get information about the various

products and brands in the market to know the most favorable brand or products

and later they seek further information from dealers and other sources once they

are through their choice process and have decided upon a particular brand or

brands to buy.

Most of the small car consumers are happy with their purchases. A probe into

respondents’ satisfaction level, ranking from 1 to 5 where ‘1’ was full satisfaction

and ‘5’ full dissatisfaction with theirs cars, gave ‘1.79’ as an average figure of

satisfaction level.

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Out of a total of 60 respondents, 26 ranked their satisfaction level as ‘1’, 20 ranked

‘2’, 9 ranked ‘3’, 2 ranked ‘4’ and only one respondent showed null satisfaction.

The main reasons which were quoted for their satisfaction were driving comfort,

good fuel efficiency, small is cute, easy parking, less maintenance, good pick-up

and a perfect car for a small family.

Again when the consumers were asked about their preference for any other car, the

highest number of respondents chose small cars, that are 20 out of 56 respondents

preferred small cars, midsize cars, 16 large size cars, 5 went for jeep models and 8

consumers luxury cars like BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, etc. The main reason again

given for their preference was comfort of driving, performance, good looks and

fuel efficiency.

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TABLE: 4.2

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TABLE: 4.3

24

Respondents’ ranking of attributes

PREFERENCE RANK PREFERENCE POINTS

1 140

2 120

3 100

4 80

5 60

6 40

7 20

TABLE: 4.4

Attributes Preference Rank Preference Points

Performance 1.5 130

Cost 2.9 102

Low Maintenance 2.7 106

After Sales Service 3.4 92

Brand Name 3.8 84

Safety 4.4 72

Credit Facility 6.4 32

TABLEL: 4.5

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TABLE: 4.6

26

TABLE: 4.7

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TABEL: 4.8

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SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength

Technology and manufacturing know-how that lets Tata Motors make cars more

profitably than most other carmakers.

Flexible manufacturing system gives it an advantage over most of the carmakers.

It requires smaller number of platforms but multiple assembly lines for production

that provides better, cheaper, more oriented management and production.

Research- Its R&D budget now exceeds that of Japan's No. 2, Nissan. Tata Motors

spends 5% of revenues on R&D.

Tata Motors possesses Goodwill and Credibility in the Indian automobile market

Weaknesses-

It is a new concept to be launched in the market where majority of the consumers go

for family cars. Also it has not been tested in the market, therefore there is risk

involved with the launch.

It can't afford a wrong move on big-volume models. Tata Motors relies on Civic and

Accord sedans for 55% of sales.

Tata Motors is unable to spread its fixed costs for engineering, technology, and

marketing over a huge volume of vehicles.

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Opportunity

It is first sports car to be launched in the Indian market; therefore it has no real

competitor.

According to the facts India has emerged as one of the largest automobile market in

the global community.

Threat

A new competitor in Indian market.

Price wars with competitors.

A competitor like Toyota has a new, innovative product or service.

Competitors may have superior access to channels of distribution.

Taxation is introduced on your product or service.

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LIMITATIONS

1. The time for which the project was conducted was very short. Hence the

sample size was restricted to 60 only.

2. The scope of study was also restricted to the study of awareness about the

consumer preferences. It could be widened to cover various others aspects of

product demand.

3. As there are many competitors of Tata motors in the pvt.sector. Only 3 of its

competitor’s products were analyzed in detail. A detailed study of all the

competitors of Tata motors would have given more reliable and accurate

results.

4. The area from where the sample population was selected was Delhi only.

Other cities and moreover rural area was not covered under the study.

5. The primary data was collected form present and potential customers of

products to evaluate their preferences. But the preferences of marketing agents

were not considered which would have helped to evaluate the preferable

commission sale which helps to boost product sale.

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CONCLUSION

In the end, I can conclude that most of the respondents who were questioned

gave importance to performance of the car. Other factors like safety, brand

name, style, performane cost were not given much importance.Hereby I can say

that performance matters the most.Other features are not important for the

customers. Tata motors give much importance to the performance of the car

and conducts surveys to know the changing needs of the customers .

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35

RECOMMENDATIONS & SUGGESTION

STRATEGIES

To improve its market position, the company has a number of strategies at various levels.

These are-

1. Corporate Strategies

2. Business Strategies

3. Operational Strategies

4. International Strategies

CORPORATE STRATEGIES

Corporate Strategies are strategies that the company employs at the top level, these are not

concerned with areas of operation, but are concerned with achieving the strategies of the

company as a whole. These help in achieving the Strategic Objectives that the company has.

Globalize: With economies opening up, Tata companies are aiming for global benchmarks to

compete.

Be Skill – Intensive: With manufacturing ceasing to be India’ s advantage, the thrust is on

knowledge – based industries.

Build brands: Shift from selling commodities to marketing branded products and services

that not just differentiate but fetch a premium.

Leadership: To justify shareholder interest, Tata companies must be among the top three in

their industries.

Enhance Performance: Executives must pull their weight, and the best of them must get

opportunities across functions and group companies.

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BUSINESS STRATEGIES

Business Strategies are the strategies that Telco uses in the various areas of business that the

company operates in. These strategies can be studied separately for all the segments:

As we know that Telco is the leader in the commercial vehicle segment with 54% market

share in Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) and 63% market share in Medium & Heavy

Commercial (M & HCV). Telco has a market share of 22% in utility vehicle segment. The

company has also garnered a 9% market share in the passenger car industry in a very short

span. The decision of the government to ban diesel buses and give licenses to CNG buses has

been a boon for TELCO as it is the major supplier of buses to all State Transport

Corporations. Though only few state governments are stern in implementing this order but

TELCO will remain one of the major suppliers of buses and hence can plan expansion.

Telco will use GOI policy towards its benefits as depreciation norms and excise duty etc will

have a bearing demand for MUV’s and CV’s. The implementation of infrastructure projects

will have a positive impact on demand of CV’s and MUV’s as they are extensively used in

transportation of material and people requirement of projects. The freight rates determine the

revenue component of fleet owners. The improvement in freight rates consistently over this

period will add to business of TELCO. Though oil prices have gone up but the shift in the oil

sector companies towards a positive pricing strategy will not affect Telco’s business plans &

performance.

Though the metropolitans have become over-crowded and but Telco’s Indica V2 sales have

picked up. The Company vigorously pursued a programme of product innovation in

commercial vehicles with a view to regaining and improving its market share. The company

had already added to its range Euro 1 Compliant Cummins Engine Powered Vehicle with a

view to regaining and improving its market share. Major innovation in the current year

include

A 25 Tonnes Truck and a 30 Tonne Tractor Trailer

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Fuel Efficient M&HCV Truck and Busses Powered by Company’s Euro 1 Compliant 697

Engines

A Cost Effective 11 Tonnes Vehicle in both bus and truck version to meet the growing

demand in this segment

A Fur Tonnes LCV fitted with an internally developed Turbo charged Engine.

OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES

These strategies are employed at the operational level, it deals with the working of the

organization once the Corporate Strategies have been decided.

1. QUALITY CONTROL- the company has adopted a new philosophy of Total Quality

Management. In the future it can extend this philosophy more to the suppliers and

stockiest. It should also train the employees towards TQM, and adopt various policies to

improve quality.

2. HR POLICIES- the company operates in a number of areas where HR is the main

resource, and it should indulge into more team building exercising to improve the

efficiency of its employees.

3. IMPROVE HR BASE- just recently the company has been unable to attract fresh talent

to its new initiatives. The company should find attempt to lure fresh talent through

initiatives such as Factory gate recruitment, more autonomy, better pay packages etc to

lure fresh talent.

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INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES

1. INVEST HEAVILY IN R&D- the main area where Telco can improve in its efforts to

make an impact in the global marketplace is by improving its R&D base and bringing it

up to world standards. Also Telco can get into strategic alliance with a international car

manufacturer for R&D support.

2. STRATEGIC TIE-UPS- the company should attempt to tie up with some Strategic

Partners, to help it gain entry into foreign markets. These partners should have

competencies in the area of cost management or R&D, or these companies might be

suppliers who provide inputs in the projects taken up by the company

Consumers of small cars are seeking a very good overall performance in a car than any other

attributes. Most of the consumers prefer Small cars and mid sized cars for their good mileage,

good acceleration, easy derivability, requiring small rooms for parking. Good looks

hardly count for the buyers of small cars.

Again a good after sales service and low maintenance in a vehicle is a garnish on

customer’s delight. Safety and credit facilities are almost ignored factors in purchasing a

small car.

Family wields the highest influencing power in making a purchase decision for an Indian

consumer. Friends and media also have a good impact on decision-making. A very few

consumers take a self-purchase decision.Usually consumers get detailed information

through friends, magazines, other car owners and dealers whereas, they get the product

information from the other sources like television, hoardings etc.The dream cars of the

consumers are high luxury cars like Mercedes S-class, BMW, Ferrari, Pajero, Rolls

Royce, Jaguar, Porsche, the cars with a class apart when it comes to their brands images,

cars which flaunt status, style, wealth and attitude of the people owning them, cars which

are considered to the best on the globe.

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LEARNING

Learning is defined as “The gaining of knowledge or skill”. The environment around us is

constantly evolving, it is important for anyone to constantly evolve and improve. This is no

different for a company, who keeps on evolving, and attempting to learn faster than its

competitors.

The learning-based route forward believes that route to success is adopting a flexible,

emergent strategy that monitors events in the environment and reacts to them in the best

possible way.

Telco has adopted a learning route forward, it has showed that it reacts well to market

changes and various events; its strategy has always evolved according to these changes.

Seeing the opening up of the market, and the growth of the infrastructure, the company

decided to look for alliance partners, to come up to world-standards.

In the future Telco should continue to learn and evolve into a world-class company, and make

changes that will help it achieve its goals in the best possible way.

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QUESTIONNAIRE

A survey of consumer perception about small cars

Personal details:

Name:

No. of members in family:

Monthly household income:

1. Do you own (Please Tick?)

Car or a 2 wheeler

2. If you do own a car

Name

Model

Color

3. Are you satisfied with it?

4. How much do you spend on maintenance on a monthly basis?

5. Name some cars in the small car segment in India

6. Can you relate the following cars to their ads

Zen

Indica

Santro

7. Rate the following (I to II) attributes according to you preferences while buying a new car

Price

Looks

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Safety features

Interiors

Value added accessories

Color

Stability while driving

Low maintenance costs

Fuel efficiency

Boot space

Gear box

8. Comment on the following statements according top the tables given below

1 strongly agree

2- Agree

3-neither agree nor disagree

4-disagree

5- Strongly disagree

Indica, being the only indigenously made car is preferred by me

Santro has the most effective AC

Zen has the jazziest and outgoing colors

9. Rate the following cars as per your perception on the basis of the attributes specified (5

excellent to 1 poor)

Indica

Santro

Zen

- Sales and services

- Price

- Fuel efficiency

- Smooth and stable ride

- Up market status

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- Luxury

- Value for money

- Looks

- Financing facility

- Comfort

- Safety

10. When are you planning to buy the next car?

One month later

Within six months

6 months later

No such plans

11. Which one?

12. Why?

13. Comment on the following cars as to how can there be any improvements

Indica

Santro

Zen

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reference books:

Mowen c. John Consumer Behavior Macmillian publication 6 th edition

Tull & Hawkins Market Research Pearson publication 7 th edition

Internet:

http://www.tata.com/0_careers/our_people/20020214_suman1.htm

http://www.tata.com/0_b_sectors/index.htm

http://www.cybersteering.com/auto_makers/telco/tata.html

http://www.tata.com/tata_engg/index.htm

http://www.tatainternational.com/automob_products.asp

http://www.tata.com/tata_engg/articles/index.htm

http://www.telcoindia.com/home.htm

http://www.tata.com/tata_engg/media/20020228.htm

http://www.tata.com/tata_engg/articles/2000106051indica2.htm

http://www.tata.com/tcs/articles/20011110_auto_engg_service(1).htm

www.marutiudyog.com

www.hyudaimotorindia.com

www.autoweb.com

Magzines

Business today

News Papers

Economic Times

Business line

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