Benchmarking

AIM: To Prepare a report on benchmarking and benchmark 4 vehicles to find a suitable vehicle for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii.

BENCHMARKING:

Benchmarking in the automobile industry involves a structured comparison between similar products, services or processes on some dimensions of performance. For example, it can be used to compare the availability and delivery of features in a product and in this form often provides the basis of consumer tests and reviews. These look at products and services and provide recommendations based on which is best or some form of ranking amongst competitors.

It is particularly useful when comparing not only performance but also practice – in other words what do the different organizations do to enable that performance to be delivered? And applied in this way it is a powerful tool in process innovation since studying how the ‘best’ achieve their performance can provide powerful clues for changing the way processes operate. Process benchmarking of this kind can operate at several levels:

• Between similar processes in the same factory or service branch
• Between different factories or service branches
• Between different competing organizations
• Between different sectors using the same process

Whilst it offers a significant learning opportunity benchmarking between competing organizations is harder than the other three because competitors do not want to disclose their process information since it is a source of competitive advantage to them. So, benchmarking of this kind often involves a third party who can collect the data, make the comparison and provide feedback but all on a confidential basis

Benchmarking process are of two types:

Benchmarking 1 – It is comparison of two or more products as a whole rather than dealing with specific parts. This involves the basic features and specifications of the car.

Benchmarking 2 – It involves a much more detailed comparison. Specific components are compared and studied in detail. For e.g., a door panel engineer will study door panels of different cars and will see which one is better. Then as per the study, changes are made to achieve good results and be at par with the best ones available in the market.

CASE STUDY:

Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii is a married man who lives in Bangalore which is a highly crowded city. His Family comprises five members including his wife, a five-year-old boy, his father, and his mother. He visits his native place Madurai which is 500kms away from Bangalore once a month. Also, he will be using his car to commute to his office. His budget falls between 8 to 10 lakhs on road. Please suggest to him options so that he will buy a good car for his family.

Note: Pughazhyendhii is fond of big cars

Requirements:

• 5 or more seats for his family members.
• Budget: Rs. 8-10 Lakhs/-, on road price
• Good Mileage
• Good car for easy commuting within city and long drive as well.
• He is also fond of big cars.

From my perspective, what Mr. Dr. Pughazhyendhii needs is a big car with 5 or more seats with good safety star rating (4 or above), good mileage, adequate fuel tank capacity and a big boot for occasional travel to Madurai with family. The car should have a high turn radius and preferred automatic transmission for easy drive in crowded city of Bangalore. Budget around 8-10 Lakhs on road price. Due to his social standing the car should have an equivalent status look and feel.

From the given case study considering a family of five members, their daily use of car and budget. I have selected four vehicles which from my side will be a good choice for Mr. Dr. Pughazhyendhii.

(Note: Bangalore prices are high so most automatic variants became overbudget)

Vehicle List:

• Hyundai Venue
• Tata Punch
• Renault Kiger
• Tata Nexon

MAKE	HYUNDAI VENUE	TATA PUNCH	RENAULT KIGER	TATA NEXON
VARIANT	E 1.2 Petrol	Accomplished AMT	RXT AMT	XE
SEAT	5	5	5	5
SAFETY RATING	4 Star (Global NCAP)	5 Star (Global NCAP)	4 Star (Global NCAP)	5 Star (Global NCAP)
FUEL TYPE	Petrol	Petrol	Petrol	Petrol
TRANSMISSION	Manual - 5 Gears	Automatic - 5 Gears, Manual Override	Automatic - 5 Gears	Manual - 6 Gears, Sport Mode
FUEL TANK CAPACITY	45 L	37 L	40 L	44 L
MILEAGE (ARAI)	17.5 kmpl	18.8kmpl	19kmpl	17.5kmpl
BOOT CAPACITY	350 L	366 L	405 L	350 L
TURN RADIUS	5.1m	5 m	5.02m	5.1 m
PRICE ON ROAD in Bangalore	₹ 9.18 Lakh	₹ 9.84 Lakh	₹ 9.70 Lakh	₹ 9.28 Lakh
Engine	1197 cc, 4 Cylinders Inline, 4 Valves/Cylinder, DOHC	1199 cc, 3 Cylinders Inline, 4 Valves/Cylinder, SOHC	999 cc, 3 Cylinders Inline, 4 Valves/Cylinder, DOHC	1199 cc, 3 Cylinders Inline, 2 Valves/Cylinder, SOHC
Engine Type	1.2 Kappa	1.2 Revotron	1.0L Energy	1.2L Turbocharged Revotron
Max Power	82 bhp @ 6000 rpm	84 bhp @ 6000 rpm	71 bhp @ 6250 rpm	118 bhp @ 5500 rpm
Max Torque	113.8 Nm @ 4000 rpm	113 Nm @ 3300 rpm	96 Nm @ 3500 rpm	170 Nm @ 1750 rpm
Airbags	2	2	4	2

OBSERVATION:

From the above spec sheet, we can see that Tata Punch and Renault Kiger is close to beating Tata Nexon as both of them are Automatic transmission(AMT) and have more mileage. Renault Kiger has 4 airbags. Both Punch and Kiger are relatively new in the market. Kiger has only 4 star rating among many other things and Punch is a smaller car, has lower fuel tank capacity, lower bhp and highest price in this list. Tata Nexon stands apart from them while Hyundai Venue gets eliminated by just 4 stars safety rating and less features.

My recommendation for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii is to go for Tata Nexon XE as it is the best allrounder with 118 bhp BS6 turbocharged 1.2 L engine with 170 Nm. It has adequate boot capacity and excellent fuel capacity with decent mileage. It also has 5 star rating Global NCAP and has lower price compared to most others in this list. So its price to performance/benefit ratio is quite high. Moreover the main reason is that Tata Nexon is highly favoured and by an indian market standpoint it is a nobrainer.

Since he needs a good family car, safety should be given the utmost priority Tata Nexon XE being the safest among all already gains an advantage over others. Having a good turning radius of 5.1m makes it ideal for crowded cities like Bangalore and with a great mileage of 17.5 km/l, it is an ideal choice for daily commuting as well. A big boot space of 350 litres will carry the luggage of his whole family when going to Madurai. Not only the car looks big and muscular (which Mr D.S. Pughazhyendhii is fond of), its turbocharged 1.2L of engine packed with 118bhp and 170 Nm of torque can take it to any place without any difficulty. Mr D.S. Pughazhyendhii should look no further and go with Tata Nexon XE.

Tata Nexon XE Features:

Driving Range: 773 Km

Wheelbase: 2498 mm

Ground Clearance: 209 mm

Brake: Front Disc, Rear Drum

Wheels: Steel rims

Braking and Traction: ABS, EBD, BA, ESP, TCS, Hill Hold and Descent Control

Seat Adjustability:6 way manually adjustable (seat forward / back, backrest tilt forward / back, headrest up / down)

Pros:

• Upmarket looks, Five-star G-NCAP safety
• Spacious cabin compared to rivals
• Easy to drive and manage
• Offers good mileage making it perfect for daily commuting and the long run.

Cons:

• Interior quality
• Motor's low-end grunt
• Infotainment screen not as good as rivals
• Fuel Economy is not the best in segment and could be a little better.

CONCLUSION:

I would suggest Tata Nexon XE for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii because of the Five star G-NCAP Safety and it has more power (BHP), BS6 Complaint and spacious cabin compared to rivals.

Over all it has good performance.