A

Summer Training Project

On

“Analysis of Marketing strategies pursued by Maruti Suzuki

with special reference to Relan Motors Pvt.Ltd”.

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the Award of

Masters of Business Administration

DS Part II Session 2017-2019

Submitted to

Center for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Submitted by:

Anjita khandelwal

MBA(DS) Part2
 Acknowledgement

I take immense pleasure in thanking Mr. Mohit Relan who permitted me to pursue my
Summer Training at their esteemed dealership.

I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to my Project Guide, Dr. Meenakshi Sharma
for her guidance and useful suggestions, which helped me in completing the project work, in
time.

I thank her for mentoring and encouragement throughout the project, also for her assistance
during the preparatory phase and numerous suggestions.

I would like to specially thanks Mr.Arun Ahir, Mr. Raja (team leaders) and Mr. Sunny
Kumawat (sales Manager) who helped me throughout the internship.

Finally, heartily thanks to Mrs. Mala (MGA Manager), my mentor who made this all
possible for me.

I would also like to thank all the DSEs whom I met during the internship for giving all the
required information.
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my beloved parents for their blessings and the
financial support, my friends/classmates for their help and wishes for the successful
completion of this project.
 PREFACE

This project report is about the topic “Analysis of marketing Strategies pursued by Maruti
Suzuki at Relan Motors” Based on my summer training in Relan Motors Pvt. Ltd. for 30
days.

The objective of this study was to observe and learn all the process of Marketing and sales
strategies including all the related factors . For this project, stepwise strategies have been
adopted to analyze the situation prevailing in the company and collecting of information.

I have confirmed myself within the sphere of the various Personal selling strategies adopted
by the company.

This area of work has chosen by me as this had all the ingredient of marketing research and
other aspect of marketing as well as the report offer a glimpse of various stage at project
work in order to serve purpose of the study in systematic manner and hope that the findings
and recommendations will go a long way in helping the organization.
 Table of Contents

Chapter1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction to the industry………………………………1

1.2 Introduction to the company………………………...4
1.3 Introduction to the topic…………………………….9

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………….11

Chapter3: METHODOLOGY………………………………24

3.1 Objectives of the study…………………………24

3.2 Scope of the study………………………………24

3.3 Research design…………………………………24

3.3.1. Sample size and sample unit……………………24

3.3.2. Sampling method……………………………….25

3.3.3. Data collection method…………………………25

Chapter 4: Result and Analysis………………………………..27

Chapter 5: Findings…………………………………………....29

Chapter 6: key Learning’s……………………………………..30

Chapter 7: Recommendations and Limitations………………..36

Chapter 8: Annexure………………………………………….37

References………………………………………………………42
Introduction -: The AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY

The Indian automobile sector is one of its most vibrant industries. The industry accounts for
22%of the country's manufacturing gross domestic product (GDP). It comprises passenger,
two-wheelers, three-wheelers and commercial vehicles and is currently the seventh-largest in
the world with an average annual production of 17.5 million vehicles, of which 2.3 million
are exported. The Indian auto market has the potential to dominate the global auto industry,
provided a conducive environment is created for potential innovators to come up with new
pilot projects.
ENTRY OF MARUTI SUZUKI IN THE INDUSTRY
Eventually multinational automakers, such as, though not limited to, Suzuki and Toyota of
Japan and Hyundai of South Korea, were allowed to invest in the Indian market ultimately
leading to the establishment of an automotive industry in India. Maruti Suzuki was the first,
and the most successful of these new entries, and in part the result of government policies to
promote the automotive industry beginning in the 1980s. As India began to liberalize their
automobile market in 1991, a number of foreign firms also initiated joint ventures with
existing Indian companies. The variety of options available to the consumer began to
multiply in the nineties, whereas before there had usually been one option in each price class.

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COMPARATIVE SALES DATA OF MARUTI SUZUKI OTHER
PLAYERS
Domestic Sales for August 2018
Company August 2018 August 2017 % Change

Maruti Suzuki India 1,47,700 1,52,000 (2.8)

Hyundai Motor India 45,801 12,802 (2.8)
Mahindra & Mahindra 19,758 19,406 2
Tata Motors 18,420 14,340 28
Toyota 14100 12017 17
Ford India 8,042 7,777 3.4

https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com
REMARKS- Maruti Suzuki hiked prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 6,100 last month as a
result its sales decreased from (152000 units to 147700 units) that is 2.8%.

FOR GROWTH OF AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN INDIA

LATEST UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2018

2
Incumbents in the automotive industry should prepare for a changing landscape as India
grows into the world’s third-largest passenger-vehicle market and global trends disrupt the
sector.

India is expected to emerge as the world’s third-largest passenger-vehicle market by 2021. It

took India around seven years to increase annual production to four million vehicles from
three million. However, the next milestone—five million—is expected in less than five years.
Hitting that mark will depend on today’s rapid economic development continuing, with a
projected annual GDP growth rate of 7 percent through 2020, ongoing urbanization, a
burgeoning consuming class, and supportive regulations and policies.

Favorable macroeconomic and demographic trends

Currently, the automotive sector contributes more than 7 percent to India’s GDP. The
Automotive Mission Plan 2016–26 sets an aspiration to increase the contribution to 12
percent.5

A number of economic trends could help in meeting this target. Rapid urbanization means the
country will have over 500 million people living in cities by 2030—1.5 times the current US
population. Rising incomes will also play a role, as roughly 60 million households could
enter the consuming class (defined as households with incomes greater than $8,000 per
annum) by 2025. At the same time, more people will join the workforce. Participation could
reach 67 percent in 2020, as more women and youth enter the job market, raising the demand
for mobility.

Some of them would leap straight into four-wheeler segment, and others will graduate from
two- to four-wheelers. In the future, these macroeconomic and demographic trends could
shift pockets of growth in passenger-vehicle market. Mini cars and hatchback cars have been
the mainstay for the automobile industry in India, with share around 50 percent and growth of
6 to 7 percent between financial year 2014 and 2017.

3
 INTRODUCTION TO COMPANY
MARUTI SUZUKI

HISTORY

In early 1980s Indian Government decided to produce a small car, which would be within
buying reach of Indian middle class. The obvious place to shop for technology was Japan,
which had developed world class capabilities in small cars by that time. It was not Toyota, or
Nissan, or Honda, three largest players in Japan, but Suzuki, a much smaller company with
strong capabilities in making small cars. Suzuki grabbed the opportunity with both hands and
formed a joint venture with govt. called Maruti Udyog.

Maruti was established in February 1981 with production starting in 1983 with the Maruti 800,
as of May 2007, the Government of India, through Ministry of Disinvestment sold its
complete share to Indian financial institutions and no longer has any stake in Maruti Udyog.

Maruti Suzuki formerly known as Maruti Udyog Ltd is an automobile manufacturer in India.

It is a 56.2% owned subsidiary of the Japanese car manufacturer Suzuki Motor Co.

As of may 2018, it had a marker share of 54% of the Indian passenger car market.

The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing, purchase and sale of motor
vehicles and spare parts (Auto-Mobiles). The other activities of the company include
facilitation of pre-owned car dealers, fleet management and car financing.

4
MISSION OF MARUTI SUZUKI
The leader in automobile industry, creating customer delight and shareholders wealth,

A pride of India.

Core Values of Maruti Suzuki

 Customer obsession
 Fast, flexible and first mover.
 Innovation and creativity.
 Networking and partnership.

 Openness and learning.

5
 COMPANY PROFILE
Relan Motors

Relan Motors private limited is a part of Relan group of companies which has primary
interests in Automobile dealerships.

Relan Motors limited is a private incorporated on 2012, it is classified as non – government

company, and is registered at Registrar of companies, Jaipur.

Its authorized share capital is Rs.10, 00,000 and its paid up capital is Rs 9, 50,000.

Relan Motors private limited’s annual general meeting (AGM) was last held on 30th
September 2017 and as per the records from ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), balance
sheet was last filed on 31st march 2017.

Directors of Relan Motors pvt. Ltd.

 Mr.Mohit Relan
 Mrs.Seema Relan
 Mr.Madhur Relan

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 Company Details
Corporate identification U3410RJ1998PTC015242
no.(CIN)

Company name Relan Motors pvt. Ltd.

Company status Active

ROC Jaipur

Registration no. 15242

Company category Company ltd. By shares

Email address RelanMotors@gmail.com

Company sub-category Non-government company

Class of company Private

Listing status Unlisted

Registered address 168/A/26,New Colony Ramganj, Ajmer

(Rajasthan)305001

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 MARKETING STRUCTURE OF RELAN MOTOR PVT. LTD.

CEO (Mr.Mohit Relan)

General Manager (Mr.Lokendra)

hhhhh

() Sales Manager (Mr.Sunny)

Team Team Leader Team Leader Team Leader

Leader (Yunus)
(Arun Ahir) (Raja) (Sanjay)

Team DSEs DSEs

DSEs DSEs Leader(Jitendra)

Alfaz Sunil
Pinkal Rajesh

Manish Ram Lakhan

sandeep Kamlesh DSEs

Yogesh Vinay Arun Mahendra Mukesh

Izhar Brijesh Ganesh

Shambhu
Harbeer
Shahid Mayank
Kailash

Raghukul Shambhu

Rahul

8
Gaurav
 INTRODUCTON TO MARKETING STRATEGIES

Accounting, Finance, operations, and other business functions will not really matter if there is
not sufficient demand for products and services so the company can make a profit. It has also
been observed that marketing is viewed by many as advertising, sales promotion, selling etc..

According to marketing guru Philip Kotler, “Marketing is a societal process by which

individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely
exchanging products and services of value with others.”

Today due to increased competition and continuous change in customer needs, the marketing
of products, services and information is becoming challenging. Due to this change and with
an object to fulfill the demand of customer as well as market, companies are very much
conscious about framing and adopting innovative strategies in all areas like Promotion,
Pricing, Sales, Advertising, Distribution and Brand Building etc. Companies today realized
that innovative & aggressive marketing strategies are vital to grab the major market share.

Presently marketing can be seen as the process of developing and implementing a strategy to
plan and coordinate ways of identifying, anticipating and satisfying consumer demands, in
such a way as to make profits.

A strategy is a long term plan to achieve certain objectives. A marketing strategy is

therefore a marketing plan designed to achieve marketing objectives.

The success of marketing strategies depends largely on producers understanding their

markets and activities or practices involved in marketing.

A marketing strategy is most effective when it is an integrate component of corporate

strategy-defining how the organization will successfully engage customers, prospects and
competitors in the market arena. As the customer constitutes the source of a company’s
revenue, marketing strategy is closely linked with sales. Marketing strategies assist the
business in understanding and connecting with clients and customers. Marketing and
promotional strategies are also important for guiding the business into the development of
financial goals.

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Marketing Strategies for Personal Selling
Personal selling is a strategy that salespeople use to convince customers to purchase a
product. The salesperson uses a personalized approach, tailored to meet the individual needs
of the customer, to demonstrate the ways that the product will benefit him. The customer is
given the opportunity to ask questions, and the salesperson addresses any concerns he has
about the product.

Personal selling as a part of marketing strategies

Personal selling strategies should be derived from the marketing strategy and should be
consistent with other elements of marketing mix. The following variables should be
considered while formulating sales strategy.
A personal selling strategy works best for a complex, technical, unique, customized product
with a poorly informed client. That's why an automobile car is a perfect example. It's so
complex and technical you need a trained, informed person to explain it to its highly
specialized customer. It's likely to have to be customized for each individual sale, and its
client doesn't have the time to read up on all the different ones on the market and why is
better (and is thus uninformed).
To address all of these unique needs, you have to design your personal selling strategy to
have three key elements: a knowledgeable salesperson or sales team, an understanding of
your client, and a sales structure designed to give the salesperson enough power to make an
irregular sale but still get rewarded for it.

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 Literature review

In previous days, when the Indian automobile market was dominated by Ambassador &
Premier Padmini, Maruti Suzuki India Limited entered into Indian automobile sector with
different strategy. The strategy of the company was to offer a compact, modern and fuel
efficient car. Maruti released its first Maruti 800 on 14 December 1983 to fulfill the needs of
Indian customers. Since 1983 till date Maruti Suzuki gradually offered several choices to the
customer.

With an object to face competition, Maruti Suzuki started restructuring exercise. As a part of
strategy the company focused on improving its operational efficiency by upgrading
manufacturing using innovative manufacturing techniques, increasing capacity, using
information technology in manufacturing, continuous eye on launching of new and
innovative products at regular intervals along with venturing into other related businesses like

a) car finance,
b) insurance
c) Maruti True Value in 2001.

As a part of competitive strategy, Maruti Suzuki broadened its product portfolio and
expanded its sales and service network to reach all over India.

a) With increasing competition, Maruti Suzuki decided to cater to all the segments of the
Indian car market.
b) The company not only launched new models but also upgraded its existing models
drastically.
c) Market segmentation is the vital step in marketing strategy.
d) Maruti Suzuki offers cars for different segments-
 small, less costly( Maruti 800, Maruti Omni),
 the middle level( Maruti Zen, Swift )
 ( Swift Dzire, SX4 to Sports Utility Vehicle Grand Vitara, Baleno)

e) Maruti knew that the strategy of segmentation allows companies to avoid head-on
competition in the market by differentiating their product offerings, not only on the basis of
price but also through styling, packaging, promotional appeal, distribution methods and
superior service.

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Initially, the policies adopted by Maruti Suzuki in the area of marketing and sales was based
on the Japanese experience but modified to suit Indian conditions. Maruti Suzuki’s marketing
strategy is based on meetings the customer’s needs, and simultaneously keeping ahead of the
global competition from companies’ like Hyundai, renault, Mahindra etc.

“It is more important to do what is strategically right than what is

immediately profitable”- Philip Kotler.”

TYPES OF MARKETING STRATEGIES

1) Marketing dominance strategies

a) Challenger
b) Leader
c) Follower
2) Porter’s generic strategies
a) Market segmentation
b) Cost leadership
c) Product differentiation
[Porters generic strategies are based on strategies strength or competing abilities
and strategic scope or market penetration]
3) Innovation strategies
a) Close followers
b) Late followers
c) Pioneers
[Innovation strategies are meant to trigger the rate of product development
and model innovation]
4) Growth strategies
a) Diversification
b) Vertical integration
c) Intensification
d) Horizontal integration

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 COMPONENTS OF MARKETING STRATEGIES
The key elements of marketing strategy are target market strategy and marketing
mix strategy.
1. The target market strategy-It is applicable for long term period which
includes evaluating various market segments and deciding how many and
which market segments to target.
2. The marketing mix strategy is applicable for short term period. The
marketing mix consists of a set of marketing tools the company uses to
achieve its marketing objectives in the target market. These tools are
classified into four broad groups that we called four Ps of Marketing i.e
Product strategy, Promotion strategy, Price strategy and Distribution strategy.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited is a leading manufacturer of passenger vehicles in India.

Lovingly referred to as the people’s car maker, over the past three decades Maruti Suzuki has
changed the way people in India commute and travel. Over three decades, Maruti Suzuki has
won the hearts of customers through high quality products and services. Today due to
innovative marketing strategies Maruti Suzuki India Limited has become the leading car
manufacturers in India.

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 MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY MSIL

With the changing needs, wants & requirements of customers and markets, Maruti
Suzuki is altering its brand positioning, advertising and promotional strategy and its
4Ps of marketing.

1) Brand Positioning- Brand positioning is the most important fundamental concept in a

brand’s strategy.
Currently Maruti Suzuki is positioning themselves on the features like-Price, Comfort
dimensions, Safety, Mileage etc.

Maruti Suzuki followed a very effective multi segmentation strategy to grab the
different segments of the market with different versions of its brands.

According to Mr. Arun Ahir,” Maruti Suzuki believes in research and before launching a
product the Maruti team does an extensive research on the needs of the customer. Maruti try
to understand the customer’s demography and psychology to position a brand. Also the
company follows the suggestions made by existing customers.”

Maruti is an Indian icon as many Indians had their first motoring experience in it. We put the
nation on the wheel. He stated that Maruti have transformed from being a sales-driven
organization to a totally customer-centric organization.

According to Mr.Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager (Marketing-Maruti Suzuki),

the changed marketing strategy of Maruti Suzuki has reflected in its brand positioning.

The tagline from ‘Count on Us’ to ‘Way of Life’. The earlier tag line was based on
reliability and affordability, but with ‘Way of Life’, our brand positioning of being
straightforward and value driven has been joined by attributes of sporty and spirit to create
more excitement.

The following are few brands of Maruti Suzuki which positioned differently and innovatively
in Indian automobile market by Maruti Suzuki.

a) Alto 800- Its tagline “Let’s Go Khisko” focuses & communicate message to youths
that let’s leave boredom behind with the all new Maruti Alto 800 and enjoy every
moment of life. The Alto 800 brand is positioned considering the youths.

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 b) Omni: Omni is Maruti Suzuki’s multipurpose vehicle. Today Omni is available in 5
different versions i.e 5 Seater, 8 Seater, Cargo, Ambulance & LPG.
In the Multi Utility Vehicle segment, Maruti Suzuki positioned the Omni as the low
priced with more spacious vehicle. When Maruti realized that Omni could not acquire
a dominant position in the van market, the company again changed the positioning
strategy of Omni “from van to family car.”
Maruti Suzuki focused the new value proposition of Omni: the most spacious car for
the family. And it was repositioned as “A Small Car that is Big on Space”. Presently
Maruti promoted Omni as a family car with the baseline, “Kamyabi Khushiyon Se
Sajaiye”.
c) Wagon R: It was initially positioned as a luxury car within the compact car
segment.
Later, Maruti Suzuki repositioned the Wagon R on ‘Value Plank’. Its design principal
of “maximum inside and minimum outside”. Maruti Suzuki through Wagon R
claimed that those who looked for ‘enhancing the quality of life’ rather than just status
would vote for Wagon R. Maruti Suzuki positioned the Wagon R on various attributes
like superior engine power & power steering etc.

2) ADVERTISING STRATEGY-Advertising is one of the vital functions of

marketing. Advertising is an important promotion tool to establish and retain brand
loyalty. A good advertisement must have the right message communicated through a
right media. It must reach the right people and prospects and that too at the right time
and at the right cost.

Advertising is one important aspect of brand building. Maruti’s advertising campaign

includes TVCs, Radio and print ads, Point of sales, Mobile promotions and online marketing
and Outdoor promotions etc. Maruti’s advertising strategy focused both on building up its
corporate image and promoting its cars.

Few years back, Maruti Suzuki has come up with a new ad campaign based on fuel efficiency
aspect of its cars.

 “Kya karoon papa petrol khatam hi nahi hota” (what should I do? The petrol
never finishes).

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  “Kitna Deti Hai?” the advertisement depicts that for a country obsessed with
mileage, Maruti Suzuki makes India’s most fuel efficient cars. These innovative
advertisements depicted that, Indian are always conscious about fuel efficiency.
 The voiceover “India comes home in Maruti” highlighting the Maruti leadership in
the Indian car model.
 Likewise different festivals such as Diwali, Durga Pooja, Holi and Christmas are
shown with families celebrating with their respective Maruti Suzuki cars. The TVC
ends with the voice over saying, “Maruti Suzuki: for a festival called life.”

ADVERTISING STRATEGY FOR MARUTI SERVICE

Maruti Through its innovative advertisement the company tried to highlight that
Maruti Suzuki’s strong and wide service network is available everywhere even at a
sandy area i.e (Desert).
The advertisement on Tv depicts that, Maruti Suzuki service station is everywhere .
“jayenge aap jahaan …..payenge aap Maruti Suzuki service station wahaa”

Media tools used by Maruti Suzuki

a) CYBER MEDIA-the banners have been displayed on various internet sites. He

stated that we have various schemes for people like Maruti Financial Ltd, Maruti
Countrywide and tie-ups with banks like SBI, HDFC and ICICI.
b) Outdoor Media- Regarding advertisement of Swift, Mr.Pareek opined that Swift
car is better in terms of technology and has the appeal of a very cool and smooth
brand.swift is a successful venture because of its outdoor media campaign.

c) Digital marketing -Maruti Suzuki have collaborated with Google for digital
marketing. Maruti and Google have been working closely on, “search engine
optimization and online reputation management” initiatives. When the customer posts
something about Maruti’s service or products on Face book or Twitter, the search
engine will alert the company to help to catch relevant words online so Maruti can
track and take action and even positively respond.

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 d) Print Advertisement- Maruti Suzuki, whenever launched the car, it supported the

launch of the product with an ad campaign. The campaigns also include print ads.
Considering the growing number of readers of newspapers and magazines, Maruti
Suzuki currently advertising its brands through leading newspapers and automobile
magazines like Auto India, Auto Car.

e)Social Media- Today social media plays vital role in promoting & creating

awareness about the brands and services along with providing a platform to discuss and
share the views, opinions, ideas of each other. According to NM incite- a joint venture
between Nielsen and McKinsey & Company, Maruti Suzuki has been ranked the top
most Indian brand in the social media space. The first time car buyers are generally
collect the information of cars through social networking sites.

3. SALES PROMOTION STRATEGIES

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has a formidable line-up of vehicles in its stable and has been quite
aggressive about promoting each of its automobile brands.

1) Campaign- In 2003, to attract the customers Maruti Suzuki launched attractive

campaign like “Change Your Life”. The company also offered vehicle insurance for
One rupee only. In this campaign the customers were asked to write down the chassis
and engine number of their vehicles on the entry form and had to answer the question.
In this contest the winners were chosen by a draw of lots and were entitled to gifts
worth Rs.50 million.
2) Finance facilities-MSIL tied up with state bank of Travancore and union bank of
India to provide low interest loan at competitive rates who intend to buy Maruti
Suzuki cars.
3) Offers-Maruti Suzuki introduced an offer ‘2599’ in 2004 for Maruti 800. The offer
not only conveyed that the car can be bought at only Rs.2,599 per month but also
highlighted the aspirations of scooter owners who can upgrade to car. In this offer the
customer could buy a Maruti 800 with an Easy Monthly Installment of Rs.2,599 for
seven years period.

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4) Schemes- In year 2004, Maruti Suzuki introduced the ‘Teacher Plus’ scheme in a tie
up with SBI. Under this scheme, Maruti Suzuki focused on teachers who were
interested to buy a new car. In this scheme the State bank of India offered reduced
rates of interest for teachers which lead to boost the sales of Maruti Suzuki.
5) Rural promotion- in 2010, Maruti Suzuki have decided to tie up with ITC’s e-
Choupal and Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar of DCM Shriram Group for better penetration
into the rural markets. Senior official of Maruti Suzuki stated that, through the tie up
with Panchayat and Local Co-operative banks, Maruti Suzuki wants to concentrate
more on the domestic market in order to raise its share of rural sales to 20 % from the
current 17 %. For Maruti Suzuki, ITC’s e-Choupal will provide display demand
customer engagement at their Choupal Sagars and facilitate meeting with prospective
clients at village level.
6) Contests- In year 2011, Maruti Suzuki, launched ‘Eeco Meal’ promotion offer.
Under this promotion campaign, Maruti Suzuki collaborated with McDonalds. Under
this Eeco Meal offer, a family can walk into any McDonald’s outlet and upon the
purchase of a value meal, happy meal and breakfast meal customers will get an
EECO Happy Family contest form. The form contains questions about the Maruti
Suzuki Eeco car which customers will have to answer and submit along with a witty
slogan on the Eeco. The winner will be chosen based on the written slogan.

4)Pricing strategy-the price is fixed after considering various factors such as market
share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer perceived value of
the product. The business may increase and decrease the price of the product if others
have the same product(competitive strategy).

The pricing decision is very sensitive and for that special care is to be taken to get the
competitive edge.
Factors affecting pricing decision
 Market condition
 Manufacturing cost
 Profit by company
 Dealer’s profit etc.

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The Maruti Suzuki pricing strategies are such that every customer can own or upgrade to
another one (penetration pricing).

The company offers its different model just at a price difference around Rs.10,000 /- for
cars.It follows price point strategy wherein they have products available in almost all possible
price points. Due to lot of options, most of the time customers have an option within their
budget or around their budget. Such a strategy allows businesses to specialize in a specific
domain and hence to exploit economies of scale.

According to Mr.R.C.Bhargava, Suzuki Motor Corporation brought to Maruti the concept

cost reduction as a continuous process. Despite being the lowest cost manufacturers of cars in
the world, Japanese companies continued to reduce costs every year. Maruti adopted policies
on the Japanese experience but modified to suit Indian conditions.

a) Penetration pricing-Initially Maruti Suzuki used penetration pricing to capture a big

market share.
b) Competitive pricing- To compete with Hyundai and other competitors Maruti Suzuki
adopted competitive pricing strategy .
c) Discount pricing-Maruti Suzuki later adopted discount pricing strategy to grab the
major market share and to remain in the competition.
d) Parity pricing strategy-Maruti Suzuki launched (Dzire) to counter competition from
Hyundai’s (i10) model .Parity pricing is basically fixing the price to match the price
of competition.
e) Value pricing strategy - In Feb 2012, Maruti Suzuki, launched its new Sedan i.e.
Swift Dzire. Maruti Suzuki adopted value pricing strategy for swift desire as it is
eligible to get 16% excise duty under the govt. small car norms .Later on the company
adopted competitive pricing to compete with Hyudai verna.
Value pricing method based on the assumption that the objective of pricing is not to
recover cost ,but to realize the value of the product perceived by the customers.
f) Premium pricing strategy-Maruti Suzuki fix its pricing strategy or adopting the
premium pricing strategy for its(Grand Vitara ,Brezza,)to grab the attention of high
profile customers.

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g) Innovative and aggressive pricing strategy- Maruti Suzuki adopted innovative and
aggressive pricing strategies for its ERGTIGA (petrol version) . ERTIGA’s pricing
strategy was to encourage sale of petrol engine for better capacity utilization.

5) DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
Distribution of goods and services plays an important role in the sales system.
Distribution system varies from company to company and region to region. The
distribution system gives strength to the company by helping to increase the reach of
the product to various parts of the region, country or even in foreign markets.The
distribution system gives strength to the company by helping to increase the reach of
the products to various parts of the region,country or even in the forign markets.
In early day’s consumers used to book for a car and wait for more than a year to
actually buy it. Also, the concept of exclusive showroom for any automobile company
was non-existent.
Maruti Suzuki keen to change this situation and offer better services to customers.
To develop a unique distribution system, Maruti Suzuki taken steps and this was
modern and innovative. With an objective to provide the vehicles in time to the
customers, Maruti Suzuki developed a unique distribution network which gave a
company a distinctive competitive advantage. The company established a wide
network of Dealers, Maruti service zones etc across the whole country, even in remote
areas. The strategy and idea behind establishing the vast distribution network was to
reach the customers in remote areas and deliver on time. Maruti Suzuki was the first
company in making sure that the vehicles which leave the factory should reach the
show rooms as early as possible and in ‘factory fresh condition’. Maruti Suzuki’s
major innovation in terms of distribution was, it reduced the time gap between the
manufacture of the car and its availability to the customer.

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 6) Rural marketing strategies
Maruti Suzuki manage 8 times growth in just 5 years. The reason for
dominating the rural market is rural marketing strategies.

• Maruti Suzuki started the ‘Ghar Ghar Mein Maruti’ and ‘Mera Sapna Meri Maruti’
campaigns to target the rural segment.

• 3,000 local villagers were nominated as resident dealer sales executives of Maruti Suzuki to
promote the products.

• They were supported by over 186 extension counters.

• Maruti Suzuki even tried to influence the opinion leaders of the village (like Sarpanch) by
taking them for factory visits, conducting detailed profiling, their consumption patterns and
their choices

• The automaker aggressively marketed the brand at rural sporting events to sales fairs
(Grameen Mahotsavs) to SMS campaigns for Gram Panchayat.

• Maruti Suzuki has started Video on Wheels campaign in which the villagers get to see the
screening of Maruti Suzuki ads while sitting in an air-conditioned environment created in the
back of a truck.

4 Ps of Marketing

Building a brand is not confined to merely advertising or creating visibility , it is

about offering the right marketing mix elements –a)product attributes
b)pricing
c)Distribution
d)promotion

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The 4Ps of marketing helps in determing the various marketing strategies adopted by the
company.

1) PRODUCT-Maruti Suzuki has divided its product lines into 5 segments as per the
following -:9 Hatchbacks(refer to Annexture 1)
2 Minivans
3 Sedans
1 MUV

The cars have also been divided into its various variants depending on the type of fuel used.
Some cars have been rolled out for use with both petrol and diesel. With rising prices of
petrol, there is a sharp demand for diesel-run vehicles.Maruti Suzuki has two of its cars with
CNG fitting too.

2) PRICE -

The prices of the cars of Maruti Suzuki have generally been set to target the lower middle
class and middle class families in India. Their pricing strategy is based on their continuing
vision of “Putting India on Four Wheels”. Their prices are so designed as to enable people
to upgrade from 2-wheelers to 4-wheelers and already 4-wheeler owners to upgrade to a
better 4-wheeler offered by the company.

In 2007, though the company changed its price strategy as it was being labeled as low-price
small car manufacturer. They launched plans of a new car in the premium car segment,
Maruti Suzuki Kizashi, to remove this label attached to the company’s reputation.

3) PLACE-

This is one part of the marketing mix where Maruti Suzuki has an advantage over all of its
competitors due to their presence in the country for the longest time as compared to its rivals.
They enjoy a well distributed and an extensive network of car sale outlets, exclusive
showrooms, authorized service stations, true value outlets. Maruti Suzuki has two state-of-
the-art manufacturing facilities setup in Gurgaon and Manesar to the south of Delhi. The
combined capacity for the two plants is 1.2 million vehicles on an annual basis.

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Some numbers showing the extensive network for Maruti Suzuki are:

Showrooms and Car Sale Outlets - 1820 covering 1471cities in India.

Authorized Service Stations – 3145 covering 1506 cities in India.

The company aims to double its sales network to 4000 outlets by 2020.

4) PROMOTION- The company has for most of its years of operation targeted the
Indian middle class families as their main consumers. That’s why their promotional
strategy has always been to create an emotional connect with the audience. Maruti
Suzuki Ltd. has used various media of promotion.
Promotion mix includes -:
a) Personal selling.
b) Direct marketing.
c) Online marketing.
d) Advertisement.
e) Publicity.

Apart from this, Maruti Suzuki Ltd. has also partnered with certain TV shows like “India’s
Got Talent” and also provides sponsorships to certain famous events to make its presence
felt. Maruti Suzuki also provides its customers with a “Auto Card”. This is a loyalty
program introduced by the company to retain the customers and to increase the company’s
brand loyalty. On referrals they can earn up to 1000 points if the referral gets converted. The
Company also conducts mega camps where they provide AC and pollution checks,
complimentary car wash to its customers to improve customer relations.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

a) Objectives Of The Study

1. To understand various types of marketing strategies used and adopted by Maruti
Suzuki.
2. To analyze the promotional strategies used by Maruti Suzuki.
3. To analyze how these strategies helps in enhancing personal selling.

b) Scope for the study

Relan Motors Showroom , a Maruti Suzuki registered dealership at Ajmer.

c) Research Design

Research design is the blueprint of conducting a systematic, scientific research within the
stipulated constraints.

Research designs are of various types. Here I used exploratory research for conducting the
study .

Exploratory research –exploratory research studies also known as formulative studies.

The major emphasis in such studies is on the discovery of ideas and insights. It provides
flexibility for concerning different aspects of the problem.

Sample size and sample unit-size of the sample refers to the number of elements to be
selected from the universe to constitute the sample. The size of the sample neither be
excessively large or too small. It should be optimum.

In this study ,the size of the sample is 10 respondents.

Sampling unit is the focal point of research study.

In this study , the sample unit which I took is team leaders and DSEs of Relan Motors.

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Sampling Method-(non-probability sampling method)

Non-probability sampling is that sampling procedure which does not afford any basis for
estimating the probability that each item in the population has of being included in the
sample.

In such a sampling method, personal element has a great chance of entering into the selection
of the sample. Thus, there is always the danger of bias entering into this type of sampling
technique.

But if the investigator is impartial ,work without bias and have the necessary experience so as
to make sound judgment, The results obtained from an analysis of deliberately selected
sample may be tolerably reliable.

I have selected this type of sampling as the relative advantage of time, money and the
resources.

Judgemental Sampling-It is the form of convenience sampling in which the population

elements are selected based on the judgment of the researcher.

I used judgmental sampling as there are limited number of respondents to be choose and the
criteria of judgment is their experience level.

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Data collection method

The task of data collection after a research problem has been defined and research
design/plan chalked out.

There are two types of data:

1. Primary Data: They are those, which are collected afresh and for the first time
and thus happen to be original in character. In the present study primary data were
collected by in-depth-interview.

In-depth interview Method- in-depth interview method is the qualitative

research technique that conducts intensive individual interviews with a small
number of respondents to explore their perspective on a particular idea, situation
or program.

While conducting the present study, a direct one to one interview is conducted in
which only one TL or DSE is allowed to answer the question and to gain in-depth
knowledge on the strategies adopted by them while stimulating sales.

I structurally interviewed 10 people to know how the various strategies helped

them in direct selling or personal selling.

Questions included in the Questionnaire are both open-ended and close-ended

questions.

2. Secondary Data: The secondary data are those, which have already been
passed through the statistical process. In case of secondary data the nature of data
collection work is merely compilation. In the present study both type of data were
collected. Company pamphlets and brochures provide immense depth of
knowledge . The information provided by sales executives during the internship is
also helpful for conducting the research studies.

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 RESULT AND ANALYSIS

Q.1) Do you think Marketing Strategies helps to increase sales of product?

Interpretation – almost all the TLS and DSEs agreed that marketing strategies helps to
increase the sale directly or indirectly.

Q.2) How did Marketing Strategy help you?

Compiled data- it helps to increase enquiry gathering, focusing on every segment of the
customer, creating brand image itself for the product.

Q.3) Which Promotional Strategies did you use?

Compiled data- schemes for different class of customers, cake-cutting ceremony, occasional
contests ,festive offers, conducting events.

Q.4) Which type of Promotion had attracted maximum number of Customers?

Compiled data- offers like “nariyal phodo”, scratch card schemes, MGA discount coupon,
free gifts on taking insurance

Q.5) Do you think Promotion through had Media is more effective than any other medium?

Interpretation – among 10 respondents 8 out of 10 did not believe that promotion through
media is more effective than any other medium .They said that their committed sale force is
the strongest factor for promoting the car as this is not a shopping good it’s a durable product
which consumers purchase after thorough investigation .

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Q.6) Does a Grand Launch of a Car makes Selling of a car easy?

Interpretation- almost all the respondents agreed that a grand launch of any Maruti Suzuki
car makes it easy for them to sell that car with ease as customer is already informed.

Q.7) Most of the Sale takes place on which Basis?

a) Cash b) E.M.I c) Cheque d) Any other

Interpretation- around 75% of sales is sanctioned through EMI(easy monthly installments

basis. The reason is that customer have to pay only nominal sum to book the car, rest of the
amount will be repaid in easy installments.

Q.8) With which Bank you are tied up for E.M.I system?

If yes then how much interest is charged?

a) 8% b) 9% c) 10% e) more than 5%

Interpretation-TLs and DSEs said that they have tied up with banks such as(AU small
finance, SBI etc.) current rate is 9.5% . The rate of interest also depends on the customer
profile.

Q.9) Do you think sponsoring Reality Shows and Giving cars to Winner helps Promoting car
and increases profitability in return?

Interpretation- sponsoring tv shows and promoting through giving Maruti Suzuki car is a
publicity stunt and helps to builds brand image.

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Q.10) How does company helps to Promote Your Business?

Interpretation- Maruti Suzuki being a market leader promotes its business through various
medium, indirectly these promotion helps dealers’ like Relan Motors.Maruti Suzuki provides
funds to dealers’ to further promote its products especially in rural areas.

Q.11) How much increase in sales are recorded during festive season?

Interpretation-during festive season like Diwali, Dhanteras, Independence day celebration

sales increase from 30-40(in terms of percentage)

FINDINGS

 It was found that dealers agreed that marketing strategies help to increase the sales.
 Personal selling strategies helps the sales force to convert prospects into leads.
 Sales promotion activities like sponsorships help in building the brand image.
 Promotion to personal selling is more effective than promotion through media.

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 KEY LEARNINGS

Personal selling strategies adopted by Relan Motors

A personal selling strategy works best for a complex, technical, unique, customized product
with a poorly informed client. That's why for a product like CAR its perfect. It's so complex
and technical you need a trained, informed person to explain it to its highly specialized
customer. It's likely to have to be customized for each individual sale, and its client doesn't
have the time to read up on all the different ones on the market and why yours is better (and
is thus uninformed).

To address all of these unique needs, you have to design the personal selling strategy to have
three key elements:

 A knowledgeable salesperson or sales team,

 An understanding of your client, and
 A sales structure designed to give the salesperson enough power to make an irregular
sale but still get rewarded for it.

The salesperson is your only link to the client. This means that they need to know the product
inside and out, so that when the customer has a question or an issue with the product, it can
be addressed immediately and not shuffled off to another staff person. They also need to
know the competitors' products, so they can give accurate representations of why your
imaging technology is better. So to allow the salesperson to do their job well, company need
to give them lots of information .It also need to give the sales force considerable power.
Power to make a deal. Power to say "yes" to needed product customizations. And, of course,
the power to say "no" to a deal that won't make the company money.

Remember, also, that the salesperson is more than just a sales agent: They're a research and
development tool. Their interactions with customers give more information about what
modifications need to be done to company’s product than any other source. They're market
intelligence (because they know what other products are being sold, and why) as well as a
way of making a product like CAR a more customer-oriented.

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Below are few Personal Selling Strategies used in Relan Motors

1) Call Rates

The intensity of competitive rivalry is high in the industry, therefore salespersons involved in
personal selling ,calling on their customers more frequently. The rate of technological
changes in the industry is high, the customer is more likely to switch another brand and may
require the services of the sales team more often to evaluate options. Also when the buyer is
expanding his facilities or is venturing into a new business, salespersons will be calling on the
buyer more often.

2) Percentage of Calls on Existing and Potential Accounts

A salesperson has to divide his time between existing and potential customers in a way that
maximizes sales or profits of the company. Some salespeople in the Relan Motors fix some
formula for themselves so that they do not spend excess time with either type of the
customers i.e. he will spend 40 % of his time with existing customers and the rest with
prospective customers.

3)Discount Policy

Sales people are prone to announcing discounts at every hurdle in the personal selling
process. It is important to provide flexibility in prices that salespersons can offer to customers
because many deals can be clinched by offering small discounts.

There is a strict policy formulated by Mr. Mohit Relan (C.E.O. of Relan Motors) that sales
people will not be allowed to offer discounts if they will offer than it will be deducted from
their salary. Salespeople should be able to sell on the merits of the product and on the
strength of the relationship that they have with the customers. Discounts should be provided
in exceptional circumstances only.

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 4) Percentage of Resources Targeted at New and Existing Products

New products will require a push from salespeople and it should be ingrained in salespeople
that at the time of launch of a new model they have to travel those extra miles and give those
extra hours to make the launch successful. If the launch is very important for the future of the
company, salespeople can afford to spend less time in selling the old products for some time.

But eventually the customers’ response towards the product will decide the amount of
attention that the new product will get. If the new model is liked by customers, salespersons
will pay more attention to it but if customer response is lukewarm their attention will shift
back to their old products.

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 Process of personal selling at Relan Motors

1) PROSPECTING-It aims at searching for persons, to whom sales can be

affected .Prospect is a person who has wants to be satisfied and has the ability
and willingness to buy.
Sales person or DSE’s search prospects by –
(a) Generating enquiries through visits at home, financial institutions,
government colleges and school staff.
(b) Generating enquiries through campaign or canopies.
(c) Generating enquiries through tele-calling and references suggested by
existing customers.

Then a list of prospects is prepared and this helps in planning the whole selling
efforts so as to avoid waste calls.

2) PRE-APPROACHING- it involves developing an understanding about the

prospective buyer as to their personal characteristics, location etc.
In Relan Motors-
Asking customer’s address; asking snacks or tea; his need assessment; income;family
size etc.
This approach is effective for making a ground for approach.

3) APPROACHING AND ATTENTION- This is a sales interview . this is

based within which sales tree grows up. This stage is important and vital.

The first impression of the salesman may bring a long-term benefit or repeated sales .
this principle is based on “AIDA’s” principle.

 A- Attention
 I- interest
 D- desire
 A- action

In Relan Motors , according to Mr. Arun Ahir(team leader);

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The car selling is based on-

 F- front of the vehicle

 U- under the bonut
 S- side of the vehicle
 R- rear of the vehicle
The salesman adopts all the other selling points relating to the products.

4) SALES PRESENTATION AND DEMONSTRATION- The need satisfying

characteristic of the product are to be presented or demonstrated. The salesman can also show
survey reports , relevant data , free gifts etc. if any.

In Relan Motors , according to Mr. Arun Ahir (team leader), they inform three things –
(F.A.B. principle)

 F- features
 A- advantages
 B- benefit
They offer test drive.
The prospects must be convinced by the test drive and an interest in processing the
product must be aroused.

5) HANDLING OBJECTIONS- when one shows interest in buying the car,

generally every salesman faces objections from the prospective buyers.There is no wonder,
when a buyer purchases products at a price, buyer asks questions , compares the price with
the competitor and negotiable with the salesperson.

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6) CLOSING THE SALES- it aims at taking an order for the car and book it at the
name of the customer. The salesperson also asks question as to the product – choice of colour
; expected date to deliver ; location of the customer etc.

At Relan Motors , following are necessary to book a car-

 Form 16 (I.T.R.) 3 years (according to customer profile).

 3 months salary slip or PPO.
 Pan card.
 Voter ID.
 6 cheque.
 4 photos .
 6 months bank statement .
At this climax stage , the prospects place or book the car with a down – payment
(Rs.2100 minimum).

7) FOLLOW-UP – satisfaction of the buyer is important as a source of publicity . this

stage is important to have more information from buyers regarding the product use problems,
if any.

The salesperson keeps in touch with the customer so as to obtain reference later by good after
sales services; on time delivery; any pendency’s ( in the form of M.G.A.)

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

 Though they are spending heavily on advertising, the media proves not to be much
effective; they need to involve their entire sales force to find new leads through new
networks.
 They need to advertise it by giving cash back to existing customers so they can act as
referrals.
 They should increase payment by cheque, by partnering with banks which results into
quick cash flow.

LIMITATIONS

 Due to the short span of 30 days I could only focus on personal selling and sales
promotion strategies.
 Though marketing strategies is a wide area, I used secondary research data to
understand the concepts.
 Due to the limited number of TLs at Relan Motors , data was collected through in-
depth interview method covering 10 respondents.

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 ANNEXTURE 1

Products and services

Current models

Model Launched Category Image

Omni 1984–present Minivan

Gypsy King 1985–present Mini SUV

WagonR 1999–present Hatchback

Swift 2005–present Hatchback

DZire 2008–present Sedan

Eeco 2009–present Minivan

Alto K10 2010–present Hatchback

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 Ertiga 2012–present Mini MPV

Alto 800 2012–present Hatchback

Celerio 2014–present Hatchback

Ciaz 2014–present Sedan

Baleno 2015–present Hatchback

S-Cross 2015–present Mini SUV

Vitara Brezza 2016–present Mini SUV

Ignis 2017–present Hatchback

CelerioX 2017–present Hatchback

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 ANNEXTURE 2

ABBREVIATIONS USED

1) DSE’S- Dealers Sales Executives

2) TL’S- Team Leaders

3) MGA- Maruti genuine accessories

4) Pvt. Ltd- Private Limited
5) MSIL- Maruti Suzuki India limited

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 ANNEXTURE 3

QUESTIONNAIRE

Q.1) Do you think Marketing Strategies helps to increase sales of product?

Q.2) How did Marketing Strategy help you?

Q.3) Which Promotional Strategies did you use?

Q.4) Which type of Promotion had attracted maximum number of Customers?

Q.5) Do you think Promotion through had Media is more effective than any other medium?

Q.6) Does a Grand Launch of a Car makes Selling of a car easy?

Q.7) Which of the Car model of your company is demanded by customer, the most?

a) omni b)alto c) swift d) celerio e) brezza f) wagonR g) any other

Q.8) Which car of your company gives best milage?

a) omni b) alto c) swift d) celerio e) brezza g) any other

Q.9) What is the Customer Preference?

a) Petrol version b) Diesel version c) L.P.G version

Q.10) Which other Automobile Company do you think is Biggest Competitor for Maruti
Udyog?

a) Maruti b)hyundai c) Honda, d) Tata e) ford

Q.11) Which car will you Rate as No.1 for its Complete Package?

a) omni b) alto c) swift d) brezza e)wagonR g) Any Other

Q.12) Most of the Sale takes place on which Basis?

a) Cash b) E.M.I c) Cheque d) Any other

40
Q.13) How many % of Customers purchase car on installment basis?

a) 0-25 b) 25-50 c) 50-75 d) 75-100

Q.14) With which Bank you are tied up for E.M.I system?

If yes ,then how much?

a) 8% b) 9% c) 10% d) more than 10%

Q.15) What do you think is the reason behind customer being loyal to Maruti or have faith in
Maruti?

a) Brand Name b) Quality c) Service d) Reasonable price

e) Range of cars f) All of the above

Q.16) Do you think sponsoring Reality Shows and Giving cars to Winner helps Promoting
car and increases profitability in return?

Q.17) In the initial stage which pricing strategy you will prefer?

a) Skimming b) Penetration

Q.18) Do you deal in Second Hand Cars also?

Q.19) Do you conduct Marketing Research activity?

Q.20) How Does Company helps to Promote Your Business?

Q.21) Do they arrange seminars for giving information about Future Plans and Car
Launches?

Q22) How much increase in sales are recorded during festive season?

41
 REFERENCES

ONLINE OFFLINE
www.MarutiSuzuki.in Brochures of Maruti Suzuki

www.ETAutonews.com Guidance of DSE’s and TLs

www.googlescholor.com Kotler, P.& Keller (14th edition)

https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com Kothari,C.R.(3rd edition)

http://www.siamindia.com/scripts/industrystatistics. Cooper& shindler (9th edition)
aspx

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