Raghavendra Naduvinamani

18PT2 – 39
EMP October 2018 Batch

Marketing Management Assignment

On Decision on Process of My Last Car and Advise to Friend on Selecting a Car

My last car purchase was in the year 2012. Following were my criteria for decision making:

1. Within the budget of Rs.6-7 lakhs

2. Hatchback car – for a small family of three (family requirement)
3. Comfort and safety features
4. Vehicle brand and image
5. Stylish
6. Fuel economy
7. After sales including dealership reputation

My budget was around Rs.6-7 lakhs to buy a hatchback with a good style, safety and comfort
car. Vehicle brand image, fuel economy and after sales is also important. I also considered the
dealership reputation in delivering vehicle and after sales experience by other similar car
owners who post their reviews online. My choice was to buy a petrol engine car as my average
travel is not more than 40 km a day, and petrol engines are with better power as compared with
diesel.

I approached few of my friends working in the automobile sector (passenger cars) to understand
top three passenger cars in the market with their unique features. I also compared three
hatchbacks (Maruti Swift, Hyundai i20 and VW Polo) online on carwale.com, zigwheels.com and
cardekho.com for unique features and on-road prices. I visited the websites for all three car
brands and made request for test drive.

Based on the test drive experience, I find i20 and VW Polo were better interms of comfort and
style. Swift was good interms of fuel economy and annual maintenance as compared with other
two models, but I my liking changed towards style and comfort. Also, I thought so many people
go with swift blindly on its proven performance on road, and see so many same cars on road, I
thought I will choose among other two which are less and stand different in its style and status.
As i20 was little expensive than the VW Polo, I decided to go with Polo.

There were two dealers in the market for VW, I choose the one nearest to my residence, and
whose sales were much higher than the other dealer in the city and also, his reviews for post
sales services were better than the other one.

There were three variants within Polo – trendline, comfortline and highline. I wanted to buy the
middle variant – comfortline, as I was satisfied with the features it had. However, the dealer
convinced me that the highline was not much different interms of money as compared with the
additional features such as chrome accessories with alloy wheels. I found the alloy wheel car
(highline) was better looking as compared with the comfortline, and I changed my mind to
highline.

Color of the car was finalized based on the choice made by majority of the family.
Raghavendra Naduvinamani
18PT2 – 39
EMP October 2018 Batch
 Raghavendra Naduvinamani
18PT2 – 39
EMP October 2018 Batch
ADVISE TO FRIEND ON SELECTING A CAR

The budget is already given within the range of Rs.8-10 lakhs.

My friend and I will discuss on other requirements such as (i) segment of car looking for, (ii)
petrol or diesel engine, based on type of use and quantum of daily use, (iii) size of car – no of
seating (family size), (iv) other factors, as arise

Out of three major segments of cars – (a) Hatchback, (b) Sedan, and (c) SUV/MPV. As
SUV/MPV does not fit into the budget, so hatchback and sedan were shortlisted. As the friend’s
family size was two adults and two kid of age between 4-8 years, hatchback or sedan would
suffice the requirement. Average travel per day will be around 30-40 kms and needed a power
engine.

I advised to consider safety, comfort, fuel economy, post sales servicing on priority, as these are
important facts that may lead to more expensive. Brand of the car was also very important.
Based on reviews on carwale.com, zigwheel.com and carsguide.com – we shortlisted top three
best performing hatchback and sedan in India. Following are the models:

Hatchback Cars Sedan Cars

Maruti Swift Maruti Ciaz
Maruti Baleno Honda City
Hyundai i20 Hyundai Verna

Hatchbacks or Sedan?

Comparing the features between hatchback and sedan, major difference was with the size of
the car (storage and sitting comfort). Except Ciaz Delta Model other two sedan car prices were
more than the budget of Rs.10lakh. Friend had limitation of parking space, and as compared
with the other hatchbacks, Ciaz had very less safety scores on the car comparing sites
mentioned above. The price difference between sedan and hatchback was substantially higher
as compared with the additional features coming along with it. As the family size (2 adults and
two kids), requirement would be met by hatchback, I recommended the friend for hatchback
over Sedan.

Among the two brands of Maruti and Hyundai – my recommendation was towards Maruti as it is
a well trusted brand in India, both the models shortlisted have proven record on Indian roads. In
addition, Maruti has very good network of dealers, service providers (post sale), spare parts and
accessories were less expensive than Hyundai i20. Thus, shortlisted on Maruti.

We visited two dealers for test drive – as Baleno is sold through Nexa dealership, we visited one
nexa and one normal dealer. We checked on the on-road prices, promotions, complementary
accessories or services (such as road side assistance and insurance) etc. The prices were not
much varying, as both the models are on hot sales in the market. However, there was a
promotion of Rs.15,000 cash back and additional corporate discount of Rs.10,000. We
consulted one of my friends who was using Baleno and expressed his happiness over the
performance of the car, and also very happy on the services (during and post sales) of Nexa.
Considering all the above facts, my friend made his decision on Maruti Baleno.