A STUDY ON CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

AND BRAND PREFERENCE TOWARDS

AUTOMOBILES
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Over the past century automobiles have been used as a status symbol by those who
own and drive them .Automobiles have grown from being a mere medium of
transportation to a statement of style and of creating social perception .The
automobile industry is constantly evolving through rapid changes at a fast rate.The
nature of needs and the preferences of people have given ways for different types
of automobiles and different options within the automobile.Earlier only the upper
class people of the society could afford to own an automobile,but that is not the
case in this century.People have the buying capacity and owning an automobile
have become a common affair which wasn’t the case earlier.The sales and
production of automobiles in the Indian market is at an alltime high.

The automobile was first invented and perfected in Germany and France in the late
1800s, though Americans quickly came to dominate the automotive industry in the
first half of the twentieth century. Henry Ford innovated mass-production
techniques that became standard, and Ford, General Motors and Chrysler emerged
as the “Big Three” auto companies by the 1920s. Manufacturers funneled their
resources to the military during World War II, and afterward automobile
production in Europe and Japan soared to meet growing demand. Once vital to the
expansion of American urban centers, the industry had become a shared global
enterprise with the rise of Japan as the leading automaker by 1980.

Although the automobile was to have its greatest social and economic impact in the
United States, it was initially perfected in Germany and France toward the end of
the nineteenth century by such men as Gottlieb Daimler, Karl Benz, Nicolaus Otto
and Emile Levassor.

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Industry segments like
automobile, textile, and agriculture have grown since the nation’s independence.
The support received from government and welfare schemes have given a boost to
these segments for steady and progressive growth.

Among these, the automobile industry has flourished like never before. The Indian
auto industry is one of the largest globally, both regarding production as well as
sales. The first car that plied on Indian roads was as early as 1897 and the first
Indian to own a car in 1901 was Jamshedji Tata. It was in 1942, before India’s
independence that Hindustan Motors manufactured the first automobile in India.

Soon after India’s independence, the Government of India tried to boost the sector
by encouraging manufacturing of automobiles. Before that, the cars were imported
directly.

The automobile sector formally came into being in the year 1952 when the
Government appointed its first tariff commission with the aim of indigenizing this
industry. The year 1952 also marked the introduction of passenger cars in the
country. Manufacturers like Hindustan Motors, Premier Automobiles and Standard
Motors came into the limelight.

Even SUV’s started being manufactured by Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj,

Standard Motors, etc. Cumbersome and medium commercial vehicles were made
by 7 manufacturers which included Ashok Motors, Simpsons and Co., Premier
Motors and more.

In the present day people are quite dependent upon their automobiles for mobility
and ease of transportation and has quite gained a status of being irreplaceable or of
an unavoidable feature.Thus the growth of personal preferences and practicality of
an automobiles have paved the way for the industry to be diverse and full of
varities.We can try to study the behavior of the consumer preference and buying
behaviours of the customers on how they assess automobiles based on this
research.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

We selected automobiles for our project since it has become an indispensable thing
in common man’s life. In the last three decade or so, several new automobiles and
brands have come out in the Indian market. Our survey aims at trying to discover
the buying preference and what type of automobile is popular among the
consumers. We prepared the questionnaire keeping this mind. We have prepared
the questionnaire keeping in mind of the varied range of automobiles and the
ultimate customer satisfaction it can provide combined with the correct mix of
features.The major aspect of the study is to formulate a popular perception of what
the Indian consumer of an automobile have in mind about the object.As a part of
the survey,various features and attributes of an automobile have been presented to
discover a plausible explanation regarding customer buying behavior.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 To find out the level of satisfaction on the automobile customers.
 To study the factors influencing satisfaction level of the automobile
customers.
 To find the age group-automobile relationship and the factors related.
 To find the most preferred brand and which has greater market share.

. 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study aims at fixing the automobile attributes and brands preferred by the
cross -section of society. It also aims at bringing to the fore the various tastes of
different classes of people such as according to sex, age, financial position and also
their preferences.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Automobiles are no longer just devices used for travelling. Going beyond the
generic role, automobiles now focuses on performing a voguish role as a fashion
accessory that helps in making a self-expressive style statement. From being a
“Need”, automobiles has turned to become a “Demand”. The Indian market has
matured over the years and has seen a paradigm shift, keeping abreast with
international trends. Different brands with different technology, design,
innovations have entered into the market. So this study will deliver the information
about the attributes and trending technologies which make customers buy certain
automobiles brands.
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.6.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

For the study here, descriptive study based on buying behavior of automobiles are
used.

1.6.2 SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION

Primary data has been collected through questionnaire specially designed for the
study.

Secondary data were collected from relevant journals, websites and other sources.

1.6.3 DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS

Percentage analysis is used for the study.

1.6.4 DATA PRESENTATION

The findings and analyzed results are presented in the form of tables and graphs
which are made using pie chart and bar chart.

1.7 LIMITATIONS

 The project relied mainly on primary data. Sample size of 100 customers are
selected.
 The scope of the study is restricted to Kerala state only. So we cannot say
the same response will exist throughout India.
 Respondents, sometimes may not be revealing the exact information.
 Time and resource constraints.
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
 U. Thiripurasundari (2011) Brand Equity is the added value endowed by
the brand to the Product. Although the idea of using a name or a symbol to
enhance a product‘s value has been known to marketers for a long time,
brand equity has gained a renewed interest in recent years. The objectives of
the study were to analyse the importance of various factors like brand
knowledge, brand preference, brand loyalty, brand application etc. in car
market in Pondicherry. The primary data were collected from three hundred
car owners through an interview schedule. From the five factors, brand
application factor has been rated as the most important factor in car industry.
This study shows that it is possible to ascertain where a company should
focus its improvement efforts in order to make it payoff.
 Prof. Pallawi B. Sangode (2011) This research paper is based on the
findings of comparative study of service quality of Maruti Suzuki and
Hyundai Showrooms in Nagpur. Service quality is a fundamental aspect of
service provision, and this is especially the case with motor vehicles, where
substantial profits are generated in the servicing of vehicles. The study was
conducted using a convenience sample of forty respondents who were
owners of Maruti and Hyundai cars. The questionnaire was a self-
completion questionnaire consisting of 26 questions.
 Dr P. Sathyapriya (2011) India is becoming a hub of major manufacturing
industries and the automobile industry (in specific for passenger car
segment) makes rapid progress in the country. After de-licensing of the
industry in 1991, a number of global players have opened their plants in
India. The players of automobile industry are developing newHopkins
(2007) explored the consequences of recent advances in adaptive learning
 theory for the analysis of consumer behavior. Two different models were
compared namely reinforcement learning and belief based learning. It was
stated that familiarity with an existing brand will make the establishment of
an alternative difficult, even if it is of higher quality, atleast under price
competition. It was concluded that under reinforcement learning, consumer
can become locked into the habbit of purchasing inferior goods and in
contrast, belief based learning rules must lead asymptotically to correct
beliefs about the relative quality of the two brands and so in this case, there
is a unique steady state.

 Rani (2008) studied the passenger car industry in India. Trends in car
industry had been studied prior to liberalization and post liberalization.
She pointed out that broad branding policy which gave new licenses to
broad groups of automotive products started in 1985. After liberalization,
the passenger car industry in the nineties was characterized by an
increase in the number of brands available in the market which caused
brands to compete on the basis of product features. The sales of cars
increased from 264803 units in 1994-95 to 819918 units in 2004-05. The
car industry contributed 19% of indirect taxes in 2007 and gave direct
employment of over 2 million and indirect employment of 10 million.
Basic challenges to car industry as per author were road infrastructure,
transportation fuels, technology infrastructure and reengineering. Most of
the exports 39 were in compact car segment and over a period of time, it
could grow to include luxury cars also.
 Goyal and Aggarwal (2008) attempted to find the relative importance of
various factors that attract the customers while selecting a particular car
 in its segment. For the said purpose, the questionnaire was developed and
respondents were selected by convenience sampling method. Total of 277
respondents were selected from Ludhiana city which comprised of 67
respondents from luxury cars and 117 from small cars. Various
techniques like Factor Analysis, Mean, Standard Deviation and Bi-
Variate Correlation had been used. The study revealed that in case of
purchase of luxury cars, the factors like horse power, model, luggage
capacity, accessories and loan facility emerged as most significant
factors, in case of medium cars, after sales service, availability of spare
parts, model, shape and engine capacity were important and in case of
small cars, the factors like accessories, engine capacity, after sales
service and price were main considerations. So it was recommended that
the car manufacturers had to properly understand the relative importance
of various attributes for the different segments of cars.
 Kaushik and Kaushik (2008) investigated empirically customer’s
preference towards passenger car brands in South West Haryana region.
He also considered pre purchase and post purchase behaviour and factors
influencing the brand preference of passenger cars. Judgmental sampling
method was followed and study was carried out in Bhiwani and
Mahendragarh districts of Haryana in months of June-August 2007.
Cross Tabulation and Multi Dimensional Scaling techniques were used. It
was observed that Maruti 800, Alto and Wagon-R were favourite in that
region and customers were more influenced by friends, relatives rather
than dealers and sales persons. Brand name, fuel, efficiency and price
were found to be primary determinant for buying cars in that region.
 Adjei et al. (2010) studied the influence of C2C communications in
online brand 41 also concluded that online brand communities were
 effective customer retention tools for retaining both experienced and
inexperienced customers.
 Ozaki et al. (2011) conducted analysis of consumer purchase
motivations. The paper reported case study of consumer adoption of hybrid
vehicles, a green innovation that had been in market since 1990’s. The study
was based on primary survey conducted in 2009 to investigate the
dimensions that constitute motivations to purchase the Prius and to examine
how policy could encourage hybrid adoption. 1263 responses were used for
analysis and exploratory factor analysis was conducted. The financial
benefits related to transport policy, social norms, technological interest and
consumer willingness to comply were important factors. It was
recommended that affective values need to be communicated to consumers
in terms of value added.
 Kopnina (2011) aimed to study children’s attitude towards cars and
the environment. It was assumed that attitudes towards cars tend to develop
in childhood. The study was conducted in Amsterdam between January,
2009 and December, 2010. indepth interviews was conducted with Dutch
upper elementary school children. Sample of 69 children and 111 parents/
legal guardians were interviewed. The data was analyzed with the help of
content analysis and MAXQDA (qualitative analysis program). Interview
was broken in certain themes like positive experiences with cars, negative
experiences, positive attitudes and negative attitudes. After analysis, it was
recommended that there must be a curriculum for addressing the
development of children’s awareness of sustainable transportation
alternatives.
 Peters et al. (2011) identified psychological factors that are effective
in measuring change in behaviour and helps in promoting fuel efficient cars.
Model was proposed which integrated psychological variables that explained
the purchase of fuel efficient vehicles by private consumers. The data was
collected from 302 Swiss respondents whose household have bought a new
car since 2002. Structured equation modeling was used to confirm the
factors. It was concluded that problem awareness, symbolic motives and
response efficacy influence the respective behaviour indirectly via effecting
the direct predictors. Results reflected the salience of the positively valued
features of new technology and alternative fuels.
INDUSTRY PROFILE
The word "automobile" is a classical compound derived from the Ancient Greek
word autós meaning "self", and the Latin word mobilis, meaning "movable". It
entered the English language from French, and was first adopted by the
Automobile Club of Great Britain in 1897. Cars came into global use during the
20th century, and developed economies depend on them. The year 1886 is
regarded as the birth year of the modern car when German inventor Karl Benz
patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Cars became widely available in the early
20th century. One of the first cars accessible to the masses was the 1908 Model T,
an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly
adopted in the US, where they replaced animal-drawn carriages and carts, but took
much longer to be accepted in Western Europe and other parts of the world.

Automobile industry in India

In 1897, the first car ran on an Indian road. Through the 1930s, cars were imports
only, and in small numbers.An embryonic automotive industry emerged in India in
the 1940s. Hindustan Motors was launched in 1942, long-time competitor Premier
in 1944, building Chrysler, Dodge, and Fiat products respectively.[3] Mahindra &
Mahindra was established by two brothers in 1945, and began assembly of Jeep
CJ-3A utility vehicles. Following independence in 1947, the Government of India
and the private sector launched efforts to create an automotive-component
manufacturing industry to supply to the automobile industry. In 1953, an import
substitution programme was launched, and the import of fully built-up cars began
to be restricted.

Following economic liberalisation in India in 1991 and start of Economic Boom,

and the gradual easing of restrictions on industry, India has seen a dynamic 17%
annual growth in automobile production and 30% annual growth in exports of
automotive components and automobiles. More than 4.78 million automotive
vehicles were produced in India in 2017 (an increase of almost thrice since 2005
and more than thirteen times since 1990. India is now the fifth largest automobile
producer (beating old and new auto makers such as South Korea, Belgium, United
Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Spain, France, Brazil) and is the second
fastest growing automobile market (after China) in the World. Total turnover of the
Indian automobile industry grew 3.6 times from $34 Billion in 2006 to $122
Billion in 2016.

The largest automotive companies in India are Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai

MotorIndia, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors (In 2008, it launched Tata
Nano, the cheapest car in the world at $1,500). Foreign auto companies with plants
in India include, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Suzuki, Nissan Motors,
Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, BMW, Renault, Mitsubishi, Jaguar Land
Rover, Fiat and Mercedes Benz. Many other global automobile giants such as PSA
Peugeot Citroën, Volvo, Kia are setting up their plants and Lexus, Infiniti are also
in the process of setting up their manufacturing plants in this country.

The manufacturers
Maruti Suzuki- Maruti Suzuki India Limited, formerly known as Maruti Udyog
Limited, is an automobile manufacturer in India. It is a 56.21% owned subsidiary
of the Japanese car and motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki Motor Corporation.As of
July 2018, it had a market share of 53% of the Indian passenger car market. The
company is headquartered at New Delhi.

Hyundai MotorIndia- Hyundai Motor India Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Hyundai Motor Company headquartered in South Korea. It is the second largest
automobile manufacturer with 17% market share as of 2017 and 5.5 billion USD
turn-over in India.Hyundai Motor India Limited was formed on 6 May 1996 by the
Hyundai Motor Company of South Korea. When Hyundai Motor Company entered
the Indian Automobile Market in 1996 the Hyundai brand was almost unknown
throughout India. During the entry of Hyundai in 1996, there were only five major
automobile manufacturers in India, i.e. Maruti, Hindustan, Premier, Tata and
Mahindra.

Mahindra & Mahindra- Mahindra & Mahindra Limited is an Indian multinational

car manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It
was established in 1945 as Mohammad & Mahindra and later renamed as
Mahindra and Mahindra. It is one of the largest vehicle manufacturers by
production in India and the largest manufacturer of tractors in the world. It is a part
of the Mahindra Group, an Indian conglomerate.

Tata Motors- Tata Motors Limited (formerly TELCO, short for Tata Engineering
and Locomotive Company) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing
company headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of Tata Group, an Indian
conglomerate. Its products include passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses,
sports cars, construction equipment and military vehicles.Tata Motors has auto
manufacturing and assembly plants in Jamshedpur, Pantnagar, Lucknow, Sanand,
Dharwad, and Pune in India, as well as in Argentina, South Africa, Great Britain
and Thailand.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Customer is defined as anyone who receives that which is produced by the
individual or organization that has the value. Customer expectations are
continuously increasing. Brand loyalty is a thing of the past. Customers seek out
products and producers that are best able to satisfy their requirements. A product
does not need to be rated highest by customers on all dimensions, only on those
their link is important.

FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Consumer behavior refers to the selection, acquisition and consumption of goods
and services to meet their needs. There are different processes involved in
consumer behavior. Initially, the consumer tries to find what products you would
like to consume, then select only those products that promise greater utility. After
selecting the products, the consumer makes an estimate of available funds that can
happen. Finally, the consumer looks at the current prices of commodities and
makes the decision about which products to consume. Meanwhile, there are several
factors that influence consumer purchases, such as social, cultural, personal and
psychological. The explanation of these factors is as follows.

1. Cultural factors

Consumer behavior is deeply influenced by cultural factors, such as buyer’s

culture, subculture and social class.

2. Social factors
Social factors also influence the purchasing behavior of consumers. Social
factors are: the reference groups, family, the role and status

3. Personal factors
Personal factors may also affect consumer behavior. Some of the important
factors that influence personal buying behavior are: lifestyle, economic status,
occupation, age, personality and self esteem.

4. Psychological factors
 There are four major psychological factors that affect the purchasing behavior
of consumers. These are: perception, motivation, learning, beliefs and attitudes.

Consumer buying behavior

Consumer buying behavior is the sum total of a consumer’s attitudes, preferences,
intentions, and decisions regarding the consumer’s behavior in the market place
when purchasing a product or service. The study of consumer behavior draws upon
social science discipline of anthropology, psychology, sociology, and economics.

The standard model of consumer behavior consists of a methodical and structured

process.

 Problem recognition: the first step is problem recognition. During this step,
consumer realizes that he/she has an unfulfilled need or want. Let’s use the
example of a consumer who has just been informed by mechanic that fixing
the car will cost more than it’s worth. Then our consumer realizes that he/she
now has a transportation problem and wants to fulfill that need with the
purchase of a new car.
 Information search: the next step is to gather information relevant to what you
need to solve the problem. Example, consumer may engage in research on the
internet to determine the types of vehicles available and their respective
features.
 Evaluation: after information is gathered, it is evaluated against a consumer’s
needs, wants, preferences, and financial resources available for purchase.
Example, consumer has decided to narrow his/her choices down to here cars
based upon price, comfort, and fuel efficiency.
 Purchase: at this stage, the consumer will make a purchasing decision. The
ultimate decision may be based on factors such as price or availability.
Example, consumer has decided to purchase a particular model of car because
 its price was the best he/she could negotiate and the car was available
immediately.

Post purchase evaluation: at this stage the consumer will decide whether the
purchase actually satisfies his/her needs and wants
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS

5.1 Age Classification of Respondents

Table No.5.1

Age group Frequency Percentage

18-30 70 70
30-45 25 25
45-60 5 5
Above 60 0 0
Total 100 100

Chart No.5.1

INTERPRETATION:
The above table and pie chart shows the age wise classification of the respondents.
70% of the people belong to the age group 18-30, 25% of people belong to both the
age groups 30-45, and finally 5% of the people belong to the age category of above
45.
5.2 Gender Classification of Respondents

Frequenc
Gender
y
Percentage
Male 60 60
Femal 40 40
e
Total 100 100

Gender

Male Female

INTERPRETATION:
The above table and pie chart shows that 60% of the respondents are males and
40% of the respondents are females.
5.3 Purpose of an automobile

Purpose Frequency Percentage

Personal 40 40
purpose
Business 0 0
Purpose
Family purpose 60 60
Total 100 100

Purpose Of automobile

Personal Purpose
Business Purpose
Family Purpose

INTERPRETATION:
Among the respondents 40% of them are using an automobile for personal purpose
whereas the rest 60% are using it for family purposes.
5.4 Buying preference of range of model

Range of Model Frequency Percentage

High end model 5 5
Mid range model 90 90
Low end model 5 5
Total 100 100

Range of Model

High end model

Mid range model
Low end model

INTERPRETATION:
Majority of the respondents,i.e 90% of them are preferring a mid range model of
automobile while only 5% are opting for a high end model and 5% are choosing a
low end model.
5.5 Most important feature of automobile perceived by the respondent

Feature Frequency Percentage

Performance 40 40
The engine capacity 10 10
Overall comfort 50 50
Total 100 100

Features

Performance
The engine capacity
Overall comfort

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 50% prefer performance as the most important
feature, 10% prefer the engine capacity, 50% prefer overall comfort.
5.6 Fuelling system the respondent would like in their automobile

Fuelling system Frequency Percentage

Petrol 50 50
Diesel 25 25
CNG 5 5
Hybrid 15 15
Electric 5 5
Total 100 100

Fuelling system

Petrol
Diesel
CNG
Hybrid
Electric

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 50% prefer petrol fuelling system, 25% prefer diesel
automobiles, 5% prefer CNG, 15% prefer hybrid and 5% of them prefer electric
fuelling system.
5.7 Engine size preference of the respondent

Engine size Frequency Percentage

1-1.5l 25 25
1.5-2l 55 55
>2l 20 20
Total 100 100

Engine size

1-1.5l
1.5-2l
>2l

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 25% prefer an engine size ranging from1-1.5l, 55%
prefer 1.5-2l engine, 20% prefer an engine size over 2l.
5.8 Importance of safety features in the car on a scale of 1 to 5(1 being the lowest
and 5 being the highest)

Frequency Percentage
1 5 5
2 0 0
3 15 15
4 35 35
5 45 45
Total 100 100

Frequency

0
1
2
3
4
5

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 5% rated a score of one on the significance of safety
in an automobile, 15% scored a 3, 35% scored a 4, 45% scored a 5 on the question.
5.9 Price range in which the respondent would like to buy an automobile

Price range Frequency Percentage

<6 lakh 5 5
6-15 lakh 70 70
15-25lakh 10 10
25-40 lakh 10 10
>40lakhs 5 5
Total 100 100

Price range

<6lakhs
6-15lakhs
15-25lakhs
25-40lakhs
>40 lakhs

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 5% an automobile below 6lakhs, 70% prefer
automobiles within the range 6-15lakhs, 10% prefer 15-25lakhs, 10% prefer in the
range of 25-40lakhs and 5% of them prefer automobiles pricing over 40lakhs

.
5.10 Favourite brand of automobile of the respondent

Brand Frequency Percentage

Hyundai 15 15
Maruti Suzuki 35 35
Honda 20 20
Mahindra 25 25
Ford 5 15
Total 100 100

Brands

Hyundai
Maruti Suzuki
Honda
Mahindra
Ford

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 15% prefer Hyundai automobiles, 35% prefer Maruti
Suzuki automobiles, 20% prefer Honda, 25% prefer Mahindra and 5% of them
prefer Ford automobiles.
5.11 Ideal mileage of car preffered by the respondent

Mileage range Frequency Percentage

10-15kmpl 5 5
15-20kmpl 50 50
20-25kmpl 40 40
25+kmpl 5 5
Total 100 100

Mileage range

10-15kmpl
15-20kmpl
20-25kmpl
25+kmpl

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 5% prefer a mileage range of 10-15kmpls , 50%
prefer a range of 15-20kmpl, 40% prefer 20-25kmpls,and 5% prefer a range
exceeding 25kmpl.
5.12 Preference of what country’s brand the respondent would like to buy

Country Frequency Percentage

India 40 40
Sweden 5 5
Japan 20 20
USA 20 20
Germany 15 15
Total 100 100

Country

India
Sweden
Germany
Japan
USA

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 40% prefer Indian brand’s automobile, 5% prefer
Swedish automobiles, 20% prefer Japanese automobiles, 20%% prefer American
and 15% of them prefer German automobiles.
5.13 Importance of boot capacity to the respondent

Frequency Percentage
Not important 5 5
Unimportant 5 5
Important 85 85
Very Important 5 5
Total 100 100

Importance

Not important
Unimportant
Important
Very important

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 5% rated boot capacity as not important ,5%rated it
unimportant,85% rated it as important and 5% thought it was very important.
5.14 Portion of annual income the respondent be willing to invest in the purchase
of an automobile

Frequency Percentage
<20% 5 5
20-40% 35 35
40-60% 45 45
>60% 15 15
Total 100 100

Portion of annual income

<20%
20-40%
40-60%
>60%

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 5% would spend less than 20%of their annual
income, 35% would spend in the range of 20-40%, 45% in the range 40-60%, 15%
over 60%of their annual income.
5.15 Most important secondary feature in an automobile

Feature Frequency Percentage

Leg space of passenger 25 25
Seating comfort 55 55
Stereo system 20 20
Total 100 100

Secondary features
60

50

40

30

20 Secondary features
10

0
er rt m
ng fo ste
e m y
ss co es
pa ng er
of ati St
ace Se
p
egs
L

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents, 25% deemed leg space of passenger as the most
important secondary feature, 55% opinioned the seating comfort while the rest
20% liked the stereo system in the automobile.
5.16 Importance of brand value in being a decisive factor during the purchase of an
automobile(on a scale of from 1 to 5)

Frequency Percentage
1 0 0
2 5 5
3 30 30
4 35 35
5 30 30
Total 100 100

Scale

1
2
3
4
5

INTERPRETATION:
Among the 100 respondents,on a scale of 1 to 5 assessing Importance of brand
value in being a decisive factor during the purchase of an automobile 5% scored a
2,30 scored a 3,35 scored a 4 and the rest 30 scored a 5.
FINDINGS,

 Majority of the automobile users are of the age group between 18-45

 Majority of the automobile users are males (60%).

 Most of the respondents prefer Indian brands for their automobiles.
 Majority of the respondents would prefer an efficient automobile having a
mileage of 15-20kmpl(50%).
 Majority of the middle class prefer Maruti Suzuki cars due to its style and
affordable price.
 Majority of the working class prefer Hyundai cars due to its brand value and
durability.
 Most of the respondents are interested in moderate sized engines ranging
from 1.5-2l capacity(55%).
 Most of the respondents are interested in Indian brand automobiles and
secondly Japanese and USA made automobiles.
 Most of the respondents prefer petrol engine automobiles(50%)

 Internet and websites are the main source of collecting information on

automobiles by the respondents.
 Most of the respondents prefer automobiles between the price range of 6-
15l(70%).
SUGGESTIONS
 Companies should design fuel efficient and moderately economic cars
having good quality .
 Companies should give primal and utmost importance to safety features
 The quality of Indian made automobiles should be increased to international
standards to compete with German made automobiles.
 Advertisements should also aim on newspapers and store promo display so
the reach to common people can be increased other than internet users.

CONCLUSION
We would like to conclude after this study that the Indian market of automobile is
quite varied and have a whole range of countries’ brands in the market,yet in the
current scenario Indian brands does have a uphold and superiority in the situation
due to the economic and reliability attributes they provide.We can speculate from
the study that Maruti Suzuki is one of the most successful brands of automobiles in
the market due to its efficiency and price.As the purchasing capacity of customers
is on a monumental growth in the current decade,the manufacturers are facing tight
competition among themselves and are constantly evolving to survive in the
market.Thus we can conclude the study has been quite effective in realizing the
purchase behavior and preferences of customers in the Indian market