Challenge

Benchmarking

GGowthaman G30 May 2022

AUTOMOTIVE BENCHMARKING

Benchmarking is the process of comparison of similar products on some dimensions of performance Automotive Benchmarking is the process of analyzing the choices of similar products based on the selection factor and deducing it to conclusion.

CASE

S.J. UDHAYANAGESHWARAN 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: Udhayanageshwaran is found of big cars.

REPORT

The above case of Mr. Udhayanageshwaran leads to following filters, They are

the number of commuters is five including a child and hence the vehicle should be spacious with enough leg room.
He uses his car for Daily office commute and a monthly trip to his native. This would give a total estimate of more than 2500km/month and 20000km/year.
The budget is from 8-10 Lakhs and he is also fond of big cars
Based on these underpinning factors the suggestion would be a choice of SUV Vehicle
Considering the long run of the vehicle the viable option would be Diesel variant which helps to save fuel costs and other upfront maintenance and also has better mileage.
In a crowded city like Bengaluru Automatic Gear transmission would be best suited but due to budget constraints and fuel efficiency Manual Transmission is preferred.

Based on these requirements a detailed benchmarking is done to compare the specifications, advantages and other considerable parameters,

Comparison Parameters of the Car Model,

PERFORMANCE

Mahindra XUV and Ford EcoSport are the front runners but TATA Nexon offers much stable performance both on the city traffic and highway with multi drive modes.
Tata Nexon has Linear Power Delivery system and has better Engine power and torque only faling behind Mahindra XUV.
The Reported ARAI Mileage shows Venue and Nexon are far better and Mahindra falls behind because of its power to weight ratio.

INTERIOR

TATA Nexon is the best among the group because of its spacious Cabin Interior with more Leg room for the rear passengers and suits best for the family drive by giving best seating for the fifth passenger.
The Glove Box and Rear HVAC Vent are the standout features of TATA NEXON and also has improved sunvision and Instrument Panel Clusters with added utiliy holders along the side doors.
Nexon's Infotainment touch screen has sub par performance compared to Ford Ecosport and Hyundai Venue.
Mahindra XUV has a better Plastic Interior trim quality and Dual tone variant of Hyundai Venue and material looks better whereas the Quality of XM variant Nexon is not superior compared to other models.
The Blue link connectivity App with smarphone from Hyundai Venue gives additional scoring for Venue among others.

EXTERIOR

TATA Nexon is a standout in this category and offers the maximum boot space of 350 litres falling just behind EcoSport but Nexon provide way better ground clearance of 209mm which will be well suited for the Indian Roads.
The Facelift, Headlight and Taillight are stylish in NEXON and gives a land rover discovery like front with beefy and bulky front end.
The Laggedout ABC Pillars of TATA NEXON offers better head room among the other models.

SAFETY and COMFORT

Almost all the models have same safety features of Dual Airbags, ABS with EBD, parking sensors, corner stability control but NEXON offers Dead pedal which comes very handy in the case of Udhayanageshwaran for his frequent long drive.
Apart from that Automatic Rain Sensing Wipers, Tyre pressure monitoring system are available in TATA NEXON 1.5XM within the price range.
TATA Nexon is the first Indian Model to receive 5star NCAP Rating for its safety and crash test. Mahindra XUV also has a 5-star rating.

VERDICT

TATA Nexon 1.5 XM is better model suited to Udhayanageshwaran based on the benchmarking report done above. It offers much better stability in performance and spacious compared to other model and falls under the budget of 10 lakhs with top spec model. Hyundai Venue also provides better features but lags Nexon on the Rear Passenger comfort along with XUV and Eco Sport.

Interior TATA Nexon