The

Honda

City

is

subcompact

car manufactured

by

the

Japanese

manufacturer Honda since 1981, and was exclusive in Japan at Honda Clio locations at its introduction. Originally made for the Japanese, European and Australasian markets, the City was retired without replacement in 1994. The nameplate was then revived for use on a series of compact four-door sedans particularly aimed at developing markets, mainly sold in Asia outside of Japan but lately also in Latin America and Australia.

The Honda City is produced in a number of locations around the world including India, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand.

In July 2009, the City was for the first time to be built and marketed (in large numbers) outside Asia, with production in Sumar, Brazil. The car was available for sale in the Brazilian market first, with exports to Mexico and other markets in Latin America beginning from September 2009.

Since March 2011, with the opening of a new factory, the Honda City also began to be manufactured in Argentina. It is the first car built by Honda in Argentina (and the first Japanese passenger car made in Argentina) and will be exported to the all countries of South America alongside with Citys built in the Brazilian Sumar plant.

In September 2011, Honda Automobile (Thailand) Ltd revealed the revamped Honda City, with new front grille design, new front and rear bumpers, new tail lamps design, new alloy wheels, eco driving indicator and dual front airbags to every model. The revised model was launched in India in December 2011 including five variants -

Corporate, E, S, V and V (Sunroof)- and increased ground clearance to 165mm (previously 160mm) and also length increased by 20mm.

The Volkswagen Vento is a sedan car manufactured by Volkswagen India since 2010. It is essentially a three-box Volkswagen Polo and has been developed especially for the Indian market.

Volkswagen Vento was the commercial name of the third generation Volkswagen Jetta (19921999) in Europe. Technically, the car has a 2552 mm wheelbase, as opposed to the Polo's 2456 mm. The extra wheelbase offers more rear legroom than the hatchback, something that is hugely appreciated by the Indian customers. VW offers a choice of two engine options; a 1.6 litre petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual or automatic gearbox and a 1.6 litre diesel engine mated only to a five-speed manual gearbox. The car is available in two trim levels: the Trendline and the highline, with the Petrol Highline also having the automatic option. A new special edition version "the breeze" is also available on the Trendline featuring added accessories and discounts.

The car is available in 6 colors, 2 non-metallic and 4 premium metallic shades. The high end Highline features Integrated USB Music System, Steering mounted controls, leather upholstery, fog lamps, front airbags, Intelligent display, 16" alloy spoke wheels and other standard features.

In March 2011, Volkswagen recorded an impressive sales figure of 3973 units, dethroning the Honda City for the first time since its launch. Overall the car has been a big success in the Indian market and has been particularly lauded for its build quality. In November 2011, the car was slightly upgraded following customer feedback and opinion. These upgrades included USB compatible music system and steering mounted controls.

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

To understand customer perception towards Honda City and Volkswagen Vento.

To study customer acceptance of the products mentioned above. To compare features offered by the companies.

SCOPE OF STUDY

The scope of the study is limited to the comparison of the products mentioned above. The customer preference can be observed

Methodology used for Data Collection

Source: The data has been collected through primary source with the help of questionnaire. Primary source is one from where the first-hand information is collected, where as the secondary source means collection of data from sources like newspaper, magazines, books etc. The data is collected through structured non disguised questionnaire. A structured non disguised questionnaire is one where the listing of questions is in a prearranged order and where the object of enquiry is revealed to the respondent. Sample Size: Out of all, the survey was conducted of 50 users. Sampling Technique: Sampling technique used in our survey is convenience sampling where we have collected data from the present customers of Honda City and Volkswagen Vento. This helped us to receive a feedback of the people about the services through questionnaire.

Methodology used for Data Analysis:

The methodology used for the analysis of the data is through questionnaires. A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case. The questionnaire was invented by Sir Francis Galton. Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. However, such standardized answers may frustrate users. Questionnaires are also sharply limited by the fact that respondents must be able to read the questions and respond to them. Thus, for some demographic groups conducting a survey by questionnaire may not be practical. As a type of survey, questionnaires also have many of the same problems relating to question construction and wording that exist in other types of opinion polls. Types of Questionnaires 1) Structured non disguised questionnaire 2) Structured disguised questionnaire 3) Non structured non disguised questionnaire 4) Non structured disguised questionnaire

Tools Used

For study tools used will be as follows: Microsoft Excel: Microsoft Excel is a commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications. It has been a very widely applied spreadsheet for these platforms, especially since version 5 in 1993, and it has almost completely replaced Lotus 1-2-3 as the industry standard for spreadsheets. Excel forms part of Microsoft Office. The current versions are 2010 for Microsoft Windows and 2011 for Mac OS X. Frequency Distribution: The methodology used for the analysis of the data at the initial stage was frequency distribution. Frequency Distribution refers to the representation, either in a graphical or tabular format, which displays the number of observations within a given interval. The intervals must be mutually exclusive and exhaustive. Frequency distributions are usually used within a statistical context. Mean: In statistics, mean has two related meanings: the arithmetic mean (and is distinguished from the geometric mean or harmonic mean). the expected value of a random variable, which is also called the population mean. There are other statistical measures that should not be confused with averages - including 'median' and 'mode'. Other simple statistical analyses use measures of spread, such as range, interquartile range, or standard deviation. For a real-valued random variable X, the mean is the expectation of X. Note that not every probability distribution has a defined mean (or variance); see the Cauchy distribution for an example. For a data set, the mean is the sum of the values divided by the number of values. The mean of a set of numbers x1, x2, ...,xn is typically denoted by , pronounced "x bar". This mean is a type of arithmetic mean

Standard deviation: Standard deviation is a widely used measure of variability or diversity used in statistics and probability theory. It shows how much variation or "dispersion" exists from the average (mean, or expected value). A low standard deviation indicates that the data points tend to be very close to the mean, whereas high standard deviation indicates that the data points are spread out over a large range of values. The standard deviation of a random variable, statistical population, data set, or probability distribution is the square root of its variance. It is algebraically simpler though practically less robust than the average absolute deviation.[1][2] A useful property of standard deviation is that, unlike variance, it is expressed in the same units as the data. In addition to expressing the variability of a population, standard deviation is commonly used to measure confidence in statistical conclusions. For example, the margin of error in polling data is determined by calculating the expected standard deviation in the results if the same poll were to be conducted multiple times. The reported margin of error is typically about twice the standard deviation the radius of a 95 percent confidence interval. In science, researchers commonly report the standard deviation of experimental data, and only effects that fall far outside the range of standard deviation are considered statistically significant normal random error or variation in the measurements is in this way distinguished from causal variation. Standard deviation is also important in finance, where the standard deviation on the rate of return on an investment is a measure of the volatility of the investment

Gender Yes No

Percentage 70 30

Response 48 12

Q1) Gender
80 70 60 Percentage 50 40 30 20 10 0 Male Gender Female 30 70

According to the survey conducted 70% of the sample consumers were males whereas the other 30% of the sample consumers were females.

Cars Yes No

Percentage 65 35 Table 1

Response 39 21

Q5) Do you own a car?

70 60 Percentage 50 40 30 20 10 0 Yes Response
Figure 1

65

35

No

According to the survey conducted 65% of the sample consumers owned a car whereas the other 35% of the sample consumers did not own a car.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Yes and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.480.

Cars Yes No

Percentage 80.95238095 19.04761905 Table 2

Response 17 4

If no, do you want to purchase a car?

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 80.95238095

Percentage

19.04761905

Yes Cars
Figure 2

No

According to the survey conducted 80.95% of the sample consumers wanted to own a car whereas the other 10.05% of the sample consumers did not wanted to own a car.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Yes and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.40.

Period <1 1-2 Years 2-3 Years

Percentage 31.66666667 15 23.33333333

Response 19 9 14

>3

30 Table 3

18

Q6) How long you own a car?

35 30 Percentage 25 20 15 10 5 0 <1 1-2 Years Period
Figure 3

31.66666667 23.33333333 15

30

2-3 Years

>3

According to the survey conducted 31% of the sample consumers owned a car for less than 1 year, 15% of the sample consumers owned a car for 1-2 years, 23% of the sample consumers owned a car for 2-3 years whereas the other 30% of the sample consumers owned a car for more than 3 years.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is >1 Year and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 1.24

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 70 30 Table 4

Response 42 18

Q7) Which Car comes to your mind thinking of performance?

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 70

Percentage

30

Honda City Cars

Figure 4

Volkswagen Vento

According to the survey conducted 70% of the sample consumers thought Honda City would perform better whereas 30% of the sample consumers thought Volkswagen Vento would perform better.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Honda City and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 1.3.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 63.33333333 36.66666667 Table 5

Response 38 22

Q8) Which Car do you prefer on the basis of its price?

70 60 Percentages 50 40 30 20 10 0 Honda City Cars Volkswagen Vento 36.66666667 63.33333333

Figure 5

According to the survey conducted 63% of the sample consumers preferred Honda City on the basis of price whereas 36% of the sample consumers preferred Volkswagen Vento on the basis of price.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Honda City and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.48.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 85 15 Table 6

Response 51 9

Q9) According to you, which car have low maintenance cost?

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 85

Percentage

15

Honda City Cars

Volkswagen Vento

Figure 6

According to the survey conducted 85% of the sample consumers preferred Honda City on the basis of maintenance whereas 15% of the sample consumers preferred Volkswagen Vento on the basis of maintenance.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Honda City and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.36.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 71.66666667 28.33333333 Table 7

Response 43 17

Q10) Which car do you think has better interior?

80 70 60 Percentage 50 40 30 20 10 0 Honda City Cars
Figure 7

71.66666667

28.33333333

Volkswagen Vento

According to the survey conducted 71% of the sample consumers said Honda City had better interiors whereas 29% of the sample consumers said Volkswagen Vento had better interiors.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Honda City and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.45.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 81.66666667 18.33333333 Table 8

Response 49 11

Q11) Which car do you think is more fuel efficient?

90 80 70 Percentage 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Honda City Cars 81.66666667

18.33333333

Volkswagen Vento

Figure 8

According to the survey conducted 81% of the sample consumers assumed Honda City to be fuel efficient whereas 19% of the sample consumers said Volkswagen Vento would deliver better mileage.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Honda City and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.39.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 38.33333333 61.66666667 Table 9

Response 23 37

Q12) Which car do you think has better body quality?

70 60 Percentage 50 40 30 20 10 0 Honda City Cars
Figure 9

61.66666667

38.33333333

Volkswagen Vento

According to the survey conducted 39% of the sample consumers assumed Honda City had better looks whereas 61% of the sample consumers thought Volkswagen Vento had better engine performance.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Volkswagen Vento and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.49.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 55 45 Table 10

Response 33 27

Q13) Which car do you think has better paint quality?

60 50 Percentage 40 30 20 10 0 Honda City Cars
Figure 10

55 45

Volkswagen Vento

According to the survey conducted 55% of the sample consumers assumed Honda City had better looks whereas 45% of the sample consumers thought Volkswagen Vento had better engine performance.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Honda City and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.50.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 76.66666667 23.33333333 Table 11

Response 46 14

90 80 70 Percentage 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Q14) Which car do you think has better engine performance?

76.66666667

23.33333333

Honda City Cars

Figure 11

Volkswagen Vento

According to the survey conducted 77% of the sample consumers assumed Honda City had better looks whereas 23% of the sample consumers thought Volkswagen Vento had better engine performance.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Honda City and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.42.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 48.33333333 51.66666667 Table 12

Response 29 31

52 51 Percentage 50 49 48 47 46

Q15) Which Car do you prefer on the basis of its looks? 51.66666667

48.33333333

Honda City Cars

Volkswagen Vento

Figure 12

According to the survey conducted 48% of the sample consumers assumed Honda City had better looks whereas 52% of the sample consumers thought Volkswagen Vento had appeared better.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Volkswagen Vento and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.50.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 45 55 Table 13

Response 27 33

Q16) Which car do you think has better features?

60 50 Percentage 40 30 20 10 0 Honda City Cars Volkswagen Vento 45 55

Figure 13

According to the survey conducted 45% of the sample consumers assumed Honda City had better features whereas 55% of the sample consumers thought Volkswagen Vento was more feature loaded.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Volkswagen Vento and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.501.

Recommendations Friends Parents Relatives

Percentage 28.33333333 21.66666667 18.33333333

Response 17 13 11

Advertiements

31.66666667 Table 14

19

Q17) On whose recommendation you purchase the car?

35 30 Percentages 25 20 15 10 5 0 Friends Parents Relatives Advertiements Recommendations 28.33333333 21.66666667 18.33333333 31.66666667

Figure 14

According to the survey conducted 28% of the sample consumers purchased cars on friends recommendation, 21% of the sample consumers purchased cars on recommendation of parents, 18% of the sample consumers purchased cars on recommendation of relatives while the rest 31% of the sample consumers purchased cars by the influence of advertisements.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is parents recommendations and standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 1.21.

Cars Honda City Volkswagen Vento

Percentage 75 25

Response 45 15

Table 15

80 70 60 Percentage 50 40 30 20 10 0

Q18) Lastly, thinking about you overall satisfactions, which car will you further recommend to others or would like to purchase?
75

25

Honda City
Figure 15

Cars

Volkswagen Vento

According to the survey conducted 75% of the sample consumers said they would like to recommend Honda City to others while 25% of the sample consumers thought Volkswagen Vento would be a better recommendation.

The mean answer received from the sample consumers is Honda City and the standard deviation noted amongst the answers is 0.43.

Results of the Study

After the overall analysis of the data with the help of the questionnaire, the result of the study is that most of the customers who responded prefer Honda City more than Volkswagen Vento.

It can be seen that Honda City has better interior and is more fuel efficient, whereas Volkswagen has good features and is preferred by some for its looks. Although some of the respondents considered Honda city has lower maintenance cost as compared to Volkswagen Vento. There were some respondents who believed that Volkswagen has better paint quality, but when it comes to better engine performance and overall preference Honda City tops the list.

Regarding the achievements of this study, it helped in knowing the respondents or the customers perception regarding the Performance of both the cars. The study helped me in analyzing that overall when it comes to buy a car Honda city will be preferred as many of the respondents would recommend it to other known people also.

Limitations

The limitations of the study could be the following points: Data Insufficiency: The data used for the analysis of the study was not much sufficient. The questionnaires were formed with not that much of knowledge about the company. Possibly many of the important issues or aspects might have not been listed or asked.

Time: Time plays a vital role. Limited time was provided to do the study. Thus, more research could not be done. In such a span of time, the available customers and their information is used.

Sample size: The sample size used for the study is very small. It cannot represent the whole list of customers.

Confidentiality issue: The customers were having confidentiality issue. They were reluctant in providing accurate information. They were not sure of the confidentiality maintained for the study.

Expertise Constraints: Though I diligently followed the research guidelines and gathered enough knowledge about the research methods and methodology but not having past experience in primary research in a way made me feel at a disadvantage.

Suggestions & Scope for further Study:

The suggestions regarding the study on Customer preferences with respect to Honda City and Volkswagen Polo

It would be better if the sample size being used is large in number as it would help in the accurate analysis.

Most of the respondents were not willing to answer the feedback form due to the different confidentiality issues, it would be helpful if those issues are solved by some or the other way. It would be better if respondents have more options to choose from, as then only the exact preference will be analyzed.

The study can further be extended with respect to COMPARITIVE ADVERTISEMENT and making claims about the product.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 http://www.hondacarindia.com/city/index.html at 12:32pm on 17th February, 2012 http://www.volkswagen.co.in/en.html at 11:50 am on 23rd February, 2012 Singh J.P., Probability and Numerical Methods, Second Edition, Ane Books Pvt.Ltd. 2011. Donald R Cooper & Pamela S Schindler, Business Research Methods, Eighth Edition, Tata McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003.