A SYNOPSIS ON "A STUDY ON MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON HONDA CITY"

Submitted To Dr.VIKRANT AGGARWAL Associate Professor

Submitted By NISHANT KUMAR SINGH Enrollment No. 11119301712

2012-2015 KASTURI RAM COLLEGE OF HIGHER EDUCATION (Affiliated to G.G.S.I.P. UNIVERSITY)

JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

After de-licensing in 1991, the auto industry in India has grown at an average rate of 17%. Currently the industry contributes nearly 5% of the GDP, and is expected to grow nearly five folds and account over 10% of Indias GDP. Over the last 5 years, the production of the four wheeler industry has increased from 9.3 lakh units in 2002-03 to 23 lakh units in 2007-08, reporting a CAGR of 20%. Even the exports have increased immensely from 84,000 units in 2002-03 to 2, 80,000 units in 2007-08. However, despite the commendable growth of the auto sector, HSCI has not really been able to make a mark in the Indian market. It had been able to capture only 5.52% of the total market in FY07, which has fallen further to 4.93% in the FY08 and with the launch of new cars such Nano, Jaguar, Land Rover etc. The situation is expected to get worse. The main rational behind this survey report is that HSCI needs to retain the existing customers and attract new ones. This can be done only by satisfying the customers to the maximum possible extend. As this would not only prevent the existing Honda customers from shifting to the other competitive brands but would also help in capturing new ones. This is because, when a customer perceives good service he typically tell nine to ten people. According to Griffin (1995), improvement in customer retention by even a few percent can increase the profits by 25% or more. The University of Michigan found that for every percentage increase in customer satisfaction there is an increase of 2.37% in return on investment (Keiningham&Varvra, 2001). By this report the researcher aims at developing a customer profile for the all new Honda City users. The report also aims at evaluating the levels of customer satisfaction, identifying the reasons for such satisfaction or dissatisfaction and recommending changes that would help the company in improving this level of satisfaction. After deciding the industry, company and product for which the survey was to be conducted, the researcher took the following decisions regarding i. ii. The scope of the project & The objective to be attained from the project

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

i. ii. iii. iv. A detailed study of the four wheeler industry in India, A brief study about functioning of Honda in India(i.e.HSCI), Understanding the customer profile for the new Honda City, Understanding and analyzing the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction among the customers of the new Honda city & the reasons for the same.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

i. ii. To understand the detailed profile of the customers of the All New Honda City To evaluate the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction among the customers of the new Honda city & the reasons for the same. iii. To suggest future prospects.

COMPANY PROFILE
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., (HSCI) was incorporated in December 1995 as a joint venture between Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Japan and Siel Limited, a SiddharthShriram Group company, with a commitment to providing Hondas latest passenger car models and technologies, to the Indian customers. The Honda City, its first offering introduced in 1997, revolutionized the Indian passenger car market and has ever since been recognized as an engineering marvel in the Indian automobile industry. The success of City as well as all its other models has led HSCI to become the leading premium car manufacturer in India. The total investment made by the company in India till date is Rs. 1620 crores, further investment of RS. 1000 crore is planned and being currently invested for the coming second plant in Rajasthan. The company has a capacity of manufacturing 100,000 cars. The history of the Honda Motor Company began with the vision of one man - Soichiro Honda. His dream was personal mobility for everyone. Soichiro Honda founded the Honda Motor Company in 1948. In the same year, he designed and engineered the first product of this company - a 50 cc motorised bike on a bicycle frame in his small shed at Hamamatsu. Soichiro's vision was international in character. His desire was to lead the world in technology, and make a significant contribution to the creation of a better society. As a result, most of the products that Honda developed started out by making a difference. Whether it was the CVCC engine in the sixties or the solar powered car of the nineties, they all sought to challenge and overcome conventional wisdom. PRINCIPLES OF HONDA: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. operates under the basic principles of "Respect for the Individual" and "The Three Joys" commonly expressed as The Joy of Buying, The Joy of Selling and The Joy of Creating. "Respect for the Individual" reflects our desire to respect the unique character and ability of each individual person, trusting each other as equal partners in order to do our best in every situation.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
There were several methodologies of research that the researcher could have utilized to collect information regarding customer satisfaction. Some of the more commonly used strategies are: i) written survey, ii) telephone surveys, iii) focus groups,iv) in-depth interviews etc. However factors such as information need, resources, accessibility to customers, sample to be used, time etc. had to be considered prior to selection of a methodology. Research Method: For this particular study, the method of acquiring information from the customer needed to be both easy to use and understand. Therefore the researcher decided to use the written survey method. Under this method, the information was collected from the customers using a research instrument called a Questionnaire(which was prepared by the researcher himself). This questionnaire was a structured questionnaire, which had definite, concrete and predetermined questions. These questions were presented with exactly the same wording and in the same order to all the respondents. The questionnaire consisted of both closed ended&open ended questions. Data Source: The research makes use of both Primary & Secondary Data. a. Primary Data: The customer survey was based on the primary data which was collected by the researcher through one to one interaction with the customers, using the questionnaire. b. Secondary Data: use of secondary data was also made in the research. The purpose was to gather information as to who is a customer, what is customer satisfaction, information pertaining to four-wheelers market, company profile & research papers on customer satisfaction. This secondary data was collected from various websites, Magazines & broachers, management books and articles.

Target population & Sampling plan: The target population consisted of all the existing customers of the all new Honda City IVTEC and the research area was Delhi & NCR. Out of the entire target population the researcher decided to draw asample of 200 customers,for the purpose of this report. These samples were chosen on the basisofsimple random sampling. Target Areas: In order to conduct the survey and meet the targeted audience the researcher visited various places. These places included: i) Company Dealerships & Service Centres (Ace Honda & Prime Honda),ii) Petrol pumps (Kargil Fill up station Vasundhra encl. & Indian Oil Mayurvihar PH-I),iii)Shopping malls, (which included the Great Indian Mall & Centre Stage Mall). Data processing: The data collected from the respondents, through the questionnaire, was recorded in an excel sheet which was then converted into SPSS database for analysis procedure. This data has been displayed in the report using graphical presentations (pie-charts, bar diagrams, histograms etc.) and tabulations.

REFERENCES

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

Websites
www.hondacarindia.com www.academon.com/lib.html www.hclibrary.org/ www.fadaweb.com www.icra.in/ www.google.com

Journals & Magazines

i. ii. iii. iv. Overdrive Magazines, March 2009 Edition Autocar India, March 2009 Edition CRISIL journals Broachers by SIMA

Books
i. Peter Druker: A critical commentary on his philosophy of management,by C. NorthcotrParkison, Pg.287 Realities of management by John Marsh, glossary, Pg-389 Consumer Behaviour by LeonG. Schiffman,9th Edition, Glossary, G-3 Marketing Management by Philip Kotler, 11th Edition, Chapter3, Pg.70 Customer satisfaction by P. Parker, Chapter1, Pg-5

ii. iii. iv. v.