Benchmarking
Aim:
To Benchmark with presently available cars in the market for the following 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
To compare at least 4 vehicles.
Benchmarking:
Benchmarking 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 sin e 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
Requirement for Mr.D.S. Pugazhendhi:
Since, he needs a car for 10 lakhs, I ask to go for Compact sedans.
What is Compact Sedan?
* Compact sedans are installed with petrol engines of 1.2L or lesser capacity, while diesel engines are capped at 1.5L or less.
* The rule for compact sedan states that it should measure less than 4 meters in length. That’s the reason some can appear different in shape when viewing its side elevation. At times, they merely look like a hatchback fitted with a large boot.
* Full-size sedans are more cost-effective than mid-sized sedans. 4-metre sedans (Dzire, Amaze) start at INR 5 lakh or 5.5 lakh. Meanwhile, top-end compact sedans can be purchased under INR 10 lakh.
Cars under these segments:
* MS Dzire
* Honda Amaze
* Hyundai Aura
* Tata Tigor
All of these cars cost around 6-10 lakhs, so these are affordable for Mr.D.S. Pugazhyendhii
MS Dzire:
* Spacious cabin: Despite being a sub-4m there’s enough space for 4 people to travel comfortably. There’s enough headroom on all the seats
* Comfortable rear seating: The rear seating of the Dzire is very comfortable. There’s a lot of legroom and your knees don’t brush the front seats.
* Great mileage: Suzuki produces mass-market cars that have great mileage. The Dzire offers more than 15kmpl
* Easy maintenance: Suzuki vehicles are widely sold and spares are easily available at even roadside garages. This reduces the Dzire’s cost of maintenance.
Cons:
* Vibration: The Dzire has a light body. While it’s nice on city roads, the car suffers from engine vibration during highway cruising. A stronger built would have been better.
* Crammed for five: Though the Suzuki Dzire is a sedan, it can’t accommodate 3 people on the rear seat. It will be cramped for space. Rear seat occupants won’t be able to move their legs.
* Lacks features: The Dzire lacks features that many of its rivals have. It’s a basic entry-level sedan and is short on technology.
* AMT not much responsive: While the manual gearbox is seamless, the AMT isn’t much responsive. Both power and torque delivery are delayed.
ii) Honda Amaze:
- An all-rounded compact sedan with well-priced petrol variants.
- Spacious & practical interiors
- Diesel + CVT combination is unbeatable! Indisputably the segment best & smoothest
- Suspension offers comfortable ride quality with neutral on-road behaviour
- Features such as cruise control, paddle shifts (petrol AT), LED projector headlamps etc.
- 3-year unlimited km warranty, extendable to 5-years / unlimited km and Honda's unique 10-year Any Time warranty.
- Could be suitable for Driving enthusiasts, to experience the Vtec thrill.
Cons:
- Petrol CVT is fair within the city, but rather mediocre on the highway
- Look closely and you'll find a few faults in part quality, fit and finish.
- Tall rear passengers will find headroom to be insufficient & the fixed headrests useless
- The 175 mm tyres are too thin, while the 35-liter fuel tank is too small
iii) Hyundai Aura:
Warranty: 3 yr/1,00,000 km
Dimensions: 3,995 mm L x 1,680 mm W x 1,520 mm H
Mileage: 20 km/l
Engine: 1.0 L 3-cylinder, 1.2 L 3-cylinder diesel, 1.2 L 4-cylinder petrol
Transmission: 5 speed Manual
Power: 98.63 bhp @ 6000 rpm, 73.97 bhp @ 4000 rpm, 82 bhp @ 6000 rpm
Pros:
* Stylish look with good interiors and exterior feature Automatic version will give you more comfort.
* All the required basic features with this model like auto fold ORVM, Steering mounted control, electrically adjustable ORVM with music system and speakers. No noise while running.
* Service Networks
Cons:
* Low mileage as shown in the catalog Only 11-12km per ltr in the city and 14-15 km on the highway as compared to quoted mileage of 20.5 kmpl
* Less pickup on AMT mode, lacks especially while moving upwards on a flyover.
* Not so much reliable comparing to its rivals.
* Average Build Quality
iv) Tata Tigor:
Warranty: 3 years or 3,00,000 Kilometers
Dimensions: 3993 mm L x 1677 mm W x 1532 mm H
Mileage: 20.3 kmpl
Engine: 1.2 l 3 Cylinder Engine.
Transmission: 5 speed Manual
Power: 84.5bhp @ 6000 rpm
Pros:
1. Strong Body
2. Good View on Road
3. Good Mileage(In optimum driving upto 24 km with AC in highways)
4. Pretty Good Ground Clearance.
5. Comfort for old people to get in the seats.
Cons:
1. Engine pull is less(Please wait till they release turbo engine for bs 6).
2. Back Seat AC not available.
3. Little uncomfort in driving seating position.(Need to adjust seat and floor with mats for comfort "anterior ankle" on pedals)
4. Brake, clutch little rough when compared to other sedans.
5. Gear box needs improvement.
Verdict:
From the above cars, I will suggest to go for Honda Amaze, because it has ulnlimited Warranty, more reliability and safety comparing to its rivals and also performs very well and it is more practical one. So, Amaze will be used for long drives and also commuting.