PROJECT REPORT

ON

MARKETING STRATIGIES

AT

HONDA PVT LTD

SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF BUSSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Submitted to: Submitted by:

ABCD ABCD
Asstt. Professor ROLL NO
BBA 5th

Department of Management

University

Faridabad, Haryana 121004

 PREFACE

Practical training is an important part of management courses. Theoretical studies in classroom

are not sufficient to understand the functioning of complex and large sized organization,
managerial climate and the real problems coming in the way of management of Man, Material,
Machines and Money.
Practical training supplements the theoretical studies i.e. it covers what is left uncovered in the
classrooms .It offers an exposure to real practice of management in business organization.
It exposes student to an invaluable treasure of experience. In the forthcoming pages an attempt
has been made to present a comprehensive report concerning different aspects of my study. The
overall knowledge gained by me will be reflected in the report itself.

NAME

ROLL NO
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“Gratitude is the hardest of emotions to express and one often does not find adequate words to
convey what one feels and trying to express it”
The present project file is an amalgamated of various thoughts and experiences .the successful
completion of this project report would have not been possible without the help and guidance of
number of people. I take this opportunity to thank all those who have directly and indirectly
inspired, directed and helped me towards successful completion of this project report.
I am also immensely indebted to my project guide, Ms. Geetanjali khurana for her illuminating
observation, encouraging suggestions and constructive criticisms, which have helped me in
completing this research project successfully.
There are several other people who also deserve much more than a mere acknowledgement at
their exemplary help. I also acknowledge with deep sense of gratitude and wholehearted help and
cooperation intended to me by them.
 Table of Content
Page no.

Contents

chapter-1 Introduction of the Company

chapter-2 Introduction to the Topic
chapter-3 Research methodology
chapter-4 Data collection and Analysis
chapter-5 Finding of the study
chapter-6 Conclusion and suggestions
 Appendix

o Bibliography

o Questionnaire
 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION TO THE
TOPIC
INTRODUCTION:
In a study done by Sanjay Kumar Kar, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad, India on the
topic ‘335 Benefits of Efficient Consumer Response’ it was found that efficient consumer
response movement started in 1993 in US and then moved to Europe and other continents by
1996. The basic objective of ECR is to fulfill consumer wishes better, faster and at less cost.
Researchers and practitioners in this field debate over the potential and real benefits accrue to all
parties involved in the process. This conceptual paper investigates real benefits realized by the
retailer, manufacturer and consumer. Findings suggest that adoption of ECR practices helps the
retailer and manufacturer to reduce unnecessary distribution cost, minimize stock out and
increase customer satisfaction.

In a study done by Sriram Rajann, ICFAI Business School, Chennai, on the topic ‘392 Invest or
Not to Invest in Customer Relationship Management –How Mandatory it is to Industry Today-
CRM strategy is complex. It is more complex than an ERP strategy or a network strategy. This is
because it involves contemporaneously defined customers. It is 6-7 times more expensive to gain
a new customer than retain an existing customer-Harvard Business Review. A 2004 AMR
research study found that 28 % of CRM projects failed to go live. 33% had serious user adoption
problems. A 2005 Forrester Research found that 2/3 of respondents were unhappy with the ease
of the use of their CRM system. More than half of the respondents were not satisfied with their
CRM systems return on investment (ROI).

In a study done by Atish Chattopadhyay, ICFAI Business School, Kolkata, Kalyan Sengupta,
ICFAI Business School, Kolkata, on the topic 400 User Perception of the Retail Loyalty
Programs in the City of Kolkata, India.- Loyalty programs are being increasingly used as CRM
tactics. Recent studies have questioned the fate of loyalty programs. This study explored the user
perception of various retail loyalty programs in Kolkata, through a consumer survey. It was
observed that retailers need to have a clear insight of shopper expectations while designing a
loyalty program and the relative importance of various factors which makes the loyalty program
successful. The current research addresses the issue of identifying the factors which are critical to
the success of a retail loyalty program in the Indian context.
In a study done by Gajendra Singh, H.N.B. Garhwali University, Srinagar, Shailender Singh,
Academy of Management Studies, Dehradun on the topic-544 Analysis of Customer Relation
Management Tecnique in Banks of Small Towns has been undertaken to examine the critical role
and status of CRM strategies adopted by Banks. This paper also addresses the various
bottlenecks and barriers coming in the effective functioning of CRM strategies considering its
level of satisfaction in the field of Banking. This is the area of this study to see weather the banks
giving services to small town customers are following the integrated care for the customers
which is known as customer relationship management.

In a study done by T.V.P. Chowdry, Prashant Kulkarni, Anantha Murthy N.K., Institute of
Finance and International Management on the topic-516 Competing Against the Giants: Case
Studies of Local Companies. The dynamic process which globalization has unleashed presents
opportunities as well as challenges to the organizations, particularly the local players in the
emerging economies. The three-pronged aspects of technological growth, globalization and
consumer evolution have brought forth a new dimension to the competitive dynamics of business
today with tremendous implications for the local companies. While many have perished, some
local players have not only withstood the onslaught but have emerged triumphant. This paper is
an attempt to study the strategies these companies have followed and what distinguishes them
from the rest.

In a study done by Vipin Agrawal, Jaipuria Institute of Management, vashu2005 Nikhil Garg,
Jaipuria Institute Of management, on the topic 496 Making Indian Automobile Industry
Competitive through Joint Ventures.July 1991 is definitely the most recalled period for the Indian
automobile sector. It not only laid the foundation for opening up of the economy, it was
responsible for a major turn-around in the automobile sector. In 1991, foreign investment upto
51% was allowed in the automobile sector and the components industry, but not for the motor
cars which was de-licensed in 1993. Hence the car segment flourished thereafter with only one
major exit of Daewoo due to external reasons. If we look closely in the car segment the majority
of sales was due to the Honda Limited (HL) and later on grabbed by Hyundai, Telco and Daewoo
in due course of time. All others can be called as under performers or niche players. It is very
obvious that two of these players are sole ventures while other two are JVs. So a question for
discussion evolves asking whether competitiveness enhance by making the Joint Ventures in
Automobile Sector. The Present paper is an effort to find the answer of this question with
specific emphasize on Honda ltd.

Marketing strategy

Marketing strategy is the complete and unbeatable plan designed specifically for attaining the
marketing objectives of the firm.

The marketing objectives indicate what the firm wants to achieve; the marketing strategy
provides the design for achieving them.

It is the marketing strategy that decides the success at the business unit level which in turn
decides the total corporation’s success. The link between marketing strategy and overall success
is indeed direct and vital. And in this linkage lies the significance of marketing strategy.

Honda Ltd. has an aggressive marketing strategy which is very well understood when one goes
through the in-depth study of 4-P’s of marketing and price strategies with respect to its products
as explained in the previous section. One comes to the conclusion that Honda has a well defined
roadmap to success i.e to reach its ultimate objective of realizing Customer Satisfaction through
value for price products.

Formulating the Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy is not a nebulous idea. It is a well oriented game plan. And there are definite
ways of formulating it. Basically, formulation of marketing strategy consists of two main steps.

 Selecting the target market

 Assembling the marketing mix

Selecting the target market

Honda has successfully selected the car market which its going to cater to these are Mid Size
Cars

 Segment-A Cars (catering to Middle Income group)

 Segment-B Cars (catering to Upper-Middle Income group)

 Segment-C Cars (catering to High Income group)

 The details of these are provided in previous sections.

Assembling the marketing mix

Assembling the marketing mix means assembling the 4-P’s of marketing in the right combination
as explained in the previous section. Involved in this process are the choice of the appropriate
marketing activities and the allocation of the appropriate marketing effort to each one of them.
The firm has to find out how it can generate the best sales and make profit. It plans different
marketing mixes with varying levels of expenditure in terms of the possible sales and profit. It
then chooses the combination that is the best according to its judgment.
It is not though that the firm can take rest, once it has assembled and put through its marketing
mix. The marketing mix is a dynamic entity. The mix has to be modified and manipulated
depending on requirements.

Markerting Strategies Fall Under Two Generic Categories :

 Price Based Marketing Strategy

 Differentiation based Marketing Strategy

Price Based Marketing Strategy

Honda Basically plays the pricing game to cut down the competition in market. This the real
trump card which has worked for past many years in India. But now this strategy has failed for
automobile sector. Now it can work only a new trump card which is technology and Honda has
started using this along with price to win even in international markets.

Honda is continuously winning the price game for the past many years and to this habit to win
Honda is planning to launch many cars in near future as the price difference of just Rs. 25,000
for each sub category. This product differentiation will provide Honda a niche in the market to
cater to different market segments of customers effectively. This product launch will be so fast
that within an year we will be familiar with at least five new models of Honda.
But another card to win this competition is technology. Honda is trying very hard to get this card
along with its global technology partner Suzuki. Recently launched Baleno is a technological
milestone for Honda. Other forthcoming cars also will be technologically way high. In light of
growing sluggishness in the automobile market as a result of uncertainty over the sales tax issue,
Honda Limited as the leader of automobile market announced strong initiative to kick start the
market.

Differentiation based Marketing Strategy

Market Strategy based on Differentiation works on the principle that any aspect of the offer and
any activity of the firm can be made a distinctive compared with the competing offer.
Honda time and again have been successful in using this strategy in gaining a competitive edge
over its own previously launched models (discussed in the Price section of the Marketing Mix) &
in the market over its competitors.
The host of products that Honda encases within itself is unmatched till date by any Indian or
Foreign car manufacturer. All this have been discussed in the Product section of the Marketing
 Marketing Strategies

It has described a category scheme consisting of three general types of strategies that are
commonly used by businesses to achieve and maintain competitive advantage. These three
generic strategies are defined along two dimensions: strategic scope and strategic
strength. Strategic scope is a demand-side dimension and looks at the size and composition of the
market you intend to target. Strategic strength is a supply-side dimension and looks at the
strength or core competency of the firm. In particular he identified two competencies that he felt
were most important: product differentiation and product cost (efficiency).

He originally ranked each of the three dimensions (level of differentiation, relative product cost,
and scope of target market) as either low, medium, or high, and juxtaposed them in a three
dimensional matrix. That is, the category scheme was displayed as a 3 by 3 by 3 cubes. But most
of the 27 combinations were not viable.

In his 1980 classic Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors,
Porter simplifies the scheme by reducing it down to the three best strategies. They are cost
leadership, differentiation, and market segmentation (or focus). Market segmentation is narrow
in scope while both cost leadership and differentiation are relatively broad in market scope.

Empirical research on the profit impact of marketing strategy indicated that firms with a high
market share were often quite profitable, but so were many firms with low market share. The
least profitable firms were those with moderate market share.

This was sometimes referred to as the hole in the middle problem. Porter’s explanation of this is
that firms with high market share were successful because they pursued a cost leadership strategy
and firms with low market share were successful because they used market segmentation to
focus on a small but profitable market niche. Firms in the middle were less profitable because
they did not have a viable generic strategy.

Porter suggested combining multiple strategies is successful in only one case. Combining a
market segmentation strategy with a product differentiation strategy was seen as an effective way
of matching a firm’s product strategy (supply side) to the characteristics of your target market
segments (demand side).

But combinations like cost leadership with product differentiation were seen as hard (but not
impossible) to implement due to the potential for conflict between cost minimization and the
additional cost of value-added differentiation.

Since that time, empirical research has indicated companies pursuing both differentiation and
low-cost strategies may be more successful than companies pursuing only one strategy.[1]

Some commentators have made a distinction between cost leadership, that is, low cost strategies,
and best cost strategies. They claim that a low cost strategy is rarely able to provide a sustainable
competitive advantage. In most cases firms end up in price wars. Instead, they claim a best cost
strategy is preferred. This involves providing the best value for a relatively low price.
 CHAPTER – 2
COMPANY PROFILE
 INTRODUCTION

Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's
largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than
14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become
the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer. As of August 2008, Honda
surpassed Chrysler as the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the United States. Honda is
the sixth largest automobile manufacturer in the world.

Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury
brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also
manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators,
amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics
research and released their ASIM Orobot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with
the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 Honda Jet
scheduled to be released in 2011. Honda spends about 5% of its revenues into R&D.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture,
and distribution of motorcycles, automobiles, and power products primarily in North America,
Europe, and Asia. Its motorcycle line consists of business and commuter models, as well as
sports models, including trial and motor-cross racing; all terrain vehicles; personal watercrafts;
and multi utility vehicles.

The company also produces various automobile products, including passenger cars, minivans,
multi-wagons, sport utility vehicles, and mini cars; and power products comprising tillers,
portable generators, general-purpose engines, grass cutters, outboard marine engines, water
pumps, snow throwers, power carriers, power sprayers, lawn mowers and lawn tractors, home-
use cogeneration units, thin film solar cells home use, and public and industrial uses. In addition,
it sells spare parts and provides after sales services are through retail dealers, as well as involves
in retail lending, leasing to customers, and other financial services, such as wholesale financing
to dealers. The company was founded in 1946 and is based in Tokyo, Japan

HISTORY OF HONDA

From a young age, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda (本田 宗一郎, Honda Sōichirō) had a great
interest in automobiles. He worked as a mechanic at a Japanese tuning shop, Art Shokai, where
he tuned cars and entered them in races. A self-taught engineer, he later worked on a piston
design which he hoped to sell to Toyota. The first drafts of his design were rejected, and Soichiro
worked painstakingly to perfect the design, even going back to school and pawning his wife's
jewelry for collateral. Eventually, he won a contract with Toyota and built a factory to construct
pistons for them, which was destroyed in an earthquake.

Due to a gasoline shortage during World War II, Honda was unable to use his car, and his novel
idea of attaching a small engine to his bicycle attracted much curiosity. He then established the
Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-cycle
motorbike engines.

Calling upon 18,000 bicycle shop owners across Japan to take part in revitalizing a nation torn
apart by war, Soichiro received enough capital to engineer his first motorcycle, the Honda Cub.
This marked the beginning of Honda Motor Company, which would grow a short time later to be
the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964.

The first production automobile from Honda was the T360 mini pick-up truck, which went on
sale in August 1963. Powered by a small 356 cc straight-4 gasoline engine, it was classified
under the cheaper Kei car tax bracket. The first production car from Honda was the S500 sports
car, which followed the T360 into production in October 1963. Its chain driven rear wheels point
to Honda's motorcycle origins.
COMPANY PROFILE:
Company Name
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Head Office
1-1, 2-chome, Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8556, Japan
Tel: +81-(0)3-3423-1111

Established
September 24, 1948

President & CEO

Takanobu Ito

Capital
¥86 billion (as of March 31, 2010)

Sales (Results of fiscal 2010)

Consolidated: ¥8,579,174 million
Unconsolidated: ¥2,717,736 million

Total number of employees

Consolidated: 176,815 (as of March 31, 2010)
Unconsolidated: 26,121 (as of March 31, 2010)

Consolidated subsidiaries
390 subsidiaries (as of March 31, 2010)

Chief Products
Motorcycles, automobiles, power products
Aoyama Building

Wako Building
CORPORATE PROFILE

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. operates under the basic principles of "Respect for the Individual" and
"The Three Joys" — commonly expressed as The Joy of Buying, The Joy of Selling and The Joy
of Creating. "Respect for the Individual" reflects our desire to respect the unique character and
ability of each individual person, trusting each other as equal partners in order to do our best in
every situation. Based on this, "The Three Joys" expresses our belief and desire that each person
working in, or coming into contact with our company, directly or through or products, should
share a sense of joy through that experience.

In line with these basic principles, since its establishment in 1948, Honda has remained on the
leading edge by creating new value and providing products of the highest quality at a reasonable
price, for worldwide customer satisfaction. In addition, the Company has conducted its activities
with a commitment to protecting the environment and enhancing safety in a mobile society.

The Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the
leading automakers. With a global network of 492* subsidiaries and affiliates accounted for
under the equity method, Honda develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of products,
ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars, to earn the
Company an outstanding reputation from customers worldwide.
Honda in India
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., (HSCI) was incorporated in December 1995 as a joint venture
between Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Japan and Siel Limited, a Siddharth Shriram Group company,
with a commitment to providing Honda’s latest passenger car models and technologies, to the
Indian customers. The total investment made by the company in India till date is Rs 1620 crores
in Greater Noida plant and Rs 784 crores in Tapukara plant.

HSCI’s first state-of-the-art manufacturing unit was set up at Greater Noida, U.P in 1997. The
green-field project is spread across 150 acres of land (over 6,00,000 sq. m.). The annual capacity
of this facility is 100,000 units. The company’s second manufacturing facility is in Tapukara,
Rajasthan. This facility is spread over 600 acres and will have an initial production capacity of
60,000 units per annum, with an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore.
The first phase of this facility was inaugurated in September 2008. The company’s product
range includes Honda Jazz, Honda City, Honda Civic and Honda Accord which are produced at
the Greater Noida facility with an indigenization level of 77%, 76%, 74% and 28% respectively.
The CR-V is imported from Japan as Completely Built Units. Honda’s models are strongly
associated with advanced design and technology, apart from its established qualities of durability,
reliability and fuel-efficiency.
World Wide Message By Honda

Striving to become a company that society wants to exist by strengthening the core

principles of Honda

Looking back over the past fiscal year

Last year brought positive signs of economic recovery, including increased consumer spending
in Japan and the U.S. and expected economic expansion in Asia and developing nations. At the
same time, concerns about the economic downturn, credit crunch, and unemployment persisted
in the U.S. and Europe. Moreover, regardless of regional differences, there was new movement
to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, primarily CO2.

In these ways, 2009 showed that further management effort and environmental action were
required in the near future. Under such circumstances, Honda responded swiftly and specifically
to the needs of society and customers in each region. Through research and development, we
worked vigorously to produce advanced technologies for safety and environmental requirements.

Through production, we addressed changes in regional needs in a flexible manner, establishing a

“mutually complementary” system of manufacturing parts and finished vehicles in each region.
Through sales, we released products with new value by enhancing eco-responsible vehicles and
widened the range of our product lineup. As a result, over the last year alone, we delivered
motorcycles, automobiles, and general-purpose products to a total of more than 23 million
customers around the world.

Striving to become a company that society wants to exist

Due to global political and economic changes, the business environment surrounding Honda
remains uncertain amid growing social concern about environmental challenges. However, no
matter how considerable these changes may be, Honda will win the trust of our customers and
appeal to customers as before by creating technologies and products with new value that
anticipate customer needs and social requirements. We believe this is the way for Honda to
proceed, based on our founding principles.

To achieve these goals, Honda will work to improve product quality, safety, and environmental
performance as well as promoting research and development of next-generation mobility
technologies such as fuel-cell electric vehicles and battery-powered EVs. Additionally, we will
focus on future product development to expand the market for hybrid vehicles, which are
currently the most effective in reducing CO 2 emissions. And, we will continue our efforts to
become a company that society wants to exist through global activities to minimize environ-
mental impact in all of our business activities including production, distribution, and sales, while
promoting safe driving and engagement in other social activities

Manufacturing & Distribution

Strengthening our manufacturing system from the perspective of our customers and the
environment

Customer needs vary depending on the region. To deliver products that satisfy customers in all
regions, Honda established a manufacturing system that rapidly and flexibly responds to
customer requests at all production bases around the world. With this manufacturing system, we
are striving to further improve the quality of our products and minimize our environmental
footprint during manufacturing.

Thin-membrane solar cell panels at Dongfeng Honda (Wuhan, China)

Strengthening manufacturing capabilities and environmental measures on a global basis

Based on its commitment to build products close to the customer, Honda has pursued local
production from its early days. We first began overseas motorcycle production in Belgium in
1963 and became the first Japanese automaker to produce automobiles in the U.S. in 1982. By
focusing on localization early on, even in the areas of development and sales, we have been able
to respond to changes in product demand and supply more promptly and increase our quality and
cost competitiveness in each market.

Moreover, we have been working on establishing a mutually complementary parts and vehicle
manufacturing network among countries within a region so that we can respond to changing
demand in each region more effectively and flexibly. We have also centered on activities that
improve quality at production bases around the world and that reduce environmental impacts
during manufacturing and distribution. In 2009, we began operations at the Ogawa plant in Japan
with extremely high resource and energy efficiency.

Meanwhile, we are promoting the installation of solar panels at our offices and plants. Through
improved production systems that take into consideration regional characteristics and enhanced
environmental measures, we will flexibly and effectively provide high-quality products in an
environmentally responsible way.

Motorcycle plant (Thailand)

 Power products assembly (France)

Corporate profile and divisions

Honda headquarters building in Japan

Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo,
Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland.

The company has assembly plants around the globe. These plants are located in China, the
United States, Pakistan, Canada, England, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, New Zealand, Indonesia,
India, Thailand, Turkey and Perú. As of July 2010, 89 percent of Honda and Acura vehicles sold
in the United States were built in North American plants, up from 82.2 percent a year earlier.
This shields profits from the yen’s advance to a 15-year high against the dollar.

Honda's Net Sales and Other Operating Revenue by Geographical Regions in 2007

Geographic Region Total revenue (in millions of ¥)

Japan 1,681,190

North America 5,980,876

Europe 1,236,757

Asia 1,283,154

Others 905,163

American Honda Motor Company is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is
headquartered in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate
headquarters in Markham, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008; their manufacturing
division, Honda of Canada Manufacturing, is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created

joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles in
India, Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, and Honda Atlas in Pakistan.

Current market position

With high fuel prices and a weak U.S. economy in June 2008, Honda reported a 1% sales
increase while its rivals, including the Detroit Big Three and Toyota, have reported double-digit
losses. Honda's sales were up almost 20 percent from the same month last year. The Civic and
the Accord were in the top five lists of sales.

Analysts have attributed this to two main factors. First, Honda's product lineup consists of
mostly small to mid-size, highly fuel-efficient vehicles. Secondly, over the last ten years, Honda
has designed its factories to be flexible, in that they can be easily retooled to produce any Honda
model that may be in-demand at the moment.

Nonetheless, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota, were still not immune to the global financial crisis of
2008, as these companies reduced their profitability forecasts. The economic crisis has been
spreading to other important players in the vehicle related industries as well. In November 2009
the Nihon Keizai Shinbun reported that Honda Motor exports have fallen 64.1%.

At the 2008 Beijing Auto Show, Honda presented the Li Nian ("concept" or "idea") 5-door
hatchback and announced that they were looking to develop an entry-level brand exclusively for
the Chinese market similar to Toyota's Scion brand in the USA. The brand would be developed
by a 50-50 joint-venture established in 2007 with Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group.

Following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 Honda announced plans to halve
production at its UK plants. The decision was made to put staff at the Swindon plant on a 2 day
week until the end of May as the manufacturer struggled to source supplies from Japan. It's
thought around 22,500 cars were produced during this period.
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES OF HONDA

Dream The Impossible!!!

POWER OF DREAMS , HONDA

Super Cub (2008)

The Super Cub made Honda what it is today. In 2008, 50 years and 60 million units later, the
Super Cub still continues to evolve.

Engines (2008)
Honda has announced "Engines," a new global advertisement aimed at increasing awareness of
how Honda's advanced engines can help in preserving the environment

FCX (2007)
The global ad "FCX Concept" emphasizes Honda’s leadership in environmental performance
through advanced technology.

sky (2006)
"sky" signifies Honda's realization of a dream to bring mobility for everyone to the third
dimension, the sky, with the introduction of the Honda Jet.
cap/ (2006)

The symbolic use of the Honda green cap, worn by Honda Associates, expresses two messages -
the fun that Honda employees enjoy through working at Honda and how that fun is embedded in
every Honda automobile, motorcycle and power product. In the animated movie "cap/," a boy
picks up a green cap - not just any cap, but a Honda green cap - and once he wears it, is taken to
the world of Honda where he experiences the creativity that every Honda employee brings to the
company - turning dreams such as ASIMO and Honda Jet into reality, and making Honda one of
the most innovative companies in the world.

jet/ (2005)

The motif of Honda’s new Global Ad is the experimental Honda Jet, which made its debut in
July, 2005 at “Air venture,” a prominent aircraft event in the USA. Honda Jet realizes a Honda
founder’s dream.

The movie “jet/” is set in a quiet airstrip. Two men in blue overalls ride a tattered Super Cub
down a deserted hangar. Who could tell that these two, Richard Gritter and Dave West, were
indeed the test pilots for the experimental Honda Jet, as they flew off into the evening sky...
run/ (2005)

Since development of the first ASIMO in 2000, ASIMO has grown in popularity around the
world, and has developed a global image of adorability and friendliness. The key aim in Honda’s
new global branding advertisement is to maintain ASIMO’s global image, whilst communicating
the new ASIMO prototype’s feature (ASIMO runs!) with a touch of humor. In 60” movie “run/”,
the new ASIMO prototype and an elderly gentleman engage in a little race down an airport’s
moving walkway.
Honda Jet (2005)
The motif for this year’s worldwide corporate advertising is the Honda Jet. In 2003, a hundred
years after the Wright Brothers made their pioneering flight; the Honda Jet soared over North
Carolina on its maiden flight. Honda has again realized the power of dreams, by adding a new
dimension to the pursuit of mobility. We want to share this significant achievement with the
world, and with this in mind, came the motivation for this advertisement.

Honda FCX (2003)

The sound of a grandfather clock keeps pace with the FCX as it drives around. In the TV
commercial, the FCX is shown symbolizing the opening to a new era of mobility. In addition, a
corporate ad was placed on January 3, 2003 to all major newspapers in Japan showcasing the
theme of Honda’s new technology. The TV commercial uses a visual background that reflects
Honda’s challenging history and expresses Honda’s spirit, “an ultimate clean air vehicle for all
human beings”. The development of the fuel cell vehicle FCX, - has reinforced our belief in the
power of dreams.

Rubens Barrichello driving for Honda

Honda entered Formula One as a constructor for the first time in the 1964 season at the German
Grand Prix with Ronnie Bucknum at the wheel. 1965 saw the addition of Richie Ginther to the
team, who scored Honda's first point at the Belgian Grand Prix, and Honda's first win at
the Mexican Grand Prix. 1967 saw their next win at the Italian Grand Prix with John Surtees as
their driver. In 1968, Jo Schlesser was killed in a Honda RA302 at the French Grand Prix. This
racing tragedy, coupled with their commercial difficulties selling automobiles in the United
States, prompted Honda to withdraw from all international motorsport that year.

After a learning year in 1965, Honda-powered Brabhams dominated the 1966 French Formula
Two championship in the hands of Jack Brabhamand Denny Hulme. As there was no European
Championship that season, this was the top F2 championship that year. In the early 1980s Honda
returned to F2, supplying engines to Ron Tauranac's Ralt team. Tauranac had designed the
Brabham cars for their earlier involvement. They were again extremely successful. In a related

Exercise, John Judd's Engine Devlopments company produced a turbo "Brabham-Honda" engine
for use in India Car racing. It won only one race, in 1988 for Bobby Rahal at Pocono.

Honda returned to Formula One in 1983, initially with another Formula Two partner,
the Spirit team, before switching abruptly to Williams in 1984. In the late 1980s and early 1990s,
Honda powered cars won six consecutive Formula One Constructors
Championships. WilliamsF1 won the crown in 1986 and 1987. Honda switched allegiance again
in 1988. New partners Team McLaren won the title in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991. Honda
withdrew from Formula One at the end of 1992, although the related Mugen-Honda company
maintained a presence up to the end of 1999, winning four races with Ligier and Jordan Grand
Prix.

Honda debuted in the CART IndyCar World Series as a works supplier in 1994. The engines
were far from competitive at first, but after development, the company powered six consecutive
drivers’ championships. In 2003, Honda transferred its effort to the rival IRL IndyCar Series. In
2004, Honda-powered cars overwhelmingly dominated the IndyCar Series, winning 14 of 16
IndyCar races, including the Indianapolis 500, and claimed the IndyCar Series Manufacturers'
Championship, Drivers' Championship and Rookie of the Year titles. In 2006, Honda became the
sole engine supplier for the IndyCar Series, including the Indianapolis 500. In the 2006
Indianapolis 500, for the first time in Indianapolis 500 history, the race was run without a single
engine problem.

During 1998, Honda considered returning to Formula One with their own team. The project was
aborted after the death of its technical director, Harvey Postlethwaite. Honda instead came back
as an official engine supplier to British American Racing (BAR) and Jordan Grand Prix. Honda
bought a stake in the BAR team in 2004 before buying the team outright at the end of 2005,
becoming a constructor for the first time since the 1960s. Honda won the 2006 Hungarian Grand
Prix with driver Jenson Button.

It was announced on 5 December 2008, that Honda would be exiting Formula One with
immediate effect due to the 2008 global economic crisis. The team was sold to former team
principal Ross Brawn, renamed Brawn GP and subsequently Mercedes GP.

Honda became an official works team in the British Touring Car Championship in 2010.

Motorcycles

Honda RC212V raced by Dani Pedrosa

Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) was formed in 1982. The company combines participation in
motorcycle races throughout the world with the development of high potential racing machines.
Its racing activities are an important source for the creation of leading edge technologies used in
the development of Honda motorcycles. HRC also contributes to the advancement of motorcycle
sports through a range of activities that include sales of production racing motorcycles, support
for satellite teams, and rider education programs.

Soichiro Honda, being a race driver himself, could not stay out of international motorsport. In
1959, Honda entered five motorcycles into the Isle of Man TT race, the most prestigious
motorcycle race in the world. While always having powerful engines, it took until 1961 for
Honda to tune their chassis well enough to allow Mike Hailwood to claim their first Grand
Prix victories in the 125 and 250 cc classes. Hailwood would later pick up their first Senior TT
wins in 1966 and 1967. Honda's race bikes were known for their "sleek & stylish design" and
exotic engine configurations, such as the 5-cylinder, 22,000 rpm, 125 cc bike and their 6-cylinder
250 cc and 297 cc bikes.

In 1979, Honda returned to Grand Prix motorcycle racing with the monocoque-framed, four-
stroke NR500. The FIM rules limited engines to four cylinders, so the NR500 featured non-
circular, 'race-track', cylinders, each with 8 valves and two connecting rods, in order to provide
sufficient valve area to compete with the dominant two-stroke racers. Unfortunately, it seemed
Honda tried to accomplish too much at one time and the experiment failed. For the 1982 season,

Honda debuted their first two-stroke race bike, the NS500 and in 1983, Honda won their first
500 cc Grand Prix World Championship with Freddie Spencer. Since then, Honda has become a
dominant marque in motorcycle Grand Prix racing, winning a plethora of top level titles with
riders such as Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi .

In motocross, Honda has claimed six motocross world championships. In the World Enduro
Championship, Honda has captured six titles, most recently with Stefan Merriman in 2003 and
with Mika Ahola in 2007 and 2008.

In observed trials, Honda has claimed three world championships with Belgian rider Eddy
Lejeune.
 Marketing

Honda's official slogan is "The Power of Dreams". They have never used this slogan to sell their
products. Mr. Honda's belief is that well built products will sell themselves.

In 2003, Honda released its Cog advertisement in the UK and on the Internet. To make the ad,
the engineers at Honda constructed a Rube Goldberg Machine made entirely out of car parts
from a Europe Domestic Market Honda Accord (upon which the USDM Acura TSX is based).

To the chagrin of the engineers at Honda, all the parts were taken from two of only six hand-
assembled pre-production models of the Accord. The advertisement depicted a single cog which
sets off a chain of events that ends with the Honda Accord moving and Garrison Keillor speaking
the tagline "Isn't it nice when things just... work?" It took 606 takes to get it perfect.[71]

In 2004, they produced the Grrr advert, usually immediately followed by a shortened version of
the 2005 Impossible Dream advert.

A post 2005 style Honda dealership in Moncton, Canada

In December 2005, Honda released The Impossible Dream a two-minute panoramic

advertisement filmed in New Zealand, Japan and Argentina which illustrates the founder's dream
to build performance vehicles.
While singing the song "Impossible Dream", a man reaches for his racing helmet, leaves his
trailer on a mini bike, then rides a succession of vintage Honda vehicles: a motorcycle, then a
car, then a powerboat, then goes over a waterfall only to reappear piloting a hot air balloon, with
Garrison Keillor saying "I couldn't have put it better myself" as the song ends. The song is from
the 1960s musical Man Of La Mancha, sung by Andy Williams.

In 2006, Honda released its Choir advertisement, for the UK and the internet. This featured a 60-
person choir who sang the car noises as film of the Honda Civic are shown.

For the last several years in the United States, during model close-out sales for the current year
before the start of the new model year, Honda's advertising has featured an animated
character known simply as Mr. Opportunity, voiced by Rob Paulsen. The casual looking man
talks about various deals offered by Honda and ends with the phrase "I'm Mr. Opportunity, and

I'm knockin'", followed by him "knocking" on the television screen or "thumping" the speaker at
the end of radio ads. Also, commercials for Honda's international hatchback, the Jazz, are
parodies of well-known pop culture images such as Tetris and Thomas The Tank Engine.

In late 2006, Honda released an ad with ASIMO exploring a museum, looking at the exhibits
with almost child-like wonderment (spreading out its arms in the aerospace exhibit, waving hello
to an astronaut suit that resembles him, etc.), while Garrison Keillor ruminates on progress. It
concludes with the tagline: "More forwards please".

Honda also sponsored ITV's coverage of Formula One in the UK for 2007. However they had
announced that they would not continue in 2008 due to the sponsorship price requested by ITV
being too high.

In May 2007, focuses on their strengths in racing and the use of the Red H badge — a symbol of
what is termed as "Honda mentalism". The campaign highlights the lengths that Honda engineers
go to in order to get the most out of an engine, whether it is for bikes, cars, powerboats — even
lawnmowers.

Honda released its Honda mentalism campaign. In the TV spot, Garrison Keillor says, "An
engineer once said to build something great is like swimming in honey", while Honda engineers
in white suits walk and run towards a great light, battling strong winds and flying debris, holding
on to anything that will keep them from being blown away. Finally one of the engineers walks
towards a red light, his hand outstretched. A web address is shown for the Honda mentalism
website. The digital campaign aims to show how visitors to the site share many of the Honda
mentalist characteristics.

At the beginning of 2008, Honda released - the Problem Playground. The advert outlines
Honda's environmental responsibility, demonstrating a hybrid engine, more efficient solar panels
and the FCX Clarity, a hydrogen powered car. The 90 second advert features large scale puzzles,
involving Rubik's cubes, large shapes and a 3-dimensional puzzle.

On 29 May 2008, Honda, in partnership with Channel 4, broadcast a live advertisement. It

showed skydivers jumping from an aeroplane over Spain and forming the letters H, O, N, D and
An in mid-air. This live advertisement is generally agreed to be the first of its kind on British
television. The advert lasted three minutes. The next flight of one of the two planes involved
resulted in a fatal crash as the plane broke apart in mid-air.

In 2009, American Honda released the Dream the Impossible documentary series, a collection of
5-8 minute web vignettes that focus on the core philosophies of Honda. Current short films
include Failure: The Secret to Success, Kick out the Ladder and Mobility 2088. They feature
Honda employees as well as Danica Patrick, Christopher Guest, Ben Bova, Chee Pearlman, Joe
Johnston and Orson Scott Card. The film series plays at dreams.honda.com.

Sports

In Australia, Honda advertised heavily during most motor racing telecasts, and was the official
sponsor of the 2006 FIA Formula 1 telecast on broadcaster channel "Ten". In fact, it was the only
manufacturer involved in the 2006 Indy Racing League season. In a series of adverts promoting
the history of Honda's racing heritage, Honda claimed it "built" cars that won 72 Formula 1
Grand Prix.

Skeptics have accused Honda of interpreting its racing history rather liberally, saying that
virtually all of the 72 victories were achieved by Honda powered (engined) machines, whereas
the cars themselves were designed and built by Lotus F1, Williams F1, and McLaren F1 teams,
respectively. However, former and current staff of the McLaren F1 team have reiterated that
Honda contributed more than just engines and provided various chassis, tooling, and
aerodynamic parts as well as funding. Ayrton Senna, arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time,
repeatedly stated that Honda probably played the most significant role in his three worlds
Champion ships. He had immense respect for founder, Soichiro Honda, and had a good
relationship with Nobuhiko Kawamoto, the chairman of Honda at that time. Senna once called
Honda "the greatest company in the world".

As part of its marketing campaign, Honda is an official partner and sponsor of the National
Hockey League, the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, and the arena named after it: Honda Center.
Honda also sponsors The Honda Classic golf tournament and is a sponsor of Major League
Soccer.

The "Honda Player of the Year" award is presented in United States soccer. The "Honda Sports
Award" is given to the best female athlete in each of twelve college sports in the United States.
One of the twelve Honda Sports Award winners is chosen to receive the Honda-Broderick Cup,
as "Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year."
 CHAPTER-3
Literature Review
Literature Review

Automobile Industry
Abhijeet Singh and Brijesh Kumar (2011) Hero Honda Motors Ltd, is running a program
called Good life Passport to Relationship Reward, with an objective to create an innovative
environment for interaction between Hero Honda and its customers. Members of this program
are given a magnetic card in which all information is stored and this card is swiped when using
any service at a showroom or workshop and it works like a loyalty benefit card.

Abhijeet Singh (2011) Tata Motors uses a customer relationship management and dealer
management system (CRM-DMS) which integrates one of the largest applications in the
automobile industry, linking more than 1200 dealers across India.CRM DOS has helped Tata
Motors to improve its inventory management, tax calculation and pricing. This system has also
proved to be beneficial to dealers because it has reduced their working capital cost.

Arvind Saxena (2010) Director and Board member (marketing and sales), Hyundai Motor
India (HMIL) “No company in automobile sector can fight competition on price. Companies
need to have the right product, distribution, CRM and after sales service network to grow.
Biswajit Mahanty and Virupaxi Bagodi (2006) The success of two wheeler manufacturers in
India depends on the competitive advantage gained by them through after sales service and
providing and maintaining customer satisfaction in the face of rapid changes in technology is a
difficult task, which can be overcome by timely addition of capacity and upgrading of technical
manpower and focusing on the CRM programs.

Biswajit Mahanty and Virupaxi Bagodi (2007) More than 55 million two-wheelers are
moving on Indian roads. Accordingly, two-wheeler service sector should have generated
revenue amounting to INR 100,000 million per year, but in reality, this has not been realised in
the organised service sector, the Indian two-wheeler service industry has not considered
servicing as a line of business and providing conveniently reliable services is most important in
two-wheeler services in India to capture the market.

Biswajit Mahanty and Virupaxi Bagodi (2008) It is an era of customer delight for the two
wheeler industry and the conventional measures implemented by the service organizations
tend to be inadequate to attract customers persistently.

Gordon Fullerton (2006), “Putting relationship in CRM”, that JEEP, a division of Daimler
Chrysler Automobile Company, has served a classic example of CRM program that provides a
considerable value to both the customers and the firm by developing a program exclusively for
jeep owners and fostered a community that is highly effectively committed to the product, the
brand and the customers.

Kevin Keller (2012) Caterpillar has become a leading firm by maximizing the total customer
value with the help of effective CRM , best after sales service in the industry and better trained
dealer. This allows the firm to command a premium price of 10% to 20% higher than
competitors such as Volvo, Komatsu etc.

Michael Cusumano, Steve Kahl and Fernaando Suarez (2008) in their research paper “A
theory of services in product industries”, has concluded that in many product oriented industries,
services have become increasingly important. In case of automobiles, many automakers generate
the vast majority of their profits from a service activity closely tied to their product activity. The
automobile industry overall generates a large portion of its profits from other product-related
service activities such as insurance and repairs. The authors argued that despite the seeming
importance of services, there is not much theory to help researchers or practitioners explain the
conditions under which services matter in product industries. The general view that emerges
from the services literature is that services tend to become important for manufacturing firms
once their industries reach a mature stage.

Milind Bade (2011) GM-Marketing, Bajaj Auto, has mentioned that Bajaj Auto Limited is
currently trying to move the industry from a commuter to a biker mindset and at present the
focus of the company is on keeping the sub brands and the mother brand different and the main
motive behind establishing individual brand is to create differentiation which would help Bajaj
auto, as an organization to develop relationship easily with its customers.

Mona J Fitzsimmons (2010) has concluded that the profitability of automobile manufacturers
depends on exploiting value added services for instance automobile manufacturers have
discovered that financing and after sales service can achieve significant profits.

Oyama (2012) Honda Motor wants to be number one in the Indian market and the company
wanted 30% of Honda’s global sales to come from Indian operations by 2020. HMSI have had
issues related to production in the past with most of its models having the longest waiting period
in the country, this reduced in Honda’s penetration in the rural market, which is less than a third
of Hero Moto Corp.

Pawan Chabra (2011) Nowadays every second bike sold in the premium segment is a pulsar and
this shows the dominance of Bajaj in the Indian market place, this was possible because the
company has been regularly making the alterations to make the motorbike look fresh at all times
and Bajaj today holds over 50% market in the premium segment (for FY 2010-2011) followed by
a distant second largest player Honda Motorcycle & scooter India with a 19% market share.
Pawan Chabra (2011) has mentioned that the death knell off Bajaj’s scooters business was
sounded when the company officially stopped the production of its flagship Chetak in December
2002, to get cracking on its ambition of becoming a credible motorcycle brand manufacturer, the
company invested big in R&D and product development, but the company faced challenges in
the sales and distribution because their dealers had little idea how to sell motorcycles, so the
entire dealership network was trained to sell motorcycles.

Philip Kotler (2012) Harley – Davidson dealers ranging from the CEO to the sales staff,
maintain personalized relationships with customers through face to face and social media
contact. Knowing customers as individuals and conducting ongoing research to keep up with
their changing expectations and experiences which helps Harley – Davidson to define their
customers needs better.

R K Garg (2011) CRM requires a seamless, single view of the customer with consistent cross-
channel interaction models and it is recommend that companies bundle all internal CRM
strategies into one comprehensive multi-channel strategy. More over if the two wheeler
manufacturer integrate CRM with SCM, then product design and production planning can be
aligned with the customer information available, to increase customer loyalty.

S.Saravan, N Panchanathan and S Pragadeeswaran (2009) concluded in their research paper

“Markets and Consumers- Consumer Behavior Towards Showroom Services of Two- Wheeler
with reference to Cuddalore District” that students and employees are more satisfied about
showroom service and age of consumer is an important factor while choosing the brand of
bike and all the consumers give importance all factors relating to buying a vehicle.

Shashank Srivastava (2012) GM Maruti Suzuki has mentioned that the consumer is price
conscious and the brand loyalty is diminishing because of the number of options in each segment
moreover the customers are ready to experiment today.
Steve Kahl and Fernaando Suarez (2008) in their research paper “Product, Process, and
Service: A New Industry Lifecycle Model”, has concluded that Existing models of industry
lifecycle evolution tend to focus on changes in the products and processes and largely overlook
the dynamics of services, but increasingly, the revenues of many firms are becoming dominated
by sales of services rather than products, or products sold with services to gain competitive
differentiation in markets marked by increasing product commoditization.

Susan Suffes (2006) Audi (UK), a leading manufacturer in the prestige automobile market
implemented CRM successfully and this helped Audi to develop a model to drive growth and
engineer a dramatic turnaround by creating a superior customer experience.

V.G. Ramakrishnan (2003) The vehicle servicing business in India is undergoing a

transformation. In early days, the servicing needs of the vehicles were undertaken mostly by
roadside mechanics and a few organized workshops. Companies need to focus on building a
chain of authorized service stations covering the entire country to service its vehicles. As the
competition in the market has intensified and profit margins squeezed, companies need to view
servicing as a money spinner for the entire operation. In the recent years, other players have
entered in the field and the creation of national chain of organized workshops is underway and
that is likely to change the nature of vehicle servicing market in India.

V.G. Ramakrishnan (2003) The two-wheeler market that has seen an explosive

rise in sales over the last few years which created an opportunity for various companies
to enter the after sales business of two wheeler, Castrol, a company well known for its
lubricants, has entered into the motorcycle servicing business with the roll out of its first
workshop 'Castrol PrimaZona' and have plans to have pan India presence.

V S Ramaswamy (2010) CRM is not merely the response of the times, but the necessity of the
time as well it is the effective CRM which converts buyers into profitable customers and then
builds relations and retains them as a customer for life.
Customer Relationship Management
Abhijeet Singh and Brijesh Kumar (2011) mentioned that people term CRM as technology
based initiative, but the fact is that it is an enterprise wide activity which uses technology to
facilitate various functions – sales, marketing , service etc and CRM initiative starts with
identification of customers with the objective of differentiating from customer to customer and
he further mentions that it is not the products or services that please the customers, but the right
attitude of handling them and building a closer relationship with them. A company with a large
number of customers with close bonding would enjoy higher revenues and profitability.

Alan Smith (2006) mentioned that since the mid-1990s many industries were experiencing
increased demand from their customers for higher quality and easier access to service thus
corporations and top managers started to rethink their traditional ways of providing service and
customer relationship management started to become a strategic asset among corporations.

A Mukund (2006) has studied the role of CRM in Tesco and concluded that the loyalty card
scheme launched by Tesco in 1995, laid the foundation of a CRM frame work that made Tesco
UKs number one retailer and the data collected through these cards formed the basis for
formulating strategies that offered customers personalised services in cost effective manner and
today CRM in Tesco is more of a companywide philosophy.

A V Vedpuriswar (2003) has highlighted that ICFAI realised that the growth is the key to long
term survival and much of its growth will come from keeping its eyes and ears tuned to
environment and for this ICFAI implemented CRM strategies specially for the students
enrolment and processing of examination hall tickets, and this lead to growth of ICFAI which
has surprised traditional academic institutions.
Calin Gurau (2003) mentioned that the advantages of the Internet as a transaction and
communication channel present new opportunities for businesses to create a long-term
relationship with their customers and the level of e-service quality is an essential component of
this customer-centric strategy, thus the companies need to establish the optimum level of e-
service quality, taking into consideration customers’ satisfaction, , the competitive conditions of
the market, but however, the effective use of this method requires the implementation of e-CRM
systems, structured around a customer-centric approach.

Celent (2006) concluded that banks can gain full value from their investments in CRM
technology by leveraging on customer knowledge and TCF bank a midsize that has a community
banking culture realised the same and implemented CRM for its online banking process and this
helped TCF bank to reap rewards during direct customer interaction.

Gaurav Patra (2006) has mentioned that investing in cutting edge technologies, high end
equipments and robust infrastructure, will be of little use, unless the customers are serviced
satisfactorily, thus Tata Teleservices Limited, adopted and deployed CRM solution, which
helped the company to cater to the varied needs of its vast customer base and this moved the
company to higher customer service levels.

Gordon Fullerton (2006) concludes in his chapter “Putting relationship in CRM”, that CRM
programs are currently in vogue. An effective CRM programs offer significant benefits to the
firm beyond customer retention, like in era where new products and services are being developed
at an accelerating rate, it is usually easier to sell these offerings to customers who already buy
one or more of the businesses existing products than to customers who have not bought any of
the firms product before.

Graham Charlton (2011) has highlighted the findings in the report from E-consultancy 2011
Customer Engagement Report, that companies have stared the use of social media for customer
service and companies are really seeing the benefits of social media as customer service channel
which allows companies to handle complaints, question and deliver real – time information.

Injazz J. Chen (2003) has mentioned that Customer relationship management is a combination
of people, processes and technology that seeks to understand a company's customers and
companies that successfully implement CRM will reap the rewards in customer loyalty and long
run profitability and managing a successful CRM implementation requires an integrated and
balanced approach to technology, process, and people.

Koushiki Choudhury, Arvinandan Mukherjee (2007) argue that relationship marketing implies
attracting, maintaining and enhancing customer relationships and it is beneficial because
acquiring new customers is more costly than retaining existing ones, and one of the determinants
of the success of the relationship marketing strategies of a firm is how the customers perceive the
resulting service quality.

Lavanya T (2011) has mentioned that CRM solutions aim to eliminate the organisations
stovepipes that hamper proactive customer interaction.CRM applications are also designed to
increase the effectiveness of the staff members who interacts with the customers or prospects and
the use of CRM applications can lead to improved customer responsiveness and a more
comprehensive view of the entire “cradle –to- grave” customer life cycle.

Mary Moylan (2006) conclude in his chapter “Customer Relationship Management”, that due to
changing scenario in financial service sector Allied Irish Bank (AIB) , noticed the need to
provide quality customer service as a means to retain customer and attract new ones and thus
focused attention on CRM which helped AIB to shift its business focus from transactional to
relationship market.

Paul Szwarc (2006) has noted that CRM involves more than just gathering data and developing
programmes to identify the most profitable customer, then managing the relationship by offering
them more suitable products and services. Handled well CRM can allow for stages in the
relationship to be identified and managed and the organisations that use CRM systems sensibly
can often change customer’s opinions and behaviour.

Richard Feinberg, Rajesh Kadam (2002) Business is moving online, not as a matter of
choice, but as a matter of necessity and the use of the Internet as a channel for commerce and
information presents an opportunity for business to use the Internet as a tool for customer
relationship management (CRM)/(e-CRM) and companies will benefit from the same.

Shailendra Dasari (2011) has concluded that Relationship Marketing orientation comes
naturally to Indians who treat guests as gods (Athithi devo bhava) and imbibe the spirit of service
from their parents and senior members of the family. It is not a concept new to India and has
been practiced from ancient times. While there have been some aberrations to this philosophy,
post-independence, Indian marketers have quickly rediscovered the importance of being
customer-centric and building long-term relationships with the customers _ whether individuals
or other business organizations. The Indian ethos that regards customer as a king or even a god
(none other than Mahatma Gandhi endorsed this view), and their exposure to global business
practices post-liberalization, ensured that Indian marketers _ whether big or small; organized or
unorganized, have fine-tuned their relationship marketing skills and practices, which have been
in their veins for centuries, for greater success and consolidation.

Shan L Pan and Jae Nam Lee (2003) had mentioned that the emergence of e commerce has
changed many aspects of existing businesses and generated new companies with new business
models. Existing companies are being challenged to rethink the most basic business relationship,
between and organisation and its customers. The underlying fact is that, addressing customer’s
needs leads to sustainable profit and to satisfy customer’s needs, companies have to maintain
consistency across all interaction channels and to overcome this challenge, organisations are
considering accepting the concept of CRM.

Tamilarasan R (2011) has mentioned that CRM becomes effective when customers are involved
in the CRM process and it is necessary the organisation include the customers into the mix and if
CRM practices are conceived and implemented properly, it will enable companies to retain
customers for life, get maximum value out of each customer and generate exemplary customer
bonding.

W Ravi Kumar (2011) had mentioned that, CRM is the buzzword in the Indian corporate sector today
as cut throat competition in the liberalized Indian market place has rendered undertaking CRM, as an
imperative than just an optional feature.CRM, now has been recognised as one of the major tools for
enhancing customer loyalty and in the process reducing customer defections to competing
firms.CRM practices leave a lasting impact on their customer relationships in this era of
competition , there is a need for organiations , whether big or small to practice CRM in their own
way to attract new customers, while retaining the existing ones.
 CHAPTER-4
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The purpose of methodology is to describe the process involved in research work. This includes
the overall research design, data collection method, the field survey and the analysis of data.
Research is a common parlance refresh to a search for knowledge. One can also define research
as a scientific & systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research
is an art of scientific investigation. The advance learner’s dictionary of current English lay down
the meaning research as a careful investigation & inquiry specially search for new facts in any
branch knowledge.

Objectives of the Study

 To know about the Honda company.

 To know about its Promotional activities.
 It’s Market Position.
 Honda’s level of customer satisfaction.
 Its history and the company profile.
 Cost saving initiatives.

Research Design
Research Design is the arrangement for conditioned for data collection & analysis of data in a
manner that aims to combined relevance to research purpose with economy in procedure. A
research design is a master plan or model for the conduct of formal investigation. It is blue print
that is followed in completing study.
The research conducted by me is a descriptive research. This is descriptive in nature because
study is focused on fact investigation in a well structured from and is based on primary data.
Research Plan
Type of study: For completing my study I have gone for sample study because looking at the
size of population & the time limitation it was not convenient for me to cover entire population.
Hence, I have gone for sample study rather than census study.

Sampling Plan
A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. It refers to the
technique or the procedure that researcher would adopt in selecting items to be inched in the
sample i.e. the size of sample. Sampling plan is determined before data are collected.

Steps in Sampling:

 Understanding the Marketing strategies of Honda.

 Study the company profile & related aspects.
 To collect the information from self constructed questionnaire.
 Meeting with different owners of Honda showroom.
 Obtaining the opinion and suggestions of owners at different levels.
 Prepare questionnaire on the basis of above information.
 Gather information from different source like books Internet magazines etc.
 On the basis of the answers and the information gathered from other sources
prepare the report.

Sampling Frame:

The list of sampling units from which sample is taken is called sampling frame.

Sampling Size:

Total sample size is 50.

Sampling Procedure:

The selection of respondents were accordingly to be in a right place at a right time and so the
sampling were quite easy to measure, evaluate and co-operative. It was a randomly area
sampling method that attempts to obtain the sample of convenient.

Data sources

Primary Data

Primary data is that kind of data which is collected directly by the investigator himself for the
purpose of the specific study. Primary Data is collected by the investigator through interviews of
company employees, vendors, distributor etc. Data such collected is original in character. The
advantage of this method of collection is the authentic. A questionnaire of about 50 questions
was made and it was given to the dealers to fill it up for our research. The research was a kind of
conclusive research as it helps in the testing of hypothesis. The method of sampling was the
Random method as it is unbiased.

Secondary Data

When an investigator uses the data that has been already collected by others, is called secondary
data. The secondary data could be collected from Journals, Reports, libraries, magazines, fair &
conference and other publications. The advantages of the secondary data can be –It is
economical, both in terms of money and time spent .The researcher of the report also did the
same and collected secondary data from various internet sites like www.google.com,
www.airtel.com, www.hutch.co.in and many more. The researcher of the report also visited
various libraries for collection of the introduction part.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

We make questionnaire to know which category of people opts for which kind of plans. In this
category the factors included are such as income, background, age, etc. This includes 2 types of
questions
 1. open ended
2. closed ended
1. open ended : In this respondents are not bounded to answer within a set of choices and
can give their own views
2. Close-ended: in this respondents are bounded to answer within a set of choices.
I have designed my questionnaire on the basis of close-ended questions as it is more feasible
to calculate data from it.
SAMPLE DESIGN:
While developing a sample design, following points should be kept in mind:
 Sampling unit: A decision has to be taken concerning a sampling unit before selecting
sample. Sampling unit may be a geographical one such as state, district, village etc or a
construction unit such as house, flat etc. or it ,may be as social unit such as family, club,
school etc or it may be an individual . The researcher will have to decide one or more of
such units that he has to select for his study

 Size of the sample: This refers to the number of items to be selected from the universe
to constitute a sample. This is a major problem before a researcher. The size of the
sample should be neither is excessively large, nor too small. it should be optimum An
optimum sample is one which fulfills the requirements of efficiency, representatives,
reliability and flexibility.

Sample element and sample unit

45 people have been interviewed to know their opinion about insurance and finance Extent Delhi
(sample unit)

Time frame: 8weeks

Sampling technique: Average method technique.

 CHAPTER-4
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
DATA ANALYSIS

1. Have you been associated with HONDA Motors?

Table showing about no. of associated with Honda Motors:

No. of Respondents Percentage

1. From 1 year 10 10%

2. From 1 – 3 years 40 40%

3. From 3 – 5 years 0 0%

4. From 5 – 7 years 30 30%

5. Above 7 years 20 20%

Chart showing about no. of associated with Honda Motors:

Interpretation:

10% No. of respondents from 1 year associated with Honda Motors,40% no. of respondents from

1-3 years,30% no. of respondents from 5-7 years, 20% no. of respondents from above 7 years.

2. How many Knowledgeable Salesperson Honda Motors have?

Table showing no. of knowledgeable salesperson:

No. of Respondents

1. Strongly Disagree 0

2. Disagree 0

3. Neither Disagree Nor Agree 0

4. Agree 86

5. Strongly Agree 14

Chart showing no. of knowledgeable salesperson:

Interpretation:

86% people agreed that the sales persons are knowledgeable and 14% strongly disagreed that the

Sales persons are knowledgeable.

3. Employees spent enough time with you before sales?

Table showing Employees spent enough time with you before sales:

No. of Respondents

1. Strongly Disagree 0%

2. Disagree 0%

3. Neither Disagree Nor Agree 0%

4. Agree 64 %

5. Strongly Agree 36%

Chart showing Employees spent enough time with you before sales:
Interpretation

64% people agreed that the sales persons spent enough time with them before the sales and 36%

strongly agreed with this.

4. Employees spent enough time with you during sales?

Table showing Employees spent enough time with you during sales:

No. of Respondents

1. Strongly Disagree 0%

2. Disagree 4%

3. Neither Disagree Nor Agree 0%

4. Agree 62 %

5. Strongly Agree 34 %

Chart showing Employees spent enough time with you during sales:
Interpretation

62% agreed that sales persons spent enough time with them during the sales, while 34% strongly

agreed that the sales persons spent enough time with them during sales and only 4% disagreed

with this.

5: Employees spent enough time with you after sales?

Table showing Employees spent enough time with you after sales:

No. of Respondents

1. Strongly Disagree 0%

2. Disagree 22 %

3. Neither Disagree Nor Agree 0%

4. Agree 54 %

5. Strongly Agree 26 %

Chart showing Employees spent enough time with you after sales:
Interpretation

60% agreed that the sales persons spent enough time with them after sales, 26% strongly agreed

with this and 14% disagreed that the sales persons spent enough time with them after sales.

6. How likely would you recommend HONDA?

Recommend

No. of Respondents

1. Very Unlikely 0%

2. Unlikely 0%

3. Neither Unlikely nor likely 0%

4. Likely 10%

5. Very Likely 90%

Interpretation

90% people said they would very likely recommend HONDA to other people and 10% said they

would likely recommend HONDA to others.

7. Do you like the promotions and ad campaigns of HONDA Motors?

No. of Respondents

1. Very Unlikely 0%

2. Likely 70%

3. Very Likely 30%

Interpretation
Promotional Strategies and Ad Campaigns used by Honda are basically to represent whole Brand

not the particular product. In India current effective campaign is POWER OF DREAMS.

Featuring HONDA CIVIC and CITY on a long Freeway …

8. Which brand do you own?

S.NO PRODUCT RESPONDENTS %

1 HERO 60 60
2 HONDA 20 20
3 SUZUKI 15 15
4 TVS 05 05
Interpretation:
From above it can be stated that the general satisfaction level of for Honda in twin cities of
Hyderabad and Secunderabad is 60%.

9. Sources of awareness: The customer was enquired about the sources of awareness with
regard the Honda. This will help to know us to which sources is playing a major role in
creating awareness among the customers?

1 TV 35 35
2 NEWS PAPAR 25 25
3 FRIENDS 12 12
4 DEALERS 28 28
Interpretation: Out of the responses obtained from 100 customers 28% said that they became
aware of the Friends. And through the friends 35% of the customers are aware from the T.V .And
another 25%are aware of by the NEWS PAPERS. And only 12% are aware by the DEALERS

10. Level of satisfaction on design

The customer was enquired about the level of satisfaction with regard to the Honda?

1 EXCELLENT 30 30
2 GOOD 20 20
3 AVERAGE 40 40
4 POOR 10 10

Interpretation: Out of the responses obtained from 100 customers 30% said that they are
excellent satisfied and 20% were good and 40% were average and 10% were vehicle is poor.
This data is obtained by most of members were satisfied by hero product
11. What are the valuable attributes you normally look while purchasing a Two-wheeler?

S.NO ATTRIBUTES RESPONDENTS %

1 QUALITY 56 56
SERVICE
2 LESS PRICE 20 20
3 BRAND IMAGE 24 24
4 TOTAL 100 100
Interpretation: From the above it can be stated that general normally any one while purchasing
a four wheeler most of the members are seeing 50% of members are seeing PERFORMENS and
30% of members are seeing DESIGN And 10% of members are seeing PRICE and 10% of
members are Others

12. Suggesting to friends: The following table is regarding the customer likeliness in
suggesting this showroom to other friends. This is an indicator of customer satisfaction also.

Let’s see the responses.

S.NO SUGGEST RESPONDENTS %

1 YES 90 90
2 NO 10 10

Interpretation: A look at the chart shows that 90% of the members are suggesting and 10% of
the members are not suggesting.
13. What is your opinion about mileage?

S.NO OPINION RESPONDENTS %

1 EXCELLENT 50 50
2 GOOD 30 30
3 AVERAGE 15 15
4 POOR 5 5

Interpretation: Out of the 100 respondents 50% of them told “EXCELLENT” and 30% of them
told “GOOD” and 15% of them told “AVERAGE” and 5% of them told “POOR”.
14. Since how many months have you been using Honda Bike?

TIME NO. OF RESPONDENTS %

0-6 MONTHS 23 23%
6-12 MONTHS 37 37%
1-2 YEARS 36 36%
MORE THAN 2 YEARS 04 04%
TOTAL 100 100%

Interpretation: From the above table it is seen that 37% of the respondents have been using
Honda products for past one year. While 36% have been using it for more than 1 year, and a
significant 23% of respondents have been using the service for less than six months.Only 4% of
the respondents have been using Honda products for more than 2 –years.
CHAPTER-5
FINDINGS OF
STUDY
FINDINGS:

1. Honda takes a slicing different approach to know on marketing compared to their

competitors
2. They have more it back and let the product speak for itself approach
3. They have very aggressive marketing
4. Honda vehicles are one of the most expensive in their market but yet the top sellers
5. Honda vehicles are used as public utility vehicles
6. People do not want to drive the same car that all the city cabs are made out of.
7. Honda vehicles are the theory of safety and make owners feel safe while driving.
 CHAPTER-6
CONCLUSION AND
SUGGESTIONS
CONCLUSION

On an average more than 73% people feel that the prices are affordable whereas 12% Do not agree,
74% believe that attractive discounts are offered whereas 26% are not Satisfied with the discounts
offered. 20% said that the test drives are not offered and 15% said that post sales follow ups are not
done regularly whereas 85% said that they were done regularly but people feel that it is the
people’s car as it is satisfactory on all other parameters: knowledgeable sales persons , employees
spent enough time before and during sales, display of merchandise is attractive, availability of
product, variety of merchandize, vehicle in good condition, prices are affordable, attractive
discounts are offered, décor of the waiting area is pleasing, responds to complaints quickly, service
at
TATA Motors service station is excellent, careful with personal information and is value for
money. The overall opinion about TATA Motors is very good. 86% people agreed that the sales
persons are knowledgeable and 14% strongly disagreed that the sales persons are knowledgeable.
64% people agreed that the sales persons spent enough time with them before the sales and 36%
strongly agreed with this. 62% agreed that sales persons spent enough time with them during the
sales, while 34% strongly agreed that the sales persons spent enough time with them during sales
and only 4% disagreed with this. 60% agreed that the sales persons spent enough time with them
after sales, 26% strongly agreed with this and 14% disagreed that the sales persons spent enough
time with them after sales. 94% agreed that the display of merchandize was attractive and 6%
strongly agreed that the display of merchandize was attractive. 91% agreed that the availability
of the product was there, 5% strongly agreed that the availability was there while only 4% said
they disagreed with this. 87% agreed that there was variety/selection of merchandize whereas 7%
strongly agreed that enough variety was there and 6% disagreed with this. 82% agreed that the
vehicle was in good condition when delivered, 16% strongly agreed with this whereas only 2%
disagreed with this. 64% strongly agreed that the prices are affordable, 21% agreed that the
prices are affordable whereas only 15% said that they neither disagreed nor agreed with this.
55% agreed that the discounts offered are attractive, 34% strongly agreed with this while 11%
disagreed and said that the discounts offered were not attractive. 80% agreed that the décor of the
waiting area was pleasing while 20% strongly agreed that the décor of the waiting area was
pleasing 74% agreed that the test drive was offered to
them, 6% strongly agreed that the test drive was offered while 20% disagreed with this. 59%
agreed that the post sales follow ups are done regularly, 26% strongly agreed and
15%disagreedwith this. 4% agreed that the response to complaints is quick, 18% strongly agreed,
12% neither agreed nor disagreed and 6% disagreed with this.

1. 82% said that the service at HONDA service station is excellent, 14% strongly agreed
2. While only 4% disagreed with this. 85% agreed that yes they were careful with personal
3. Information, strongly agreed with this and 8% neither agreed nor disagreed. 94%
4. Strongly agreed that all the ommitments were fulfilled and 6% agreed with this. 98% said
5. yes that they are aware about the Insurance Schemes of HONDA while only 2% said
6. That they were not aware.
SUGGESTIONS

Honda is committed to further advancing power train technologies in order to offer new products
and technologies that satisfy growing demand from customers around the world for high fuel
efficiency and to achieve more environmentally-friendly mobility that more people can enjoy.
Honda will continue to dedicate company resources to the creation of new technologies. Honda
will also continue making capital investments proactively to strengthen the flexibility and
efficiency of its global production network.

Setting customer satisfaction as our number one priority, Honda strives to provide the joy of
mobility to even more customers through the introduction of new technologies and new products.
In this is achieved, our sales should reach approximately 16 million units for motorcycles,
approximately 4 million units for automobiles, and approximately 6.5 million units for power
Products by the end of the 9th Mid-term. In terms of sales revenue, this will exceed 10 trillion
yen.
Through all of these efforts, Honda’s goal is to be a company that society wants to exist, to
pursue the joy of mobility, and to extend this joy to more customers and to future generations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. dreams.honda.com

2. world.honda.com

3. www.wikipedia.com

4. www.hondacarsindia.com

5. www.scribd.com
QUESTIONNARE

1. How long have you been associated with HONDA?

 1 year

 1-3 years

 3-5 years

 5-7 years

2. How would you rate HONDA Motors on the following parameter?

 Strongly disagree

 Disagree

 Neither agree Nor disagree

 Agree

 Strongly agree

3. Employees spent enough time with you before sales?

 Before sales

 During sales
4. Employees spent enough time with you during sales?

 Strongly disagree

 Disagree

 Neither agree Nor disagree

 Agree

 Strongly agree

5. Employees spent enough time with you after sales?

 Strongly disagree

 Disagree

 Neither agree Nor disagree

 Agree

 Strongly agree

6. How likely would you recommend HONDA Motors?

 Very Unlikely

 Unlikely

 Neither unlikely nor likely

 Likely

 Very Likely

7. Do you like the promotions and ad campaigns of HONDA Motors?

 Very Unlikely

 Likely
  Very Likely

8. Which brand do you own?

 HERO

 HONDA

 TVS

 SUZUKI

9. Sources of awareness?

 TV

 NEWSPAPAR

 FRIEND

 DEALERS

10. Level of satisfaction on design?

 GOOD

 POOR

11. What are the valuable attributes you normally look while purchasing a Two-wheeler?

 ATTRIBUTES

 QUALITY SERVICE

 LESS PRICE

 BRAND IMAGE

12. Suggesting to friends?

 YRS

 NO
13. What is your opinion about mileage?

 OPINION

 EXCELLENT

 GOOD

 AVERAGE

 POOR

14. Since how many months have you been using Honda Bike?

 0-6 MONTHS

 6-12 MONTHS

 1-2 YEARS

 MORE THAN 2YEARS

15. What is the reason for choosing this Bike?

 LESS PRICE

 QUALITY SERVICE

 BRAND IMAGE

16. why do you prefer for this service?

 CONVENIENCE

 ECONOMICAL

 SECURITY
 FEATURES