Benchmarking

The word "Benchmarking" is a buzzword in manufacturing industry. Benchmarking is a continuous process of measuring products, services and practices against their competitors or those companies which recognized as industry leader in their respective markets. It involves a structured comparison between similar products, processes or services based on its performance.

Benchmarking can be used to compare the availability and delivery of features in a particular product and it often provides on the basis of consumer tests and reviews.

Customer’s requirements:

1. Budget: 8 -10 lakh (on-road, Bangalore)
2. Total occupants: 5 (Adults:2, Child:1, Senior citizens:2)
3. Routine – Office (City drive)
4. Long trip - 1000km (Monthly)
5. Personal interest: Fond of big cars

Based on customer requirements,

• Considering his usage, which mostly comes under 2000km/month including long trip, the viable option is a car with better fuel efficiency, comfort, good wheelbase and spacious boot for luggage storage.
• Also, his major drive is in city, its better go for an automatic transmission than manual .
• As he is interested in big cars,hatchbacks are neglected.
• With the current market availability and budget constraints, his choices go for either sub 4m Sedan or SUV models.
• But considering 2 of the occupants are senior citizens, it would be better if he choice would be a sedan model as it provides better travel comfort, less maintenance, better mileage and ease of getting in and out from the car especially for senior citizens.
• Also with respect to current Government norms,Diesel variants are neglected because of the uncertainity of its availability in the near future market.

Considering the customer requirements, a detailed benchmarking is done and is shown below:

Note:

• Pricing is done as per current month analysis.It may varies due to the offers availability in each period of time.
• Dimensions and wheelbase of all the four cars are almost similar.

Analysis:

• As safety is a primary factor when comes to travelling,Maruti Suzuki Dzire* and Hyundai Aura* are out from the list as its only provide 2 star rating in Global NCAP testing.On the other hand,Tata Tigor and Honda Amaze have 4 star rating in GNCAP.

*It seems specific Global NCAP tests for Dzire and Aura are not yet done with reference to internet sources.

• Considering service cost and fuel cost,Tata Tigor got an upper hand over Honda Amaze.Also,Honda Amaze is costliest among the four.

Conclusion:

Tata Tigor is the best choice for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii,as its cheaper and safer which inturn provides better value for money in the segment.