From January 1994 the market especially for two wheelers has so grown to

meet the demand of the customers of India. The production capacity has been

consistently increased.

Largely speaking three major categories of two wheeler started coming, the

Scooters, the Motorcycles and Mopeds. The recent trend is for the scooterette.

INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND

Indian automobile industry is full of big names such as Maruti, Kawasaki, Tata,

TVS, Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, and many others have swept away the

automobile market with high quality 2 and 4 wheelers. When we shift our

attention to manufacturers of bikes in India such as Hero, Honda, Yamaha,

TVS-Suzuki, Bullet and many others occupy pre-dominant positions in our

eyes. These have been gained big status to their entity with liberalization

opening gates of conservative Indian economy, many multinational companies

are collaborating with Indian companies to market share for their vehicles at

international level.

CHAPTER 2: SWOT ANLAYSIS

STRENGTH

Achievement: Retained the coveted position of World No 1 two-wheeler company for the seventh consecutive year.

High Sales Growth: Honda experienced great growth

throughout its early days. Today Honda has an

assembly line of nine different models of

motorcycles available. Honda Activa is best selling

product in India.

Fuel economy: Over all fuel consumption by its products is less in compare to other brand’s product. They have so far been able to give better mileage output. Because of this Honda Activa has magical sales record.

Quality policy: Total quality management is the chore philosophy of the company and it is thus always focussed on product innovation and performance.

Service schedule: Honda offers free services on all its two-wheelers. Customer should avail all these service within the stipulated time period or km range, whichever condition gets satisfied earlier from the date of purchase. After the completion of free services or its validity period one must continue availing paid services as per the recommended service schedule

WEAKNESS

a) Less promotion: The promotions and ads of Honda are very less as compared

to its competitors.

High maintenance: Some of the products of Honda require high maintenance.

Lack of recycling scrap: It expected that by 2020 scrap generated by end of life

vehicles in India would be about 2.5 million tonnes and 40% of it will come from two

wheeler. But honda is not capable enough to recycle the scrap generated and may

impose environmental threat. TVS Company has this facility and is future threat to

this company as it can affect the future sales as well.

Opportunities:

a) High GDP & increasing income level of consumer:

Supported by strong demand impulses, especially in the manufacturing and

service sector, India’s gross domestic product grew at 8.9 per cent. This is the fourth

successive year in which the country’s growth has exceeded 8 per cent growth, and

India is now in a select club of 12 countries with a trillion dollar plus economy.

As a nation, India has prospered. People living in households with incomes

ranging from 2 lakh – 10 lakh a year has grown from 15 million in 1991 to 100 million

in 2005-06. Not surprisingly, therefore, between 1991 and now, the two wheeler

market has grown more than four times.

Urban India is growing at a rapid pace. NCAER data for top 24 cities in India

shows migration to higher income levels growing at over 40 per cent per annum.

Prosperity in rural India is also a significant phenomenon, with 43 per cent of

households in middle and the high income groups coming from rural India.

More incomes per person, more persons will lead to a quadrupling of India’s

consumer markets in the next two decades, a 2007 study by McKinsey Global institute

has projected. And this will provide Company the ballast to sustain and consolidate its

leadership position.

Good will of the company: If the company utilizes the good will they have

gained so far from their customers, they can increase the sales performance by

economizing the cost and few technical renovation of the product. With new launch

they can be benefited at present market scenario Honda Activa has huge attraction

towards the younger generation because of its style, sporty look, and high accelerating

power and is stable at its feet even at high speeds.

Threats:

Finance assistance: Easy availability of finance is the main cause of sales growth

and any restriction will hamper its growth prospects.

Inflation: If inflation increases cost of raw material used in production will go high

and selling price may go high that may decrease demand of the two wheeler.

Technical renovation aspect: If they don’t short out in the new launches and

give something extra in its engineering performance it may affect in demand of this

company product.

11. at are the sources the create awareness?

News papers Television

Magazines Show-room display

Exhibition Postal catalogue

12. Occupation of the respondents

Student

Service

Business

Professional

13. Ratings for comfort

Excellent

Good

Average

Poor

14. Ratings for road grip

Excellent

Good

Average

Poor

15.ratings for engine performance

Excellent

Good

Average

Poor

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rajan Saxena (2009), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall of India

Anand M., Ramanathan S.K. and Viswanath R., The New Laws of Attraction,

Business World, January 2011

Grewal D. and Levy M. (2007), Marketing, Prentice Hall of India

Web Sites:

http://www.articlesbase.com/motorcycles-articles/honda-activa-price-in-india-

3911468.html

http://a2zbikesinindia.blogspot.com/2011/08/are-you-looking-for-buy-new-

honda-bikes.html

www.honda2wheelersindia.com

www.activa.com

www.hondabick.com

www.thehindubusinessline.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

Chapter-1: Profile of the Firm/Company

Chapter-2: SWOT Analysis of the Company

Chapter-3: Functional Analysis of the Company

Chapter-4: Lessons Learnt

References/Bibliography

Appendices

CHAPTER 1: COMPANY PROFILE

Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of 2-wheelers. Its symbol, the

Wings, represents the company's unwavering dedication in achieving goals

that are unique and above all, conforming to international norms. These wings

are now in India as Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI), a

wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company Ltd., Japan. These wings

are here to initiate a change and make a difference in the Indian 2-wheeler

industry. Honda's dream for India is to not only manufacture 2-wheelers of

global quality, but also meet and exceed the expectations of Indian customers

with outstanding after sales support.

ORIGIN OF THE ORGANIZATION

Honda Activa is the first scooter model of HMSI for the Indian market.

It has revitalized the Indian scooter market after its launch in the year 2009.

Within the 1st year of its launch it has been awarded the 'Scooter of the Year'

by Overdrive magazine and also the 'Readers Choice Award' for the best

scooter by Auto India Magazine.

The Honda Activa has set a new standard for new era of scooters in India. It

has been developed exclusively for the Indian market after closely examining

the changing lifestyles, wants and needs of the consumers.

The Honda Activa has been designed to cater people who believe:

• The conventional Indian scooter is too big and difficult to handle

• The scooterette is too small and similar to mopeds

The Honda Activa is equipped with a number of new functions and

mechanisms, introduced for the first time in India. It is designed to offer greater

functionality, performance, economy, and ease of handling and maintenance

to a wide cross-section of the Indian society.

As responsible members of society and industry, we Honda Motorcycle and

Scooters India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI), Manesar manufacturer of two wheelers,

recognize that well being of humans and conservation of earth's environment

is important. By adopting environmental management system, HMSI is moving

towards realization of Honda's green factory concept.

We shall endeavor to continually monitor, improve and conserve the

environment in which we operate. HMSI is committed to achieve,

environmental excellence in all its industrial activities, in the following ways:

• Conserving environment through preventing pollution at its source of

generation and strengthening our existing pollution control system.

• Promoting conservation of resources such as energy, water, oil and grease

and other raw materials, by reusing, recycling and minimizing the waste

generation.

• Complying with all applicable legal/regulatory requirements and strive to go

beyond wherever possible.

• Regular monitoring and reviewing of environmental objectives and targets.

• Increasing environment awareness and competence amongst our employees

and encourage vendors & dealers to adopt EMS.

HMSI will establish its environmental management system following PDCA

cycle and continuously work to make it more effective. The policy will be well

disseminated to our employees as well as to

public at large.

The Three Joys

In line with Honda's Philosophy, HMSI conducts all its daily activities in

pursuit of the following joys:

The Joy of Buying

The joy of using world

class products

The Joy of Selling

The joy of selling world

class products

The Joy of

Manufacturing

The joy of producing

high quality products

Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of 2-wheelers. Its symbol, the

Wings, represents the company's unwavering dedication in achieving goals

that are unique and above all, conforming to international norms. These wings

are now in India as Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI), a

wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company Ltd., Japan. These wings

are here to initiate a change and make a difference in the Indian 2-wheeler

industry. Honda's dream for India is to not only manufacture 2-wheelers of

global quality, but also meet and exceed the expectations of Indian customers

with outstanding after sales support.

Racing

Honda has always played an important role in motor sports, believing it to be

the springboard for technological advancement. Honda has made its mark in

the 500cc class Motorcycle Racing World Championship and more.

Technology

Our fundamental design philosophy seeks to maximize space and

comfort for people, while minimizing the space required for mechanical

components. With this aim in mind, Honda's R&D activities include product-

specific development and research.

Safety

At Honda, we use a three-prong approach, based on preventing

accidents, minimizing injury in the unlikely event of an accident and our Driving

Safety Promotion operations. Honda's safety philosophy emphasizes the

development of appropriate technologies for its products, so as to ultimately

achieve maximum riding comfort for its customers. Honda was the first

manufacturer in Japan and India to develop and apply the anti-lock brake

system for the two wheelers.

Environment

Honda is unrivalled in making a conscious effort to lower the emissions of

every one of its vehicles, 2 and 4-wheelers. It is actively pursuing the

development of a 4-stroke engine in all 2-wheelers.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction suffices the customer. Customer visualizes, perceives

and will have some expectations before making any purchase. If the product

meets customer’s expectations then he is satisfied. Customer will be satisfied

when the product meets the basic needs set and therefore utility of a product

is nothing but consumer’s estimation of products over all capacity to satisfy his

needs.

Customer satisfaction is a function of perceived performances and

expectations.

Dissonance – reducing buying behavior

The customer might experience post purchase dissonance by noticing

disquieting features of product or by hearing favorable things about other

product. If performance of product does not satisfy perceived expectations, the

customer is dissatisfied, where he develops dissonance.

Post purchase satisfaction

When the customer is satisfied or delighted he will be dazzled. If the

product matches the expectations of customer he is satisfied. The customer’s

satisfaction is a function of closeness between the buyer’s product expectation

(E) and products perceived performance (P)

Post purchase actions

There is high probability of purchasing the product if the customer care

satisfied. Marketers should take keen interest in handling customer’s

dissatisfaction. Marketer’s job is to understand buyer’s behavior and aim

at satisfying customers. The satisfied customers will have brand loyalty and

strong affinity towards the product, so there is less scope of switching to other

brands. Satisfaction can be used as gauge for measuring effectiveness of

customer care of the organization. This increases the customer loyalty.

Customers buying decision process

Social factors, personal factors, and psychological factors influence

Customers buying decision process.

The company should ignore competitions and concentrate on customers one-

on-one that will drive competition crazy. This can be most potent competitive

SOCIAL

Culture

Sub cultural Cross-cultural Social class

Reference groups Family

PERSONAL

Age

Life style Occupation

Economic Position

PSYCHOLGICAL

Motivation Perception Learning

Personality

Attitude BUYER

weapon. Customer satisfaction should be main objective, goal and marketing

tool for a company.

Tools for tracking & measuring the attitude of the satisfied customers

The alert companies set up systems to monitor the attitude of customers by

monitoring changing levels of customer satisfaction before they affect sales it

takes action. The main attitude tracking systems are:

1. Complaint & suggestions system

2. Customer panel

3. Customer surveys

4. Ghost shopping

5. Lost customer analysis

COMPLAINT AND SUGGESTIONS

A customer-oriented company records, analysis and responds to

complaints and tries to correct problems by new ideas and should welcome

complaints and try to correct problems by new ideas and should help

customers. Many hotels, restaurants and banks use this feedback method to

track and measure customer satisfaction.

Complaint handling strengthens buyer-seller relationship by building trust.

Follow the LIST method to handle complaints:

CUSTOMER PANELS

Companies should run panels of customers who have to communicate

periodically. Panels are more representatives of the range of customer

attitudes. Panels would reveal kinds of people who responded to promotion.

CUSTOMER SURVEYS

It is conducted to learn how product has affected brand choice

behavior, what they thought of it and it is direct measure of satisfied

customers.

Companies periodically send questionnaires or make telephonic calls to a

random sample to prospective customers to evaluate satisfaction level on 5

point scale (very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, neutral, satisfied, very satisfied) and

ask about quality of service and various other aspects. Management compare

these ratings and can arrive at customer satisfaction level, measurement of

L-ISTEN TO COMPLAINNING CUSTOMERS

I-SOLATE CORE PROBLEM THROUGH QUESTIONS

S-OLVE PROBLEM FROM KEEPING CUSTOMER INFORMED

T-AKE FEEDBACK FROM CUSTOMERS TO MAKE SURE HE IS SATISFIED

customers repurchase intention or willing ness to recommend the product to

others are also judged.

GHOST SHOPPING

Customer oriented companies hire persons to pose as potential buyers

to report their findings on strong and weak points they experienced in buying

company and competitors product. The ghost shoppers even pose certain

problems to test whether the company’s sales personal handle the situation

well.

RETENTION OF CUSTOMERS

Retaining a single customer is most important than attracting many new

customers. Company should reconfigure all planning processes towards

customers. Direct all marketing efforts towards meeting customer needs.

Create corporate strategy aimed at customer value.

Company can make customers happy by providing reliability,

responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangible materials.

The company should create an emotional bondage between themselves and

customers. It is always more costly, pay less attention to competing brands,

buys other product that company latter adds to its line. Marketer should be

aware of profitable and non-profitable customers.

TAKE ACTION MEASURE CUSTOMER OPINION

ANALYSE AND INTERPRET INFORMATIONPLAN CORRECTIVE MEASURE MEASURES

CUTOMERS WILL BE SATISFIED BY CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

PROCESS AND MAINTAINING TOTAL QUALITY

Customers are judged of quality. Therefore, highest quality of products

should be companies objective maintaining ‘zero defects’ or 100% quality.

Thus improves quality, inurn quality increases cost effectiveness.

Proven method and procedures should be adopted and applied

consistently.

Quality derivativeness should be compulsory, satisfying customer’s

requirements.

Companies should have quest for quality and should meet standards.

Quality should be in every stage from planning to production.

Quality should be in hallmark of the company. Company should promise

highest standard of product quality, safety, comfort and dependability.

Companies should have quest to find innovative ideas and featured or

attributes that will create excitement and desire and they should look

beyond what the customer says.

WHAT IS MARKET?

Market consists of all the potential customers sharing a particular need or

wants who might be willing and able to engage in exchange to satisfy that

need or wants

MARKETING

“Marketing is so basic that it cannot be considered as a separate

function. It is the whole business seen from points the point of view of its final

results, that is from customer point of view… business success is not

determined by the producer but by the customer”

Peter.F.Drucker

“Marketing consists of all activities by which a company adapts itself to

its environment”

Ray Corey

WHAT IS MARKETING?

Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups

obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and exchanging

products of value with others.

.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

The task of breaking the total market into segments that share common

properties is market segmentation. It is the process of identifying a group of

consumers with similar needs and producing a product that will meet those

needs at a profit.

Market segmentation will facilitate the firm to identify and find out the

additional benefit desired by the people to pay benefits and source where they

would like to buy it.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

The term consumer behaviour refers to the behaviour that consumer’s display

in searching for purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and

services that they expect will satisfy their needs. The study of consumer

behavior is the study of how the individuals make decisions to spend their

available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption related items. It

includes the study of what they buy, why they buy, when they buy it, where

they buy it and how they buy it and how often they use it.

WHY WE STUDY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR?

There are various reasons as to why people study consumer behavior.

As consumers, we benefit from insights in our own consumption related

decisions: what we buy, why we buy, how we buy and the promotional

influences that persuade us to buy. The study of consumer behavior enables

us to become better and wiser consumers.

As marketers and future marketers, we are able to understand consumer

behavior, then we can predict how consumers are likely to react to the various

information, which help us to shape the marketing strategies accordingly to

gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Marketers have also observed a change in the psychological behavior

of the consumers. There is an increasing awareness among the consumers to

the changes taking place around them resulting in an urge to purchase various

goods and services. In other words, there is a positive buying motive shown by

the consumers. Consumer behavior was a relatively new field of study in the

mid to late 1960. This new discipline borrowed heavily from the concept

enveloping other scientific disciplines like psychology, sociology, etc. Many

early theories were based on the economic theory, on the notion that

individual act rationally to maximize their benefits in the purchase of goods

and services.

The initial thrust to consumer research from a perspective here marketing

managers wanted to know the specific causes of consumer behavior. They

regarded it as an applied marketing science: if they could predict consumer

behavior they could influence. This approach has come to known, as

positivism and the people concerned with predicting consumer behavior are

known as positivists.

DEFINATIONS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

According to Walters & Paul “Consumer behaviour is the process whereby

individuals decide what, when, where, how and from whom to purchase goods

and services”.

“Consumer may be defined as all the individuals and households that buy and

acquire goods and services for personal consumption.”

Consumers differ in the age, income, taste and preference and educational

levels and therefore the marketers should identify the different consumer

groups and develop products and services according to the needs of the

consumers.

CONSUMER BEHAVOIUR MAY BE DEFINED AS

“The process whereby the individuals decide whether what, when, how and

from whom to purchase goods and services”.

IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

1) Consumer behaviour is dynamic and changes continuously. According to

the consumer tastes and preference. Therefore a study of to analyze,

monitor and understand the consumer behaviour is very essential.

2) Only by studying consumer behaviour a businessman can solve the

problems faced by the consumers.

3) A study of consumer behaviour helps in effective marketing management.

4) Product decision regarding price, promotion and distribution can be taken

after studying the consumer behaviour and how they react to the product.

5) In an Indian market where changes take place very often, where the

government keeps on changing, it is essential to study the expectations of

the consumer based on the changes.

6) Consumer behaviour study helps a marketer in exploiting new

opportunities and meeting the challenges and requirements of an Indian

consumer.

Consumer behaviour can be said to be the melding of all those bodies of

knowledge concerning with human behaviour-behavioral sciences.

INDUSTRIAL BACK GROUND OF THE STUDY

Since time immemorial man has been trying to make things which would make

life easier. Among these is the transportation for himself and the goods.

The invention of wheel revolutionized the concept of transportation. Initially

human beings and animals were used for drawing carts but the zest to faster

and deliver large quantities in faster period resulted in constant improvement

of wheel driven carts.

In 1985 Gattlib Palmer and Kalt Benz invented the first petrol driven car. This

was the beginning of the trend, which revolutionized the concept of personal

transport. But with the passage of time the need for a fuel-efficient light weight

vehicle was felt.

Thus resulted in the invention of Europe, a car on two wheels. The two

wheelers came to recognize as a family vehicle and have retained this

character of date. Not only it is recognized to be useful mode of transportation

for a family it is also safe.

GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY

In India two wheelers have demonstrated the ever since they come to know

been used in the country. So the manufacturers are all set to woo the

customers with the styles that surprise. Efficiency above expectations.

Durability and services more reliable and pricing.

Since the 1980’s the market for personalized transport experienced a strident

growth in the country.

From January 1994 the market especially for two wheelers has so grown to

meet the demand of the customers of India. The production capacity has been

consistently increased.

Largely speaking three major categories of two wheeler started coming, the

Scooters, the Motorcycles and Mopeds. The recent trend is for the scooterette.

INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND

Indian automobile industry is full of big names such as Maruti, Kawasaki, Tata,

TVS, Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, and many others have swept away the

automobile market with high quality 2 and 4 wheelers. When we shift our

attention to manufacturers of bikes in India such as Hero, Honda, Yamaha,

TVS-Suzuki, Bullet and many others occupy pre-dominant positions in our

eyes. These have been gained big status to their entity with liberalization

opening gates of conservative Indian economy, many multinational companies

are collaborating with Indian companies to market share for their vehicles at

international level.

CHAPTER 2: SWOT ANLAYSIS

STRENGTH

Achievement: Retained the coveted position of World No 1 two-wheeler company for the seventh consecutive year.

High Sales Growth: Honda experienced great growth

throughout its early days. Today Honda has an

assembly line of nine different models of

motorcycles available. Honda Activa is best selling

product in India.

Fuel economy: Over all fuel consumption by its products is less in compare to other brand’s product. They have so far been able to give better mileage output. Because of this Honda Activa has magical sales record.

Quality policy: Total quality management is the chore philosophy of the company and it is thus always focussed on product innovation and performance.

Service schedule: Honda offers free services on all its two-wheelers. Customer should avail all these service within the stipulated time period or km range, whichever condition gets satisfied earlier from the date of purchase. After the completion of free services or its validity period one must continue availing paid services as per the recommended service schedule

WEAKNESS

a) Less promotion: The promotions and ads of Honda are very less as compared

to its competitors.

High maintenance: Some of the products of Honda require high maintenance.

Lack of recycling scrap: It expected that by 2020 scrap generated by end of life

vehicles in India would be about 2.5 million tonnes and 40% of it will come from two

wheeler. But honda is not capable enough to recycle the scrap generated and may

impose environmental threat. TVS Company has this facility and is future threat to

this company as it can affect the future sales as well.

Opportunities:

a) High GDP & increasing income level of consumer:

Supported by strong demand impulses, especially in the manufacturing and

service sector, India’s gross domestic product grew at 8.9 per cent. This is the fourth

successive year in which the country’s growth has exceeded 8 per cent growth, and

India is now in a select club of 12 countries with a trillion dollar plus economy.

As a nation, India has prospered. People living in households with incomes

ranging from 2 lakh – 10 lakh a year has grown from 15 million in 1991 to 100 million

in 2005-06. Not surprisingly, therefore, between 1991 and now, the two wheeler

market has grown more than four times.

Urban India is growing at a rapid pace. NCAER data for top 24 cities in India

shows migration to higher income levels growing at over 40 per cent per annum.

Prosperity in rural India is also a significant phenomenon, with 43 per cent of

households in middle and the high income groups coming from rural India.

More incomes per person, more persons will lead to a quadrupling of India’s

consumer markets in the next two decades, a 2007 study by McKinsey Global institute

has projected. And this will provide Company the ballast to sustain and consolidate its

leadership position.

Good will of the company: If the company utilizes the good will they have

gained so far from their customers, they can increase the sales performance by

economizing the cost and few technical renovation of the product. With new launch

they can be benefited at present market scenario Honda Activa has huge attraction

towards the younger generation because of its style, sporty look, and high accelerating

power and is stable at its feet even at high speeds.

Threats:

Finance assistance: Easy availability of finance is the main cause of sales growth

and any restriction will hamper its growth prospects.

Inflation: If inflation increases cost of raw material used in production will go high

and selling price may go high that may decrease demand of the two wheeler.

Technical renovation aspect: If they don’t short out in the new launches and

give something extra in its engineering performance it may affect in demand of this

company product.

15. at are the sources the create awareness?

News papers Television

Magazines Show-room display

Exhibition Postal catalogue

16. Occupation of the respondents

Student

Service

Business

Professional

17. Ratings for comfort

Excellent

Good

Average

Poor

18. Ratings for road grip

Excellent

Good

Average

Poor

15.ratings for engine performance

Excellent

Good

Average

Poor

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rajan Saxena (2009), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall of India

Anand M., Ramanathan S.K. and Viswanath R., The New Laws of Attraction,

Business World, January 2011

Grewal D. and Levy M. (2007), Marketing, Prentice Hall of India

Web Sites:

http://www.articlesbase.com/motorcycles-articles/honda-activa-price-in-india-

3911468.html

http://a2zbikesinindia.blogspot.com/2011/08/are-you-looking-for-buy-new-

honda-bikes.html

www.honda2wheelersindia.com

www.activa.com

www.hondabick.com

www.thehindubusinessline.com