Automobile Industry

Any vehicle having a gasoline or diesel internal-combustion engine and designed to run on roads is called an automobile.

Automobile sector includes passenger cars, trucks, tractors, scooters, motorbikes, scooty, jeeps and three wheelers. Turnover of automobile industry is $ 48.86 billion. Employment generated by automobile industry is 13.1 million. Expected growth rate for the financial year 2011-2012 is 15%-16%. Government has prepared 10 years of automotive mission plan (AMP) for robust auto growth. The plan focuses on building required infrastructure, power generation and tax reduction. India is the 11th largest producer of passenger cars in the automobile industry of the world.

PEST Analysis

Political/legal: Indian automobile sector could experience moderate growth rate for the financial year: 2011-2012. The estimated growth rate is 15%-16%. One of the reasons for moderate growth rate is increase in the prices of diesel and LPG BY Rs.3 and Rs.50 respectively. Now diesel costs Rs.40.75 per liter and LPG costs Rs.395.35 in New Delhi. Due to hike in diesel and LPG prices, demand of cars using these fuels might decrease. There is also an uncertainty regarding implementation of GST. If GST gets implemented, certain indirect taxes would be abolished resulting in the reduced prices of cars. But it seems people have to wait for another financial year for GST to get implemented.

Economic: Due to high inflation India is facing today, interest rates are high and there is less liquidity in Indian economy. Owing to high inflation and high interest rates and less liquidity, demand of cars might decrease.

Ecology: In 2011-2012 budgets, finance minister- Pranab Mukherjee announced "national mission" for cars under which he supported the development of green car and technology". Manufacturing and assembling of cars like hybrid cars, electronic cars and cars using hydrogen fuel are exempted from certain duties like excise duty and custom duty. This will encourage production of eco vehicles resulting in less pollution.

Social: India is the 2nd fastest growing country in the world after china. Growth rate, GDP and employment opportunities are increasing at phenomenal rate. This has resulted in increase in disposable income of people. In 2011-2012 budgets, finance minister increased the minimum tax limit, this left people with more income in their hands. Thus we can say that there is a huge scope of

automobile sector in India.

Technology: Companies are trying to make their product more and more efficient by introducing new technology and features in them. For example: Tata indica gives 25kmpl. Nowadays cars have features like airbags, air suspensions, ESP, attention assist and blue efficiency.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

MERCEDES-BENZ......................this name needs no introduction for the car enthusiastic people. Since
the time of its foundation, this name has been associated with world-class brands of cars, trucks, buses and now bicycles also. This company was initially founded by Mr. Karl Benz in the year 1871 and eventually in 1890, Mr. Gottleib Daimler and Mr. Wilhelm May Bach, together founded the division of Mercedes Benz called as Daimler AG. The headquarters of the Mercedes Benz is located at Stuttgart in Germany. Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Moteren-Gesellschaft (DMG), which began to develop in 1901, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler. MERCEDES BRAND NAME was adopted by the company after the request for this name for a very prestigious customer, Emil Jenlik, who ordered 23 cars (a huge number at that time) on the condition that all the cars should be labelled as Mercedes, name of a 21 year old girl. From that instance, the company adopted the name of Mercedes. During the time of IInd World War, Mr. Karl Benz and Mr. Daimler both faced disastrous conditions. So, in order to survive and secure their future, they both joint hands and merged into one company in 1926. Mercedes was the 1st Automobile Company to launch its passenger cars with all the Security and Safety features including Airbags, EPS, and ABS etc. In India, Mercedes Benz has its manufacturing & assembling plant at Pune. Mercedes C-class and E-Class are being completely manufactured at Pune, including their spare parts and accessories while the other models are being completely imported from Germany. Mercedes is planning to launch their Financial Services, The Daimler Financial Services, in India by August, 2011.

PRODUCTS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. PASSENGER CARS TRUCKS Medium Duty Trucks Heavy Duty Trucks Unimogs BUSES City Buses Inter-Urban Buses Coaches Mini Buses VANS BICYCLES Carbon Bike Fitness Bike Trailblazer Bike FINANCIAL SERVICES Leasing and Financing Leasing and Financing for Car Dealers Fleet Management Insurance Banking ELECTRIC CAR MOTORSPORT CAR

4 Ps of Mercedes

Philip Kotler has defined the term marketing mix as the set of controllable variables that the firm can use to influence the buyers response. Marketing mix is a dynamic concept as it keeps on changing with the changes in the market conditions and environment. It is to sell the right product at the right price at a convenient place using effective promotion. In order to provide superior customer value to its target market, Mercedes-Benz has found it necessary To expand its product line up Provide more competitive prices Increase communication with its target market Maintain accessibility to consumers Continue its excellent customer service

PRICE- It is a luxury product so the demand will vary with its price. There are many classes of the product with various price range, ranges are as follows C class- 28-31 lakhs

M class- 31-53 lakhs E class-38-50 lakhs S class- 85-99 lakhs R class- 58-78 lakhs AMG - 2-6crore CLS- 64-80 lakhs

PLACE- Usually the showroom is built where the demand is high i.e. places where usually elite people visit. With 26 cities and 56 touch points and more being added, world class service is always around the corner. HEAD OFFICE- Pune SHOWROOM- Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa, Jaipur and many more. AUTHORISED SERVICE STATION- Delhi & Gurgaon

AUTHORISED SERVICE CENTRE- Lucknow, Nasik, Calicut, Bhubaneswar, Mangalore and many
more. PROMOTION- Sponsors of Formula 1 race, golf tournaments, polo matches, fashion shows, display in 5star hotels, digital marketing. These are few promotional activities performed by them. PRODUCT- There are different models available with different colors. They provide features like-

S class- Pre safe and attention assist, panoramic sunroof, split view, blue efficiency technology. C class- Agility control, CGI technology for petrol engine and CDI technology in diesel engines, Pre safe, Neck pro, ESP, ASR, ABS. M class- PRE-SAFE, 4-ETS,DSR, NECK-PRO, 4MATIC & ASR. GL class- PRE-SAFE, 4ETS, DSR, NECK-PRO, Intelligent Light System, Off- Road Pro engineering package, AIRMATIC package & electronic folding third row seating , 4MATIC & ASR. R class- PRE-SAFE, DSR, NECK-PRO, Intelligent Light System, AIRMATIC package and third row seating, 4 MATIC, easy pack system.

Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning (STP)

Segmentation: In a market there are large no.of consumers with different needs. A marketer cannot serve all these needs through his one product and at a particular time. So he divides the entire market according to the needs and

behavior of the people. Thus, the process of dividing the market into different groups is called segmentation. For example: people buy a car for transport need, status & prestige, for show off etc.

Targeting: After dividing market into different groups, the group which the maker will select to sell his products is called target market. For example: target market of Mercedes Benz is the category of people buying car to satisfy their needs of status and prestige. Positioning: What image the marketer creates about his product/service in the mind of his target market is called positioning. In positioning the marketer establishes his brand in the minds of target market. For example: Mercedes Benz positioning is of a luxury car and premium brand.

Digital Marketing
Mercedes iconic three-pointed star symbolizes the auto manufacturers mobility on land, water, and in the air. Given its recent marketing efforts, the prestige car brand might want to add another point to its skill-set: digital mobility. Mercedes re-emergence and success on the digital scene can be attributed to its innovative, fearless spirit and intimate marketing approach.

Mercedes digital strategy is driven by the auto-luxs three key brand elements: innovation, trend-setting and enduring style. Using these brand elements, Mercedes is emphasizing self-expression and customer intimacy to woo the digital native cohort. Its establishing a strong presence on industry-leading social networks, such as Facebook, YouTube, in addition to crafting an ambitious, exclusively Mercedes community. The prestige auto brand is already seeing the fruits of its brand presence in digital marketing. After a slump during the eye of the recession, Mercedes focus on customer intimacy helped it kicking back sales by almost 24% worldwide.

Two digital campaigns have defined Mercedes self-expression and customer intimacy initiatives: Express Your Style and Generation Benz. Express Your Style and Gen Benz promote its new E-Class targeted towards forward-thinking, innovation-seeking, affluent buyers. The campaign embraces exuberance and high-design to appeal to younger, affluent car buyers. Mercedes more ambitious initiative is Gen Benz, its gated social network. Gen Benz was designed to engage Gen Y in a conversation and incorporate them in the marketing and business development feedback loop such as suggesting changes to TV spots and tweaking production performance. Embedding customers in the development and marketing phases of the process engendered a sense of ownership, which eventually translated into demand. It is suggested by the market research consultancy firms that affluent Gen Y thrives on exclusivity, or the secret handshake and gated social communities taps into that desire. Ultimately, Mercedes Gen Y-centric marketing initiatives enabled them to create a car essentially designed by its audience (via Gen Benz) from early product development to the final marketing stage. Incorporating customers in the feedback loop positions, Mercedes-Benz India launched a new Mobileoptimized website.

Mercedes Benz recently became the first auto company in India to launch a website that is mobile optimized (m.mercedes-benz.co.in), continuing its tradition of launching new innovations to meet the demands of its increasing tech savvy consumers. The website can be readily accessed through multiple mobile capable of Internet browsing. The website has been customized for mobile viewing and gives information on product highlights, technical data, picture galleries, pricing and details on local service centers. The mobile website reflects the contemporary nature of the Mercedes brand. The mobile optimized website ensures that customers and enthusiasts of the Mercedes brand can enjoy far greater levels of interactivity as compared to any other manufacturer in India. Features like fast browsing, video and flash content, easy navigation and enhanced interface will further enhance browsing experience. Last but not the least the upgraded corporate website of Mercedes Benz India www.mercedes-benz.co.in has optimized interface, Easier navigation and features such as a full- screen viewing, bookmarks and downloads, significantly enhancing the overall visitor experience.

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS
STRONG BRAND IMAGE

WEAKNESSES
PRICE

STUBBORN GOVT.
POLICIES SAFETY ORIENTED CAR DESIGNS

OWNERS CLUB

OPPURTUNITIES
INNOVATIVE NEW
MODELS ECO- FRIENDLY CARS

THREATS
STRONG COMPITITION NEW ENTRANTS INTO MARKET GOVT. CONSTRAINTS

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Mercedes has undertaken 3 projects to fulfill its CSR. These projects are as follows: 1) Jatropha bio diesel project: Daimler Chrysler, central salt and marine chemicals research institute (CSMCRI) and university of Hohenheim together implemented "Jatropha bio diesel project" in August 2003. This project focuses on producing bio-diesel from waste products and other by-products. The bio-diesel which is produced from these by-products is used as fuel in Mercedes cars. This project also does testing of Mercedes cars using bio-diesel. Testing is being done under conditions like- cold weather, high altitudes and frozen Himalayas. This project encourages the use of alternate energy and bio diesel. Hence, this project is environmentally friendly. 2) Automotive mechatronics: Mercedes Benz India and government polytechnic, Pune have introduced 1 year of diploma course in automotive technology. This course imparts technical skills in students and knowledge about modern automotive technology. The aim of this course is to develop employability among students and to dismantle the gap between automotive education and industry requirement. Students frequently visit Mercedes Benz factory in Pune to get an insight about automobile technology. 3) Mobile kids: Under mobile kids" project, the company imparts knowledge about traffic rules and road safety to school students. School students are put into different traffic situations and are taught to react to them. An artificial environment is created where students get real life experience about road safety. At the end of training programme, final inter school competition is organized among all participating schools. Winner of the competition gets "a day driven in Mercedes Benz with his/her family'.

Awards
1.
2. 3. 'Import Car of the year - SLS AMG' by CNBC Overdrive Awards and Car & Bike India Awards, Performance Car of the Year - SLS AMG by BS Motoring, CBU Sports car of the year - SLS AMG by ET Zigwheels, Favorite Chauffer driven car - E-Class by AutoBild, SUV of the year- GL 350 by Top Gear

4. 5.

6.

The Best Brand Award by Auto India Best Brand Awards 2011.