Apollo Tyres

“Comparative study

Of

Apollo Tyres with other brands in the market”SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Submitted By: Under the Supervision of:

GAURAV KUMAR GARG Dr. SANGEETA GUPTA

1

MBA III SEMESTER READER, DIAS

ROLL NO – 0871233907

DELHI INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES

(Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University)

(2007-09)

CONTENTS

Certificate of the Company i

Certificate of Originality ii

Preface iii

Acknowledgement iv

Declaration v

Executive summary vi

Chapter 1: Tyre industry- An introduction 2 Market Share of Tyre Industry 5

Chapter 2: Company Profile 7 Vision of Apollo Tyres 9

2

Core Values 9 Apollo and Indian Automakers 10 Growth of Apollo Tyres 11 Manufacturing Facilities 12 Types of Tyres 13 Components of Tyres 14 Product profile 16 Tyres for Trucks and Buses 22 SWOT 25

Chapter 3: Research Methodology 28 Objective of the Research 31 Limitations during Research 32

Chapter 4: Data Analysis & Interpretations 34

Chapter 5: Findings 49 Recommendations 50 Limitations 51 Conclusions 52

BIBLIOGRAPHY 54

ANNEXURE 55 Questionnaire

3

4

CHAPTER1

5

TYRE INDUSTRY –AN INTRODUCTION

Transportation forms an integral part of the infrastructure in any economy.

Adequate transport infrastructure spurs economic activities. In developing

countries like India, transportation is the backbone of the economic development

and prosperity. Since the geographical coverage in India is vast and versatile, road

transport is a very important mode of transportation, second only to railways. The

latter of course joins major cities and towns across the country, but road transport

is equally important as it links up almost all the nooks and corners of the land.

This also connects major ports and city to remotest areas .the tyre industry fulfils

the needs of the road transport sector and plays a very important role in the

automobile industry.

6

INDUSTRY PROFILE

(a) History

The covering for the outer rim of a wheel constitutes a tyre. Most tyres are made

of rubber, reinforced with a kind of fabric and are pneumatic. While we all are

familiar with the invention of the wheel used in its earliest forms in Egypt and

Mesopotamia, the pneumatic tyre came much later.

(b) The Beginning

While the invention of the wheel changed the way we travelled, earlier

automobiles were not very comfortable to ride in. Hard seats and rigid metal

wheels made the journey extremely arduous and literally a pain. Without the

invention of the pneumatic rubber tyres, we would still be rattling around on

wooden or rigid steel wheels.

7

The invention of useful is often attributed to Charles Goodyear. Natural or India

rubber, as it was then known, had few uses. In 1830, Goodyear began

experimenting with raw rubber and brought a truckload and attempted to turn it

into solid. Later, he obtained a product with the consistency of gum. Goodyear

invited some of his friends over to show them the ball of gummy rubber that he

had managed to harden by mixing the rubber with sulphur and treating it with an

acid gas.

The ball accidentally landed on a hot stove, he discovered it has hardened to the

consistency he had been trying to achieve. The process of vulcanization has thus

been born.

In the summers of 1887, John Boyd Dunlop, a physician by profession and a

veterinarian, attempted to make air filled tyres for his son’s bicycle’s to reduce the

drag and improve the ride. He mounted a rubberized fabric on a metal rim, holding

it in position by means of stitching and bolting it. The contraction was then

inflated. Thus came into existence the pneumatic tyres. He patented the pneumatic

bicycle tyre in 1889 to Harvey Du cross jr. who started the Dunlop tyre company.

The tyre then consisted of a rubber tube covered with canvas and attached to the

rim of the wheel by a rubber solution.

(c) Development

In India the tyre industry was born in 1926 with the establishment of the tyre

company – Dunlop Rubber Company. As the automobile sector began to take

8

roots in the country, the tyre industry saw the tyre industry saw the entry of many

players and concurrently grew until the late 70’s. With waves of liberalization

sweeping the land in 1992, the industry saw the entry of many global players as

joint ventures.

Developments in the tyre industry have to be viewed from the perspective of its

strong linkages with performance of the agricultural and industrial sectors, overall

exports, transportation and multiple of other factors. As a result, the tyre industry

operates in an environment which is dynamic and driven by the performance of

other sectors. Performance of the sector is linked to that of automobile and surface

transport sectors.

MARKET SHARE OF TYRE COMPANIES

9

10

CHAPTER2

11

12

COMPANY PROFILE

Organisational Profile

Named after the Greek sun god, Apollo was set up in 1972 in kerala by legendary

Industrialist Mr. Raunak singh. It was that era when hard nosed MNC’s and major

Indian Tyre companies were dominating the Industry. Apollo Tyres Ltd. history

dates back to the early seventies. The company’s license was obtained in 1972 by

Mr. Mathew T Marattukalam, Jacob Thomas and his associates. In 1975 the

company was taken over by Dr. Raunak singh and his associates. The tyre project

was implemented in 1976 in perembra, kerla. The commercial production began in

1977 with an installed capacity of 420,000 each of tyres and tubes.

Despite incurring heavy losses in the initial years, mainly due to the fact that all

tyre majors in those days and high production capacities as compared to the

market demand: Apollo came back as strong player backed by strong production

and marketing strategies.

It was the combined effort of goal oriented people and a clear and adventurous

vision of the top management and its state of the art technology, Apollo, today, is

a name to reckon with, not just in nylon but also in the radial tyre segment. Apollo

tyres have been expanding their capacity of production through building up new

plants and acquiring existing tyre company.

13

With a view to position itself in the premium tyre segment, Apollo decided to

price its brands reasonably higher than its competitors. The rationale behind this

was targeting a customer segment for whom price was almost a non-issue. The key

criterion was product benefit. Premium branding led to development of a niche

that comprised of those who looked for the best tyre and not necessarily the best

bargain.

This not only made the company less vulnerable to recessionary trends in the years

to come, but also in recent times. While the industry has been crying wolf, Apollo

has comfortably weathered the storm of recession. The customer loyalty of Apollo

tyres has become legendary.

Believing firmly in the philosophy of always looking for new answers, Apollo has

all along envisioned action that would challenge the conventional wisdom of the

tyre industry. Call it holistic thinking or innovative marketing strategies. As a

corporation, Apollo has always thrived on a huge challenge, so as to turn them

around to its advantage.

14

VISION OF APOLLO TYRES

A significant player in the global tyre industry and a brand of choice, providing

customer delight and continuously enhancing stakeholder value

CORE VALUES

Care for Customer

Respect for Associates

Excellence through Teamwork

15

Always Learning

Trust Mutually

Ethical Practices

16

APOLLO AND INDIAN AUTOMAKERS

OEM Partners

Apollo had a long standing relationship with various partners in the industry. In

association with partners, Apollo Tyres is in full gear to become “The Tyre”

company of the next generation.

Following are the list of the particular companies:

Type of Tyres/ vehicles Name of the Companies

Heavy & Light Commercial Vehicles Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland,

Eicher, Tatra Udyog, Force

Motors, Swaraj Mazda,

Mahindra, Asia Motors,

Kamaz-Vectra

Farm –tractors Mahindra, TAFE, NewHolland

Tractors, Punjab Tractors,

International Tractors

17

Passenger Vehicles Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors,

Mahindra, General Motors,

Hyundai Motors, Skoda Auto,

International Cars & Motors

GROWTH OF APOLLO TYRES

18

19

MANUFACTURING FACILITIES

INDIA –FIVE PLANTS

Location Product[s] & Facilities

1 Limda [Baroda], Gujarat Radials & bias, R&D

2 Perambra, Kerala Bias

3 Kalamassery [Cochin], Kerala Bias

4 Kundli, Haryana Retreading

5 Chennai, Tamil Nadu Radials

Limda plant largest tyre plant in India

Dedicated source for tubes in Pune

Harmonious industrial relations

94% capacity utilisation

SOUTH AFRICA -TWO PLANTS

Location Product[s] & Facilities

1 Durban Bias & Radial

2 Ladysmith Radial car

ZIMBABWE -TWO PLANTS•

Location Product[s] & Facilities20

1 Bulawayo Radials & bias

2 Harare Retreading

TYPES OF TYRE

Tyre is a circular cushion of rubber that fits around the rim of a wheel of a vehicle.

It cushions the vehicle from the shocks caused by the movement over hard

surfaces. The most common tyre is pneumatic rubber tyre.

Tyres are basically of two types:-

(a) Bias tyres or Cross Ply

(b) Radial tyres

In cross ply or bias tyres, nylon or rayon tyre cords are arranged diagonally across.

In radials tyres, polyesters, nylon, fibreglass or steel cords are arranged

perpendicular to the circumference.

Radial technology is an improvement over cross ply and radial tyres are priced at

25-30% premium. They are having long lasting and having lower incidence of

flats.

21

COMPONENTS OF TYRE:-

BEAD: - The part of the tyre shaped to fit the rim and hold the tyre to

it.

TREAD: - The part of the tyre which covers in contact with the road and is

made of special rubber compounds.

SIDE WALL: - The part of the tyre between the tread and bead.

SIDE WALL RUBBER: - The rubber layer on the side wall of the tyre

and over the carcass.

CARCASS: - The rubber bonded cord structure of a tyre integral with the

bead and containing the inflation pressure.

22

CORD: - The textile and non-textile thread used in various tyres carcass,

plies, and breaks, etc.

PLY: - A layer of rubber coated fabric cords.

BREAKER: - Intermediate rubberized fabric layers between the carcass

and the tread.

carcas

sidewall

Tread

Bead

Rim size

Ply

Sidewall rubber

23

PRODUCT PROFILE

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

TYRES FOR TRUCKS AND BUSES

Sizes & Pattern Application1. 10.00 – 20 18 PR

Loadstar SuperFor Load Lug

2. 10.00 – 20 18 PR8.25 – 20 14 PR

For Load Lug

3. 10.00 – 20 16 PR XT-7 GOLD

For Load and mileage( high, med, load)

4. 10.00 – 20 16 PR XT-7 For Load and mileage( high, med, load)

5. 9.00-20 16 PR XT-7 For Load and mileage( high, med, load)

6. 10.00 – 20 16 PR Commando

For Load and mileage( Low, med load)

7. 12.00 – 20 18 PR Haulug For Load and mileage( Low, med load)

11.00 – 20 16 PR Haulug For Load and mileage( Low, med load)

10.00 – 20 16 PR Haulug For Load and mileage( Low, med load)

8. 10.00 – 20 16 PR AT LUG

9.00- 20 16 PR AT LUG

For mileageFor mileage

9. 10.00 – 20 16 PR Champion

For mileage

10. 10.00 – 20 16 PR Amar Dlx

9.00- 20 16 PR Amar Dlx

High mileage(Optimum retread bulb)

High mileage(Optimum retread bulb

11. 10.00 – 20 16 PR Amar High mileage(Optimum retread bulb

34

12. 9.00 – 20 16 PR 3R Optimum mileage

(High- retreadibility ) RIB13. 9.00 – 20 16 PR 16 Super

RibOptimum mileage

(High- retreadibility ) RIB14. 10.00 – 20 16 PR AT-Rib Optimum mileage

(High- retreadibility ) RIB

15. 12.00 – 20 18 PR Cargo-miller

11.00- 20 16 PR Cargo-miller

8.25 – 20 14 PR Cargo-miller

Optimum mileage(High- retreadibility ) RIB



16. 10.00 – 20 16 PR ST-59.00- 20 16 PR ST-5

Semi lug & miningSemi lug & mining

17. 9.00- 20 16 PR AT Rock master

Semi lug & mining

Light commercial

vehicle:-18. 7.50 – 16 16 PR Milestar

8.25 - 16 14 PR MilestarLCVLCV

19. 7.50 – 16 16 PR Loadstar Super

LCV

20. 7.50 – 16 16 PR XT-9 LCV21. 7.50 – 16 16 PR

ChampionLCV

22. 7.50 – 16 16 PR Amar LCV23. 7.50 – 16 16 PR Amar

Dlx8.25 – 16 16 PR Amar

Dlx

LCV

35

Jeep Tyres

24. 6.00 – 16 Mahatrooper Jeep25. 6.00 – 16 Trooper

6.40 - 15 TrooperJeepJeep

26. 6.00 – 16 Gripper JeepFarm Tyres

27. 12.4 – 28 Farmking (Radial)

Tractor Rear

28. 9.5 -24 Krishak Super- Rear

12.4 – 28 Krishak Super- Rear




Tractor RearTractor RearTractor RearTractor RearTractor Rear

29. 12.4- 28 Powerhaul13.6 - 28 Powerhaul16.9 - 28 Powerhaul

Tractor RearTractor RearTractor Rear

30. 12.4- 28 Krishak Premium

Tractor Rear

31. 6.00 -16 Krishak Super front

6.50 – 20 Krishak Super front

7.50 -16 Krishak Super front

Tractor RearTractor RearTractor Rear

32. 9.00 -16 Dhruv Tractor Rear33. 6.00 - 19 Bhim

7.00 - 19 Bhim8.00 - 19 Bhim

Animal Driven VehicleAnimal Driven VehicleAnimal Driven Vehicle

Car Tyres

36

34. Amazer XL 4 Rib Car Radial35. Amazer XL 5 Rib Car Radial36. Storm Car Radial37. 7.00 R 15 Duramile Car Radial38. Amazer Steel Car Radial39. Amazer Car Radial40. 4.50 – 12 Armour

5.90 – 15 Armour5.20 – 14 Armour5.60 – 13 Armour5.65 – 12 Armour

Car BiasCar BiasCar BiasCar BiasCar Bias

41. 4.50 – 12 PantherF 78 – 15 Panther

Car BiasCar Bias

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

Largest network

Strong brand recall in a price sensitive market

Product innovation & technical superiority

Global quality standard

Dynamic & progressive leadership

37

Willing to implement change

Aggressive Marketing

Excellent services

Huge customer database

Better relations with customer

Weakness

Not having two- wheeler tyres

Low profit margin due to raw material push and inability to pass on

higher cost at customer

Opportunity

Truck bus radial tyres

Intelligence penetration in new markets

38

Highly potential market

Two- wheeler tyres

Threats

Others competitors (China, MRF)

Import from neighbouring countries at competitive price volatility

Continues increase in the price let to shifting of customers on other

comparatively cheaper brands of competitors.

Withdrawing of unconditional warranties in different product SKU’s

like PCR & farm tyres.

39

CHAPTER 3

40

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

It is a systematic designed way, of collection analysis and interpretation of

marketing data to achieve the objective of research. The steps used in the research

methodology are as follows:

STEPS :

Defining the research objective.

Developing the research design.

Developing the research plan.

Collection of information.

Presenting the findings.

Defining the research objective: “A research object is that for which the research

is carried out it tells the purpose of research. The objective of the research was to

determine the market size of Apollo tyres in the market.

Developing the research design: Research design the arrangement of condition

for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to

the research purpose with economy in procedure.” In fact, research design is the

conceptual structure within which research is conducted, it constitute the blue print

of the collection, measurement and analysis of data.

41

Keeping in mind the objective of research i.e. “To conduct comparative study of

Apollo Tyres with other brands in the market”.

Developing the research plan: It includes the three steps they are as follows:

Research approaches.

Research instruments.

Sample design.

Research approaches : Observation and survey were the basic approaches

used wherein the truck customers were systematically surveyed. The

research approaches was systematically planned.

Research instruments : The study on customer behaviour was conducted with

the help of questionnaire. The questionnaire was drafted keeping in mind the

customer. The questionnaire contained mix of open and closed dichotomous and

multiple choice questions. The questions were in the form of simple positive

statement. So, a structured questionnaire was used as a research instrument. The

questionnaire was personally filled up through face to face interview with the

truck drivers and owners. The questionnaire so designed was first presented on the

pilot survey of 15 truck drivers the object of which was to find out the strength and

weakness of the questionnaire. After the pilot survey necessary amendments were

made in the questionnaire for administering the final research.

42

Sample design Some time while carrying out the survey it is not possible to

interview and study every individual, which comes under the scope of survey, it

often happens when the size of the universe it quite large. So a relatively small

group of individuals from the universe is selected for the study. The sample was

chosen using non-probability sampling method. Deliberate or judgmental

sampling was employed for the research.

Sample scope: Delhi

Sample Size: 100

Collection of information: The field work was organised and carried out all the

necessary precaution were taken to exclude various errors related to data

collection.

The information for the survey was collected by using both the primary data and

secondary data.

Primary data The primary data was collected afresh through survey and the

interview from the various customers situated at Delhi. A structured questionnaire

was used for this purpose.

Secondary data The secondary data is one which is already available and insure

the avoidance of too much vague questions and has already been proceed by

various researchers. So, the secondary data sources employed for the research

purpose include company journals, business magazines, web site.

43

Analysing the information The analysis has been made as beneficial as

possible. All data collected from the questionnaire of 100 customers were analysed

very carefully to show the exact figure on various types of diagrams. Percentage of

each aspect of the questionnaire is calculated very accurately to show the real

picture of the survey through diagrams in findings.

Presenting the finding The interpretation of the analysis was made on the basis

of the research findings and were presented in a systematic manner. For

interpretation, special graphical tools like bar charts, pie charts were employed.

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

MAIN OBJECTVE

To discover the market share of different brands available in the market and the

market leader.

SUB OBJECTVE

To analyse the market share of different brands available in the market

To study the factors influencing purchase decision.

To find the factors which lead to brand switching

44

LIMITATION DURING RESEARCH

The research was limited to Delhi & NCR only.

Customer’s non-responsive behaviour, while conducting observation

was a major limitation.

Conversation problem while asking question to rural customers was a

major problem.

The sample was selected on random basis, therefore can be affected by

researcher’s bias.

Limitation of Time In a short span of 8 weeks for the study the results

accuracy may not be up to the mark.

Limitation of Sample Size Since a limited number of customers were

selected from cities and industrial areas, but not the whole, so the result

was likely to be affected.

45

CHAPTER

4

46

INTERPRETATION

Q: 1- How many vehicle do you have?

PERSON HAVING TRUCKS

No. TRUCK LCV1-2 35 452-4 3 44-10 8 010-20 2 120 & above 2 0TOTAL 50 50

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1-2 2-4 4-10 10-20 20 & above

TRUCK

LCV

47

Q: 2 No. of tyres in your vehicle?

SAMPLE SIZE- 50 TRUCK CUSTOMERSPLACE- AUTOMARKET, TRUCK UNION

COMPANY TYRES %APOLLO 182 28.8888889MRF 86 13.6507937JK+VIKRANT 94 14.9206349CHINA 137 21.7460317BIRLA 16 2.53968254CEAT 112 17.7777778GOODYEAR 3 0.47619048TOTAL 630 100

48

TYRES

0% APOLLO28%

MRF 14%JK+VIKRANT

15%

CHINA22%

BIRLA3%

CEAT18%

GOODYEAR0%

APOLLO

MRF

JK+VIKRANT

CHINA

BIRLA

CEAT

GOODYEAR

SURVEY IN L.C.V. STANDSAMPLE SIZE-50 L.C.V. CUSTOMERS

COMPANY TYRES %APOLLO 310 75.79MRF 76 18.58CEAT 19 4.65JK 4 0.98TOTAL 409 100

49

TYRES

APOLLO

MRFCEAT JK

APOLLO

MRF

CEAT

J K

FITMENT SURVEY SIZE-100PLACE- TRUCK UNION, DELHI

COMPANYRIB TYRE (no's)

% SHARE

APOLLO 64 32MRF 20 10JK TYRES 60 30CEAT 18 9

50

BIRLA 32 16CHINA 4 2MICHELIN 2 1TOTAL 200 100

RIB TYRES

APOLLO32%

MRF10%JK TYRES

30%

CEAT9%

BIRLA16%

CHINA2%MICHELIN

1%

APOLLO MRF JK TYRES CEAT BIRLA CHINA MICHELIN

COMPANYLUG TYRE (no's)

% SHARE

APOLLO 132 25.4

51

MRF 110 21.2JK TYRES 90 17.3CEAT 38 7.3BIRLA 28 5.4CHINA 110 21.2MICHELIN 12 2.3TOTAL 520 100

LUG TYRES

APOLLO26%

MRF22%JK TYRES

17%

CEAT7%

BIRLA5%

CHINA21%

MICHELIN2%

APOLLO MRF JK TYRES CEAT BIRLA CHINA MICHELIN

52

Q: 3 What is monthly avg. running?Ans.

AVG. RUNNING OF TRUCK PER MONTH

K.M. TRUCK LCV0-10000 26 4210000-20000 24 820000-30000 0 030000-40000 0 0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

0-10000 10000-20000 20000-30000 30000-40000

TRUCK

LCV

Q: 4 Avg. monthly running of truck tyre?Ans.

AVG. RUNNING OF TRUCK TYRE

K.M. TRUCK LCV

53

40000 3 650000 20 1060000 12 870000 & above 15 26TOTAL 50 50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

40000 50000 60000 70000 & above TOTAL

TRUCK

LCV

Q: 5 How frequently you purchase tyre of which company?

Ans. Mostly customers replied that they change tyres according to requirement and season (like they purchase less in monsoon). Some times tyre runs more then expectation and some times vice-versa.

54

Q: 6 How many tyre company’s you are aware?

Ans.

Include both truck and LCV

AWARENESS OF CUSTOMERS

COMPANY COSTUMER AWAREApollo 100MRF 100JK 78Ceat 70Birla 82Other* 85

* other include china & local tyres

55

COSTUMER AWARE

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Apollo MRF JK Ceat Birla other*

COSTUMER AWARE

Q: 7 How many brands you know of which company?

Ans. Many customers of light commercial vehicle drivers and owners told about size despite of name.

SURVEY SIZE – 50 TRUCK, 50 LCV

COMPANY AWARENESS TRUCK LCV

56

APOLLO 28 37MRF 22 23J.K. 18 4BIRLA 8 0CEAT 16 2OTHER* 15 0

AWARENESS TRUCK

APOLLO, 28

MRF, 22J.K., 18

BIRLA, 8

CEAT, 16

OTHER*, 15 APOLLO

MRF

J.K.

BIRLA

CEAT

OTHER*

57

AWARENESS LCV

APOLLO56%

MRF35%

J.K.6%

BIRLA0%

CEAT3%

OTHER*0%

APOLLO

MRF

J.K.

BIRLA

CEAT

OTHER*

Q: 8 Which tyre do you prefer to buy first?

Ans. Some of the customers give preference to more than one company (like in LCV). And some customers do not give any preference. But they are less.

Sample size-50 in truck, 50 in LCV

PREFERENCE OF THE CUSTOMER

COMPANY TRUCK LCV

APOLLO 18 40

MRF 7 12

CEAT 2 3JK 9 1BIRLA 3 0OTHER 11 0

58

18

7

2

9

3

11

40

12

31 0 00

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

APOLLO MRF CEAT JK BIRLA OTHER

TRUCK

LCV

Q: 9 Brand loyalty if any, reason.

Ans.

LOYAL TO THE BRAND

TRUCK LCV

LOYAL 19 26

NOT LOYAL 31 24

TOTAL 50 50

59

TRUCK

TRUCK

TRUCK

LCVLCV

LCV

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

LOYAL NOT LOYAL TOTAL

TRUCK

LCV

No. of Loyal customers

Company Truck LCV

Apollo 12 18

MRF 2 8

Ceat 1 0

China Radial 4 0

60

Apollo, 12

MRF, 2Ceat, 1

China, 4

Apollo, 18

MRF, 8

Ceat, 0 China, 00

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Apollo MRF Ceat China

Truck

LCV

Q: 10 Why do you think Apollo tyre is best from others?

Ans. (for those customers who are using Apollo tyres)

ATTRIBUTE IMPORTANCE(No. of customers) %

PRICE 70 35QUALITY 104 52AVAILABILITY 8 4AFTER SALE SERVICE

18

9TOTAL 200 100

61

Q: 11 your suggestion to the company?

Ans. Suggestions are given in the column of “recommendations.”

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CHAPTER 5

63

FINDINGS

In L.C.V. segment Apollo tyres is having advantage over its competitors.

In the L.C.V. segment the brand loyalty is on the top.

In the truck category Apollo is getting cut throat competition from its

competitors especially from china radial tyres. But it is still having

maximum market share.

Apollo is having maximum SKU’s for each segment.

The company having 360 degree (Dura tread, OTPL, exchange offer)

approach towards customers.

Best service is being provided by Apollo in comparison of other brands.

Major companies of tyres available in the market are:

o MRF

o J.K.

o BIRLA

o GOODYEAR

o MICHEN

o YOKOHAMA

o BRIDGESTONE

o OTHER*

*Other includes china tyres & retreaded tyres

64

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations can be divided into four P’s of the market mix and they are:

PRODUCT The company should launch TBR tyres for overload. The company should launch two- wheeler tyres.

PRICE Price of the product must be competitive; currently our product is at very

higher side (prices) in comparison with our competitors, and company should use some promotional measure to bridge this gap.

Low cost tyres in truck category should also be launched to beat China radials.

PROMOTION The company should introduce various customers appealing schemes time

to time. For advertisement and promotion company can follow competitors strategy

like painting on the same wall on which competitors has advertised his

65

brand, co. needs to enhance focus on wall paintings and glow sign boards to the dealer located at highways and crowded areas.

Company should also follow competitor’s strategy to promote tyres, like Birla is offering unconditional warranty up to 50% tread wear in mining tyres.

PLACE: A customer must get all the solution under one roof so selling is not the

only aspect rather proper fitment, alignment services should also be provided to the customer through the defined channel.

Online purchase facility should also be given to big and reputed fleets of the region.

LIMITATIONS

The research was limited to Delhi & NCR only.

Customer’s non-responsive behaviour, while conducting observation

was a major limitation.

Conversation problem while asking question to rural customers was a

major problem.

The sample was selected on random basis, therefore can be affected by

researcher’s bias.

66

Limitation of Time In a short span of 8 weeks for the study the results

accuracy may not be up to the mark.

Limitation of Sample Size Since a limited number of customers were

selected from cities and industrial areas, but not the whole, so the result

was likely to be affected.

CONCLUSION

In the light of the topic “Comparative study of Apollo Tyres with other brands in

the market”. it was found that there are many other well known tyre companies

available in the market, like:

Apollo

MRF

JK

Birla

67

Ceat

Bridgestone

Goodyear

Michelin

From the fitment survey of 100 customers it was found that the fitment of Apollo

tyres is maximum in term of LCV’s. The entire LCV customers were quite

familiar with all the brands of Apollo tyres in LCV range which shows strong

interest and loyalty towards the brand.

Customer strongly demands for Apollo tyres due to performance and after sales

services. As per the customer voice Apollo is the only company who focuses a lot

on customer activities like campaigns, AIDS awareness programs, painting

competition for LCV owner’s children.

There are customers who know that Apollo tyres are the performing tyres but still

taking other competitors brand and China radials due to low cost, because the

freight in the industry is still at lower side.

Apollo follows FIT TO APPLICATION concept, which shows that the company

is having different range of tyres as per different usage., like different product for

underload and different product for overload while this thing is not common with

other companies, most of the companies have the common brands to promote.

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Apollo is the only company, which is having large number of SKU’s in all

segments like Truck, LCV, PV, and Farm Tyres.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Marketing management: by Philip Kotlar

Marketing mix

69

Research methodology: by C.R.Kothari

Research methods

Research design

Data collection techniques

Questionnaire

MAGAZINES

Company news letters: for the month June-July08

Autocar : issue May-August08

Overdrive : issue August08

Business world : July-August08

WEB SITE

www.apollotyres.com

About us

Company profile

Product type

Other players

www.google.com

Other players in tyre industry

Market scenario.

ANNEXURE70

http://www.google.com/

http://www.apollotyres.com/

QUESTIONNAIRE

CUSTOMER

NAME:

PHONE:

TOWN:

ROUTE:

LOAD:

Q:1 How many vehicle do you have?

Ans. 1-2 2-4

4-10 10-20

Q:2 No. of tyres in your vehicle?

Ans. Apollo

MRF

Ceat

Birla

JK

other

Q:3 What is monthly avg. running? (in K.M.)

Ans. 10-20 20-30

30-40 40-50

Q:4 Avg monthly running of truck tyre? (in K.M.)

Ans. 30000 40000

50000 60000 & above

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Q:5 How frequently you purchasing tyres, of which company?

Ans. No. of tyres Months company

1 Apollo

2 MRF

3 Ceat

4 JK

6 Birla

6+ other

Q:6 How many tyre company's you are aware?

Ans. Apollo

MRF

JK

Ceat

Birla

other

Q:7 How many brands do you know of the company?

Ans Apollo

MRF

JK

Ceat

Birla

other

Q:8 Which tyre do you prefer to buy first?

Ans. Apollo

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MRF

JK

Ceat

Birla

other

Q:9 Brand loyalty if any, Reason?

Ans. Yes No

Co's Name…………….

Q:10 Why do you think Apollo tyre is best from others?

Ans. performance After sale service

Price

Co's scheme

Q:11 Your suggestion to the company?

Ans.

* other includes china & other local tyres

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Documents

Apollo Tyres