Benchmarking

BENCHMARKING

In automobile industry, benchmarking involves the comparison between similar products, services, processes and other fields. This benchmarking helps in comparing the availability and delivery of features in a product. This helps in getting the basis of consumer tests and reviews. With the help of the result attained while benchmarking we can arrive at a conclusion in selecting the product by giving particular ranks.

Automotive benchmarking program considers 10 main attributes. They are as follows:

• Driveability
• Performance
• Sound
• Pollutant emissions
• Thermal, energy management
• Ride comfort
• Advanced driver assistance systems
• Real life fuel consumption
• Friction
• Vehicle dynamics, handling

BENCHMARKING WITH PRESENTLY AVAILABLE CARS IN THE MARKET

We can suggest these following cars to Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii.

1. MARUTI DZIRE VXI AT
2. MARUTI ERTIGA LXI
3. HONDA AMAZE E DIESEL
4. TATA ALTROZ XZ PLUS TURBO

CARS	MARUTI DZIRE VXI AT	MARUTI ERTIGA LXI	HONDA AMAZE E DIESEL	TATA ALTROZ XZ PLUS TURBO
On Road Price	Rs.8,31,309	Rs.8,61,061	Rs.8,73,759	Rs.9,91,675
Fuel Type	Petrol	Petrol	Diesel	Petrol
Mileage	24.12 kmpl	19.01 kmpl	24.7 kmpl	19.05 kmpl
Type	Sedan	MUV	Sedan	Hatchback
No. Of Seats	5	7	5	5
No. of Stars given by Users	4	4.6	4.3	4.7

MARUTI DZIRE VXI AT

Maruti Dzire is a Sedan which is available in a price range of Rs. 5.94 - Rs.8.90 Lakh (ex showroom). It is a 5 seater car. It is available in 7 colour variants. It is having a BS6 engine of 1197 cc. It has 2 transmission options: Manual & Automatic. Other specifications of the Dzire include a kerb weight of 880-915Kg, ground clearance of 163 mm and boot space of 378 Liters.

Pros

• It has a Refined petrol engine
• It have a high claimed efficiency
• It have good comfortable riding quality
• It is fully loaded with features

Cons

• The interior quality of the car could have been better
• There is no diesel engine option

MARUTI ERTIGA LXI

Maruti Ertiga is a MUV available in a price range of Rs. 7.69 - 10.47 Lakh(ex-showroom). It is a 7 seater. It is available in 7 colour variants. It is having a BS6 engine of 1462 cc. It has 2 transmission options, Manual & Automatic. Other key specifications of the Ertiga include a kerb weight of 1235, ground clearance of 180 mm and a boot space of 209 Liters.

Pros

• It has good riding quality. It goes over road uncertainties with ease and It won't crash into potholes.
• It is very compact i.e, even if it is a big car it is only as wide as the Dzire, It is very easy to drive in city.
• It is Practical as it allows multiple seating and storage options i.e., having 60:40 split second row and 50:50 split third row.
• It is having a Petrol engine, It is one of the most affordable petrol-powered MUVs.It has a mileage of about 19.01km/l

Cons

• These are the features missing in Ertiga - Cruise control, No 4 or 6 airbag option either, auto-headlamps/auto-wipers, auto-up driver window, steering reach adjustment.
• It has no AC vents for third row, AC vents are only available till 2nd row.
• It is not a premium 7-seater. Overall quality is good but there are rivals like Mahindra marazzo which has higher prize.
• There is no diesel automatic.

HONDA AMAZE E DIESEL

Honda Amaze is a Sedan available in a price range of Rs. 6.22 - 9.99 Lakh. It is a 5 seater. It is available in 6 colour variants. It has 2 transmission options Manual & Automatic. Other key specifications of the Amaze include a kerb weight of 945kg. It ground clearance of 170mm and it also has a boot space of 420 Liters.

Pros

• It have a comfortable riding over all the surfaces. It has noiseless suspension even over broken roads.
• Overall interior space is improved along with increase in storage spaces, including bottle holders on all the doors.
• Diesel CVT is smooth, efficient and well suited for the ride in the city.
• It have large and well shaped in-segment compartments.
• Both front and rear seats are very comfortable. It can accomodate tall passengers with ease.
• The safety equipment fixed is having a long standard - ABS+EBD, dual airbags, ELR seatbelts, ISOFIX anchor points.

Cons

• Some of the features missing is listed here - automatic wipers, automatic headlamps, projector headlamps.
• It has fit and finish issues, cost cutting is obvious.
• The fixed headrests at rear is not at all comfortable.
• Diesel engine is noisy.

TATA ALTROZ XZ PLUS TURBO

Tata Altroz is a Hatchback available in a price range of Rs. 5.69 - 9.45 Lakh. It is a 5 seater. It is available in 5 colour variants. The 2 engine options that are available are BS6 compliant and a single Manual transmission. Other key specifications of the Altroz include a kerb weight of 1036. It has a ground clearance of 165mm and it also has a boot space of 345 Liters.

Pros

• The car have an enjoyable performance because of the turbo-petrol engine it offers.
• The car have a five-star safety rating.
• The leatherette upholstery fixed inside the car makes the cabin feel more premium.
• The quick and accurate voice command recognition makes the car more special.
• The car gives a best-in-class ride feeling and handling package.

Cons

• Some of the premium features missing are ventilated seats, wireless changer, and sunroof.
• TATA Altroz doesn't have an automatic transmission variant yet.
• There is a lot of cabin noise.

CONCLUSION

We can conclude by selecting Maruti Ertiga as a suggestion for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii. I personally selected this because he likes big cars, Maruti Ertiga is one of the big cars which falls in the price range of 8-10 lakhs. He also need the car for long drives and also for city rides. So this is the most suitable car for him as his family consists of five.