Benchmarking
AIM:
Benchmark with presently available cars in the market for the following case.
CASE:
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, five-year-old boy, his father, and his mother. He visits his native place Madurai which is 500kms away from Bangalore once in 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 with options so that he will buy a good car for his family.
Note: Pughazhyendhii is fond of big cars
BENCHMARKING:
Benchmarking is the process of evaluating a product against a single reference or multiple references. But it is not just a performance evaluation but also an in-depth study where the end product is torn down and analyzed component by component. This method is called reverse engineering.
Requirements considered for benchmarking:
- Family car
- Comfortable for long drive
- Mileage
- Maintenance cost should be average
- Descent look
- Budget should be less than 10lakh
Firstly we have to decide about buying a petrol or diesel vehicle. So we can look into their Pros and Cons.
Advantages:
- Petrol cars come cheaper in comparison to diesel version, primarily the reason being that petrol fuel types are manufactured at a lower cost
- Diesel engine cars deliver better fuel efficiency and command a better price in the resale market
- Petrol cars are responsive, powerful and peppier in comparison to diesel version
- Diesel engines are capable of producing more torque than the petrol variant. This means that fewer gear changes are required while driving
- Petrol engines are relatively silent in comparison to a diesel variant
- Diesel engines have been reported to emit less C02 emissions, thus availing tax benefits in comparison to a petrol model
Disadvantages:
- Servicing of a diesel variant is relatively expensive as compared to a petrol version. Spares for the diesel version come at a higher price tag
- Petrol engines deliver lower fuel efficiency figures in comparison to the diesel variants. Cost of petrol is also higher which in turn adds up to the overall running cost
- Diesel engines are considered to be slightly underpowered and sloppier than a petrol version
- Petrol version does not command a good resale value in the used car market
- Diesel engines often run into compliance issues with environmental norms
For Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii I would suggest to buy SUV under sub 4m category. It will be very comfortable for family with 5 members and going for a long trip. But to buy a SUV segment vehicle he has to compromise on mileage because diesel vehicles with his budget is not available.
If mileage is a concern then go for Honda Amaze which is a diesel vehicle and give you a good spacious cabin. Or else go for hatchback diesel cars.
Below I have given the vehicle details that I think it’s suitable for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii.
VERDICT:
If you can afford petrol vehicle in a long run just go with Hyundai Venue S variant, which is cheaper than Nexon then also you get a refined performance, good service and lower service cost than Nexon. It has a feature pack cabin. The cons and pros are mentioned above with the details.
If you are looking for diesel car and a big car I think you can buy Honda Amaze S variant which is an all-rounder car. It lacks in feature but it’s worth money. If you can stretch your budget more than 10lakh you can look into ford Aspire Titanium variant which has better features and fun riding. But it’s behind on exterior looks. As its ford the service cost will be lower in side. Which you can side by side with the initial investment.
When coming to hatch back the above mentioned cars stand out in their own way. If you want an all-rounder go for TATA Atroz XM variant the details are given above. If you are looking for performance and you can compromise on feature side go for Figo Titanium. If you need features and a not bad performance drive vehicle then go for Grand i10 Nios sportz variant.