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A DISSERTATION REPORT ON

STUDY ON COUNTER POTENTIAL
BASED ON
TOTAL & ELF LUBRICANT COMPANY

SUBMITTED TO:
MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY, KOTTAYAM
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Business Administration
(2011-2013)
SUBMITTED BY: IMMANUEL JOBSON
REGISTER NO:—————————
BHARATA MATA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
BHARATA MATA COLLEGE THRIKKAKARA

BHARATA MATA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
BHARATA MATA COLLEGE
THRIKKAKARA P.O., COCHIN – 682 021, KERALA
Tel: 0484-2423626, 2425121 Fax: 0484-2427796.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Dissertation Project entitled “STUDY ON COUNTER POTENTIAL BASED ON TOTAL & ELF LUBRICANT COMPANY” carried out by Mr. IMMANUEL; in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) of Mahatma Gandhi University is a bonafide report of the work done by him under our supervision and guidance. This is also to certify that this report has not been submitted to any other Institute/University for the award of any Degree.
However, this certificate is not issued to endorse the views and opinions expressed in the report.

Academic Guide Dean

DECLARATION

I, IMMANUEL JOBSON hereby declare that the project work titled “STUDY ON COUNTER POTENTIAL BASED ON TOTAL & ELF LUBRICANT COMPANY” carried out at COCHIN is a bonafide record of the work done by me in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Business Administration of Mahatma Gandhi University.
I also declare that the submitted report has not been presented fully or partially for the award of any other degree, title or recognition.

PLACE: THRIKKAKARA IMMANUEL JOBSON
DATE:

ABSTRACT

Research and studies comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications. It is used to establish or confirm facts, reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing problems, support theorems, or develop new theories. A research project may also be an expansion on past work in the field. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of prior projects, or the project as a whole. The primary purposes of basic research (as opposed to applied research) are documentation, discovery, interpretation, or the research and development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge. Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and sciences. There are several forms of research: scientific, humanities, artistic, economic, social, business, marketing, practitioner research, etc.

Counter potential is the highest market share that a product can reasonably be expected to achieve within a given time frame. The counter potential for a new product is typically assessed by a business interested in producing it before production commences to determine whether production efforts are likely to be worthwhile.

This study attempts to analyze the Counter potential of Total & ELF lubricant. To measure the counter potential of Total & ELF lubricant some of the lubricant retailers and mechanics are considered for contacting and collecting data. Moreover, it reports the counter potential of Total & ELF. To have the statistic data for the study, one survey with 20 questions was implemented. As a result, 100 respondents answered the questionnaire. The last part of this study is to report the findings and analyze the results of survey.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all I would like to extend my gratitude to our Dean Dr. Mary Joseph .T and Prof. Sony Varghese for extending all help for doing the project.
I am extremely thankful to the management and staff of TOTAL & ELF, for permitting me to complete the project within their premises. I thank HR MANAGER TOTAL & ELF for providing the needed help for doing the project. I express my thanks to all officers and staff members for wholehearted co-operation and guidance.
I thank my family members and friends for their support and encouragement throughout the project.
Finally and most importantly I thank Almighty for his blessings without which this project wouldn’t have reached completion.

PLACE: THRIKKAKARA
IMMANUEL JOBSON
DATE:

TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter No. Description Page Number
1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction 10
1.2 Objective of the Study 11
1.3 Research Problem 11
1.4 Scope of Study 12
1.5 Theoretical Frame Work 12
1.6 Research Methodology 13
1.7 Literature Review 13
1.8 Limitation of the study 33
2 Profile
2.1 Industrial Profile 35
2.2 Company Profile 36
4 Data Analysis & Interpretation 40
4 Finding, Suggestion & Conclusions
4.1 Finding 71
4.2 Suggestion 73
4.3 Conclusion 74
5 Bibliography 76
6 Appendices – Questionnaire 78

LIST OF TABLES

Sl. No.

Description
Page Number
1 Details of some lubricant suppliers in Cochin City 41
2 Sales level of lubricant companies 51
3 Retailer selling perception of lubricant company 54
4 Quality level comparison of Total & ELF with other lubricant companies 57
5 Different channel of customer awareness about Total & ELF 65

LIST OF FIGURES

Sl. No.
Description
Page Number

1 Percentage of lubricant suppliers dealing Total & ELF 49
2 Type of automobile spare parts dealing by retailers 50
3 Customer distribution level in retail outlets 53
4 Quality aspect of customer regarding lubricant 56
5 Brand acceptance level of Total & ELF 59
6 Packaging size customer prefer 60
7 Packaging material preference of customers 61
8 Re-purchasing level of Total & ELF customers 62
9 Customer awareness level about Total & ELF 63
10 Customer’s level of interest to know about Total & ELF 67
11 Customer influencing factor for purchasing lubricant 68
12 Customer satisfaction level of Total & ELF 69

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Description Page Number
1 Questionnaire 78

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Counter potential also may define as sales potential. It means the maximum level of sales that might be available to all organizations serving a defined market in a specific time period. A counter is a place of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. Signaling completion of the prospective stage, it is the beginning of an engagement between customer and vendor or the extension of that engagement.

The “80/20 Rule” says that 80% of all products and services are sold by just 20 percent of the salespeople. Here in this case it is retailers, mechanics and vehicle owners. To measure counter potential these people have to be considered.

This study is mainly focusing to measure the counter potential of Total & ELF lubricant.

1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

– Measure the counter potential of Total & ELF lubricant in lubricant customers example: retailer, mechanic & vehicle owners
– Understand the factors influence the counter potential
– Analyze the importance of measuring counter potential
– Check the counter potential level which increase the market share

1.3 RESEARCH PROBLEM

Counter potential is the maximum level of sales that might be available to all organizations serving a defined market in a specific time period. This may vary depending on different factors. Finding the factors behind the variation of counter potential helps organization to improve their marketing strategies.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

– Study the counter potential of Total & ELF from the Total & ELF sales points.
– Understand the factors which influence the Total & ELF counter potential
– Study the importance of counter potential
– Measure the counter potential of Total & ELF which increase the market share.

1.5 THEORITICAL FRAME WORK
Counter potential is also considered as sales potential. This is a varying parameter of all the organization. This can be measured from the sales points of the particular product by a systematic study. For measuring the counter potential of Total & ELF here random sampling method is adopted. Using this method 100 customers or samples is considered for study using questionnaire and interview method.

1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Customer survey using a questionnaire is the main method for this study. A questionnaire containing 20 questions are distributed to 100 customers to collect the data. The customers here are the people, who are retailers of different lubricant.
Some general data are collected from previous research studies and reference books. Some Particular data about Total & ELF is collected from the web sites.

1.7 LITERATURE REVIEW

Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. Signaling completion of the prospective stage, it is the beginning of an engagement between customer and vendor or the extension of that engagement.
The seller or salesperson – the provider of the goods or services – completes a sale in response to an acquisition or to an appropriation or to a request. There follows the passing of title (property or ownership) in the item, and the application and due settlement of a price, the obligation for which arises due to the seller’s requirement to pass ownership. Ideally, a seller agrees upon a price at which he willingly parts with ownership of or any claim upon the item. The purchaser, though a party to the sale, does not execute the sale, only the seller does that. To be precise the sale completes prior to the payment and gives rise to the obligation of payment. If the seller completes the first two above stages (consent and passing ownership) of the sale prior to settlement of the price, the sale remains valid and gives rise to an obligation to pay
Sales Methods

A sale can take place through:
• Direct sales, involving person to person contact
• Pro forma sales
• Agency-based
o Sales agents (for example in real estate or in manufacturing)
o Sales outsourcing through direct branded representation
o Transaction sales
o Consultative sales
o Complex sales
o Consignment
o Telemarketing or telesales
o Retail or consumer
• Traveling salesman
o Door-to-door methods
o hawking
• Request for proposal – An invitation for suppliers, through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific product or service. An RFP usually represents part of a complex sales process, also known as “enterprise sales”.
• Business-to-business – Business-to-business (“B2B”) sales are much more relationship-based owing to the lack of emotional attachment to the products in question. Industrial/professional sales involves selling from one business to another
• Electronic
o Web – Business-to-business (“B2B”) and business-to-consumer (“B2C”)
o Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – A set of standard for structuring information to be electronically exchanged between and within businesses

• Indirect, human-mediated but with indirect contact
o Mail-order
o vending machine
• Sales Techniques:
o Selling technique
o Consultative selling
o Sales enablement
o Solution selling
o Conceptual selling
o Strategic selling
o Transactional selling
o Sales Negotiation
o Reverse Selling
o Up selling
o Cross-selling
o Paint-the-Tumba
o take away
o Sales Habits
o Relationship Selling
Sales agents
Agents in the sales process can represent either of two parties in the sales process; for example:
1. Sales broker, Seller agency, seller agent, seller representative: This is a traditional role where the salesman represents a person or company on the selling end of a deal.
2. Buyers broker or Buyer brokerage: This is where the salesman represents the consumer making the purchase. This is most often applied in large transactions.
3. Disclosed dual agent: This is where the salesman represents both parties in the sale and acts as a mediator for the transaction. The role of the salesman here is to oversee that both parties receive an honest and fair deal, and is responsible to both.
4. Transaction broker: This is where the salesperson represents neither party but handles the transaction only. The seller owes no responsibility to either party getting a fair or honest deal, just that all of the papers are handled properly.
5. Sales outsourcing involves direct branded representation where the sales representatives are recruited, hired, and managed by an external entity but hold quotas, represent themselves as the brand of the client, and report all activities (through their own sales management channels) back to the client. It is akin to a virtual extension of a sales force (see sales outsourcing).
6. Sales managers aim to implement various sales strategies and management techniques in order to facilitate improved profits and increased sales volume. They are also responsible for coordinating the sales and marketing department as well as oversight concerning the fair and honest execution of the sales process by their agents.
7. Salesperson: The primary function of professional sales is to generate and close leads, educate prospects, fill needs and satisfy wants of consumers appropriately, and therefore turn prospective customers into actual ones. Questioning – to understand a customer’s goal and requirements relevant to the product – and the creation of a valuable solution by communicating the necessary information that encourages a buyer to achieve their goal at an economic cost comprise the functions of the salesperson or of the sales engine (for example, the Internet, a vending machine, etc.). A good salesperson should never mis-sell or over-evaluate the customer’s requirements.

Inside sales vs. Outside sales

Since the advent of the telephone, a distinction has been made[3] between “inside sales” and “outside sales” although it is generally agreed that those terms have no hard-and-fast definition. In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act defines outside sales representatives as “employees [who] sell their employer’s products, services, or facilities to customers away from their employer’s place(s) of business, in general, either at the customer’s place of business or by selling door-to-door at the customer’s home” while defining those who work “from the employer’s location” as inside sales. Inside sales generally involves attempting to close business primarily over the phone via telemarketing, while outside sales (or “field” sales) will usually involve initial phone work to book sales calls at the potential buyer’s location to attempt to close the deal in person. Some companies have an inside sales department that works with outside representatives and book their appointments for them. Inside sales sometimes refers to up selling to existing customers. Now a day’s inside sales has become more and more popular in the telemarketing business, and so, there are several tools developed to serve this niche market. These tools help companies to manage their inside sales more efficiently. Software vendors for inside sales include Salesforce.com, InsideSales.com and Lead Desk.

The relationships between sales and marketing
Marketing and sales differ greatly, but have the same goal. Selling is the final stage in Marketing, which also includes Pricing, Promotion, Positioning and Product (the 4Ps). A marketing department in an organization has the goals of increasing the desirability and value to the customer and increasing the number and engagement of interactions between potential customers and the organization. Achieving this goal may involve the sales team using promotional techniques such as advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and public relations, creating new sales channels, or creating new products (new product development), among other things. It can also include bringing the potential customer to visit the organization’s website(s) for more information, or to contact the organization for more information, or to interact with the organization via social media such as Twitter, Face book and blogs.
The relatively new field of sales process has engineering views “sales” as the output of a larger system, not just as the output of one department. The larger system includes many functional areas within an organization. From this perspective, “sales” and “marketing” (among others, such as “customer service”) label for a number of processes whose inputs and outputs supply one another to varying degrees. In this context, improving an “output” (such as sales) involves studying and improving the broader sales process, as in any system, since the component functional areas interact and are interdependent.

Most large corporations structure their marketing departments in a similar fashion to sales departments and the managers of these teams must coordinate efforts in order to drive profits and business success. For example, an “inbound” focused campaign seeks to drive more customers “through the door”, giving the sales department a better chance of selling their product to the consumer. A good marketing program would address any potential downsides as well.
The sales department would aim to improve the interaction between the customer and the sales facility or mechanism (example, web site) and/or salesperson. Sales management would break down the selling process and then increase the effectiveness of the discrete processes as well as the interaction between processes. For example, in many out-bound sales environments, the typical process includes out-bound calling, the sales pitch, handling objections, opportunity identification, and the close. Each step of the process has sales-related issues, skills, and training needs, as well as marketing solutions to improve each discrete step, as well as the whole process.
One further common complication of marketing involves the inability to measure results for a great deal of marketing initiatives. In essence, many marketing and advertising executives often lose sight of the objective of sales/revenue/profit, as they focus on establishing a creative/innovative program, without concern for the top or bottom lines – a fundamental pitfall of marketing for marketing’s sake.
Many companies find it challenging to get marketing and sales on the same page. The two departments, although different in nature, handle very similar concepts and have to work together for sales to be successful. Building a good relationship between the two that encourages communication can be the key to success – even in a down economy

Marketing potentially negates the need for sales
Some sales authors and consultants contend that an expertly planned and executed marketing strategy may negate the need for outside sales entirely. They suggest that by effectively bringing more customers “through the door” and enticing them into contact, sales organizations can dramatically improve their results, efficiency, profitability, and allow salespeople to provide a drastically higher level of customer service and satisfaction. This is commonly referred to as a “Pull” marketing strategy. Marketing and advertising efforts are designed to pull potential customers into the sales channel. Alternatively, some companies invest spending on the sales force in pursuit of uncovering new sales leads. This is referred to as a push strategy; the sales force is motivated to uncover leads and push them into the sales channel. For example consumer packaged goods companies typically use a pull strategy relying on advertising and marketing efforts to translate into sales at the retail end point. Technical sales and sales of high out of pocket cost items typically rely on a push strategy as a more sophisticated sales technique is required to attract and educate customers about their products.
Industrial marketing
The idea that marketing can potentially eliminate the need for sales people depends entirely on context. For example, this may be possible in some B2C situations; however, for many B2B transactions (for example, those involving industrial organizations) this is mostly impossible. Another dimension is the value of the goods being sold. Fast-moving consumer-goods (FMCG) require no sales people at the point of sale to get them to jump off the supermarket shelf and into the customer’s trolley. However, the purchase of large mining equipment worth millions of dollars will require a sales person to manage the sales process – particularly in the face of competitors. Small and medium businesses selling such large ticket items to a geographically-disperse client base use Manufacturers’ representatives to provide these highly personal service while avoiding the large expense of a captive sales force.

Sales and marketing alignment and integration
Another area of discussion involves the need for alignment and integration between corporate sales and marketing functions. According to a report from the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, only 40 percent of companies have formal programs, systems or processes in place to align and integrate the two critical functions.
Traditionally, these two functions, as referenced above, have operated separately, left in siloed areas of tactical responsibility. Glen Petersen’s book The Profit Maximization Paradox sees the changes in the competitive landscape between the 1950s and the time of writing as so dramatic that the complexity of choice, price and opportunities for the customer forced this seemingly simple and integrated relationship between sales and marketing to change forever. Petersen goes on to highlight that salespeople spend approximately 40 percent of their time preparing customer-facing deliverables while leveraging less than 50 percent of the materials created by marketing, adding to perceptions that marketing is out of touch with the customer and that sales is resistant to messaging and strategy.
Lubricant
A lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between moving surfaces. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles. The property of reducing friction is known as lubricity. (Slipperiness)
A good lubricant possesses the following characteristics:
• High boiling point
• Low freezing point
• High viscosity index
• Thermal stability
• Hydraulic Stability
• Demulsibility
• Corrosion prevention
• High resistance to oxidation
One of the single largest applications for lubricants, in the form of motor oil, is protecting the internal combustion engines in motor vehicles and powered equipment.
Typically lubricants contain 90% base oil (most often petroleum fractions, called mineral oils) and less than 10% additives. Vegetable oils or synthetic liquids such as hydrogenated polyolefins, esters, silicones, fluorocarbons and many others are sometimes used as base oils. Additives deliver reduced friction and wear, increased viscosity, improved viscosity index, resistance to corrosion and oxidation, aging or contamination, etc.
Lubricants such as 2-cycle oil are added to fuels like gasoline which has low lubricity. Sulfur impurities in fuels also provide some lubrication properties, which has to be taken in account when switching to a low-sulfur diesel; biodiesel is a popular diesel fuel additive providing additional lubricity.
Non-liquid lubricants include grease, powders (dry graphite, PTFE, Molybdenum disulfide, tungsten disulfide, etc.), PTFE tape used in plumbing, air cushion and others. Dry lubricants such as graphite, molybdenum disulfide and tungsten disulfide also offer lubrication at temperatures (up to 350 °C) higher than liquid and oil-based lubricants are able to operate. Limited interest has been shown in low friction properties of compacted oxide glaze layers formed at several hundred degrees Celsius in metallic sliding systems, however, practical use is still many years away due to their physically unstable nature.
Another approach to reducing friction and wear is to use bearings such as ball bearings, roller bearings or air bearings, which in turn require internal lubrication themselves, or to use sound, in the case of acoustic lubrication.
In addition to industrial applications, lubricants are used for many other purposes. Other uses include cooking (oils and fats in use in frying pans, in baking to prevent food sticking), bio-medical applications on humans (e.g. lubricants for artificial joints), ultrasound examination, internal examinations for males and females, and the use of personal lubricant for sexual purposes.

Purpose of Lubricants
Lubricants perform the following key functions.
• Keep moving parts apart
• Reduce friction
• Transfer heat
• Carry away contaminants & debris
• Transmit power
• Protect against wear
• Prevent corrosion
• Seal for gases
• Stop the risk of smoke and fire of objects
• Prevent rust

Types of lubricants
In 1999, an estimated 37,300,000 tons of lubricants were consumed worldwide. Automotive applications dominate, but other industrial, marine, and metal working applications are also big consumers of lubricants. Although air and other gas-based lubricants are known (e.g., in fluid bearings), liquid and solid lubricants dominate the market, especially the former.
Lubricants are generally composed of a majority of base oil plus a variety of additives to impart desirable characteristics. Although generally lubricants are based on one type of base oil, mixtures of the base oils also are used to meet performance requirements.

Base oil groups
Mineral oil term is used to encompass lubricating base oil derived from crude oil. The American Petroleum Institute (API) designates several types of lubricant base oil:
• Group I – Saturates <90% and/or sulfur >0.03%, and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) viscosity index (VI) of 80 to 120
Manufactured by solvent extraction, solvent or catalytic de-waxing, and hydro-finishing processes. Common Group I base oil are 150SN (solvent neutral), 500SN, and 150BS (bright stock)
• Group II – Saturates over 90% and sulfur under 0.03%, and SAE viscosity index of 80 to 120
Manufactured by hydro cracking and solvent or catalytic de-waxing processes. Group II base oil has superior anti-oxidation properties since virtually all hydrocarbon molecules are saturated. It has water-white color.
• Group III – Saturates > 90%, sulfur <0.03%, and SAE viscosity index over 120 Manufactured by special processes such as iso-hydromerization. Can be manufactured from base oil or slax wax from de-waxing process. • Group IV – Polyalphaolefins (PAO) • Group V – All others not included above such as naphthenics, PAG, esters. In North America, Groups III, IV and V are now described as synthetic lubricants, with group III frequently described as synthesised hydrocarbons, or SHCs. In Europe, only Groups IV and V may be classed as synthetics. The lubricant industry commonly extends this group terminology to include: • Group I+ with a Viscosity Index of 103–108 • Group II+ with a Viscosity Index of 113–119 • Group III+ with a Viscosity Index of at least 140 Can also be classified into three categories depending on the prevailing compositions: • Paraffinic • Naphthenic • Aromatic Lubricants for internal combustion engines contain additives to reduce oxidation and improve lubrication. The main constituent of such lubricant product is called the base oil, base stock. While it is advantageous to have a high-grade base oil in a lubricant, proper selection of the lubricant additives is equally as important. Thus some poorly selected formulation of PAO lubricant may not last as long as more expensive formulation of Group III+ lubricant. Application by fluid types • Automotive o Engine oils  Petrol (Gasoline) engine oils  Diesel engine oils o Automatic transmission fluid o Gearbox fluids o Brake fluids o Hydraulic fluids • Tractor (one lubricant for all systems) o Universal Tractor Transmission Oil – UTTO o Super Tractor Oil Universal – STOU – includes engine • Other motors o 2-stroke engine oils • Sexual o Personal lubricant • Industrial o Hydraulic oils o Air compressor oils o Gas Compressor oils o Gear oils o Bearing and circulating system oils o Refrigerator compressor oils o Steam and gas turbine oils • Aviation o Gas turbine engine oils o Piston engine oils • Marine o Crosshead cylinder oils o Crosshead Crankcase oils o Trunk piston engine oils o Stern tube lubricants Marketing The global lubricant market is generally competitive with numerous manufacturers and marketers. Overall the western market may be considered mature with a flat to declining overall volumes while there is strong growth in the emerging economies. The lubricant marketers generally pursue one or more of the following strategies when pursuing business. • Specification: The lubricant is said to meet a certain specification. In the consumer market, this is often supported by a logo, symbol or words that inform the consumer that the lubricant marketer has obtained independent verification of conformance to the specification. Examples of these include the API’s donut logo or the NSF tick mark. The most widely perceived is SAE viscosity specification, like SAE 10W-40. Lubricity specifications are institute and manufacturer based. In the U.S. institute: API S for petrol engines, API C for diesel engines. For 2007 the current specs are API SM and API CJ-4. Higher second letter marks better oil properties, like lower engine wear supported by tests. In EU the ACEA specifications are used. There are classes A, B, C, E with number following the letter. Japan introduced the JASO specification for motorbike engines. In the industrial market place the specification may take the form of a legal contract to supply a conforming fluid or purchasers may choose to buy on the basis of a manufacturers own published specification. • Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) approval: Specifications often denote a minimum acceptable performance levels. Thus many equipment manufacturers add on their own particular requirements or tighten the tolerance on a general specification to meet their particular needs (or doing a different set of tests or using different/own testbed engine). This gives the lubricant marketer an avenue to differentiate their product by designing it to meet an OEM specification. Often, the OEM carries out extensive testing and maintains an active list of approved products. This is a powerful marketing tool in the lubricant marketplace. Text on the back of the motor oil label usually has a list of conformity to some OEM specifications, such as MB, MAN, Volvo, Cummins, VW, BMW or others. Manufactures may have vastly different specifications for the range of engines they make; one may not be completely suitable for some other. • Performance: The lubricant marketer claims benefits for the customer based on the superior performance of the lubricant. Such marketing is supported by glamorous advertising, sponsorships of typically sporting events and endorsements. Unfortunately broad performance claims are common in the consumer marketplace, which are difficult or impossible for a typical consumer to verify. In the B2B market place the marketer is normally expected to show data that supports the claims, hence reducing the use of broad claims. Increasing performance, reducing wear and fuel consumption is also aim of the later API, ACEA and car manufacturer oil specifications, so lubricant marketers can back their claims by doing extensive (and expensive) testing. • Longevity: The marketer claims that their lubricant maintains its performance over a longer period of time. For example in the consumer market, a typical motor oil change interval is around the 3,000–6,000 miles (4,828–9,656 km). The lubricant marketer may offer a lubricant that lasts for 12,000 miles (19,312 km) or more to convince a user to pay a premium. Typically, the consumer would need to check or balance the longer life and any warranties offered by the lubricant manufacturer with the possible loss of equipment manufacturer warranties by not following its schedule. Many car and engine manufacturers support extended drain intervals, but request extended drain interval certified oil used in that case; and sometimes a special oil filter. Example: In older Mercedes-Benz engines and in truck engines one can use engine oil MB 228.1 for basic drain interval. Engine oils conforming with higher specification MB 228.3 may be used twice as long, oil of MB 228.5 specification 3x longer. Note that the oil drain interval is valid for new engine with fuel conforming car manufacturer specification. When using lower grade fuel, or worn engine the oil change interval has to shorten accordingly. In general oils approved for extended use are of higher specification and reduce wear. In the industrial market place the longevity is generally measured in time units and the lubricant marketer can suffer large financial penalties if their claims are not substantiated. • Efficiency: The lubricant marketer claims improved equipment efficiency when compared to rival products or technologies, the claim is usually valid when comparing lubricant of higher specification with previous grade. Typically the efficiency is proved by showing a reduction in energy costs to operate the system. Guaranteeing improved efficiency is the goal of some oil test specifications such as API CI-4 Plus for diesel engines. Some car/engine manufacturers also specifically request certain higher efficiency level for lubricants for extended drain intervals. • Operational tolerance: The lubricant is claimed to cope with specific operational environment needs. Some common environments include dry, wet, cold, hot, fire risk, high load, high or low speed, chemical compatibility, atmospheric compatibility, pressure or vacuum and various combinations. The usual thermal characteristics is outlined with SAE viscosity given for 100°C, like SAE 30, SAE 40. For low temperature viscosity the SAE xxW mark is used. Both markings can be combined together to form a SAE 0W-60 for example. Viscosity index (VI) marks viscosity change with temperature, with higher VI numbers being more temperature stable. • Economy: The marketer offers a lubricant at a lower cost than rivals either in the same grade or a similar one that will fill the purpose for lesser price. (Stationary installations with short drain intervals.) Alternative may be offering a more expensive lubricant and promise return in lower wear, specific fuel consumption or longer drain intervals. (Expensive machinery, un-affordable downtimes.) • Environment friendly: The lubricant is said to be environmentally friendly. Typically this is supported by qualifying statements or conformance to generally accepted approvals. Several organizations, typically government sponsored, exist globally to qualify and approve such lubricants by evaluating their potential for environmental harm. Typically, the lubricant manufacturer is allowed to indicate such approval by showing some special mark. Examples include the German “Blue Angel”, European “Daisy” Eco label, Global Eco-Label “GEN mark”, Nordic, “White Swan”, Japanese “Earth friendly mark”; USA “Green Seal”, Canadian “Environmental Choice”, Chinese “Huan”, Singapore “Green Label” and the French “NF Environment mark”. • Composition: The marketer claims novel composition of the lubricant which improves some tangible performance over its rivals. Typically the technology is protected via formal patents or other intellectual property protection mechanism to prevent rivals from copying. Lot of claims in this area are simple marketing buzzwords, since most of them are related to a manufacturer specific process naming (which achieves similar results than other ones) but the competition is prohibited from using a trademark. • Quality: The marketer claims broad superior quality of its lubricant with no factual evidence. The quality is “proven” by references to famous brand, sporting figure, racing team, some professional endorsement or some similar subjective claim. All motor oil labels wear mark similar to "of outstanding quality" or "quality additives," the actual comparative evidence is always lacking. Lubricant market in India The Indian lubricants market is the fifth largest market in the world in terms of consumption volume after the US, China, Russia and Japan. Growing personal disposable incomes, improvement in road infrastructures, increasing usage of automotive transportation, rural demand, growing industrial production and support from the government are some of the factors for the growth of Indian lubricants market. The lubricants market in India has witnessed a rapid expansion in recent years driven by increased lubricant applications in sectors such as automotive and industrial. The application of lubricants in the automotive industry dominates the Indian lubricants market followed by industrial applications in cement, coal, steel, engineering, sugar, marine, defence, railways, power and other sectors. The lubricants industry in India is comprised of large public sector entities, private lubricant manufacturers and a gamut of small unorganized lubricant companies. The Indian lubricants industry revenues have increased from USD 1611.7 million in 2006 at a CAGR of 18.6% during FY’2006-FY’2012. The Indian lubricants market would grow at a considerable CAGR rate thus exceeding USD 7713 million by 2017 due to the major push from the automobile market in India. While rising disposable incomes, soaring population of automobile users and an increased industrial activity will result in increased spending on lubricants in India, steep rise in raw material prices, higher interest rates and increasing fuel prices are expected to hamper the performance of manufacturing industry, and slow down the sales of the automobile industry in the next five years. Automotive lubricant market in India The Indian automotive lubricants market is largely price sensitive and volume growth is stagnating due to longer lasting lubricants. The market is fragmented with over 22 big and small manufacturers and with the spate of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), only a handful of big companies enjoy a major market share. Companies are adopting a more customer-oriented approach where they are likely to focus on creating brand awareness through print and visual media. For example promotional campaigns and trade shows offering gifts to their customers are methods of driving sales of automotive lubricants. The original equipment segment and retail trade are the two major marketing channels in the Indian automotive lubricants market. Due to the growing competition, tie-ups with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are becoming important as they reinforce the value proposition of a particular brand. Petrol pumps form a major distribution channel in retail trade, however sales of lubricants through retail outlets (also called ‘the bazaar trade’) has transformed the Indian automotive lubricants market into a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. The other marketing channels are authorized service stations, garages, rural and agricultural dealers, super markets, and wholesale distributors Public sector unit (PSU) companies, that manufacture their own base oil, follow different distribution strategies as compared to private participants that solely dependent on imports. While PSUs sell through their own wide spread network of petrol stations private manufacturers prefer retail outlets. Engine oil, which accounted for over 70.0 percent market share in 2004 in the Indian automotive lubricants market, plays the most crucial role in deciding the market share of manufacturers. Increase in demand for four stroke motorcycles, tie ups with original equipment manufacturers, and implementation of new pollution norms are just some of the key drivers of the engine oil segment. The brake oil and coolant is the next largest segment in the Indian automotive lubricants market. Demand for coolants is increasing due to continuous growth in heavy commercial vehicles, increasing awareness among the customers, new cooling system technologies, and OEM tie-ups. In brake oil segment, increasing growth in light commercial vehicles, introduction of new brake systems, consumption of lubes by commercial passenger vehicles, and changing customer mindset regarding specialty lubricants are expected to push demand further. The market for gear oils is also growing rapidly and has a high potential due to the increasing number of vehicles on the road. New generation vehicles with advanced gear system technologies and automatic transmission systems require special type of lubricants resulting in greater demand for multi axel gear oil and API synthetic gear oil, API GL-5, API MT-1, and ultra-Matic, which reduce the oil changing intervals. In the long term, the overall outlook for the automotive lubricants market is expected to be positive due to the growing Indian economy along with the increased purchasing power of consumers. 1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY - This study is covering mainly the Total ELF customers who are visiting lubricant retail outlets. - Some customers are not answering properly due to time constrain so bias may enter in the data - Time limitation and wide spread area are environment factors affecting this study. CHAPTER 2 PROFILE 2.1 INDUSTRIAL PROFILE With operations in more than 130 countries, Total engages in all aspects of the petroleum industry, including Upstream operations (oil and gas exploration, development and production, LNG) and Downstream operations (refining, marketing and the trading and shipping of crude oil and petroleum products). Total also produces base chemicals (petrochemicals and fertilizers) and specialty chemicals for the industrial and consumer markets (rubber processing, adhesives, resins and electroplating). In addition, Total has interests in the coal mining and power generation sectors. Total is helping to secure the future of energy by progressively expanding its energy offerings and developing complementary next generation energy activities (solar, biomass, nuclear). Some of Total & ELF products are - Total Lubricants - Total Gas - Total Special Polymers 2.2 COMPANY PROFILE Total at a Glance: An international energy provider • Fifth largest publicly-traded integrated international oil and gas company in the world • First largest capitalization on the Euro next Paris and the Euro zone: €93.2 billion at December 31, 2010 • 97 126 employees • Operations in more than 130 countries • Exploration and production operations in more than 50 countries • Producer of oil and gas in 30 countries. • Approximately 540,000 French individual shareholders • 2012 sales: €200.06 billion A leader in each of its core businesses: 2010 key indicators Upstream • Exploration and production activities in more than 40 countries. • Production of oil and gas in 30 countries. • Production: 2.38 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. • Proved reserves: 10.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent as of December 31, 2010 Downstream • No. 1 Western European Refiner-Marketer(3) and No. 1 Marketer in Africa (4). • One of the leading traders of crude oil and refined products worldwide. • Refining capacity: approximately 2.6 million barrels per day. • Retail network: nearly 17,490 service stations. • Sales of petroleum products: approximately 3.8 million barrels per day. • Brands: TOTAL, Elf, Elan, AS 24 Shareholder base • Predominantly European (67%), held in particular by investors from France (34%), the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany, with a strong number of Dutch, Swiss and Irish shareholders. Strong shareholder base in North America (26,5%). • Institutional shareholders (88%), employees (4%) and other individual shareholders (8%). • Total S.A. is a French société anonyme (limited company) created in France in March 1924, listed on Paris, London, Brussels and New York Exchanges. • Total is listed on the CAC 40, Dow Jones Stoxx 50, Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 and Dow Jones Global Titans indices and the FTSE4Good, DJSI World, DJ STOXX SI, and ASPI Sustainable Development and Governance indices. QUALITY, ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY Total lubrifiants products (TOTAL, ELF and FINA brands), production facilities and marketing operations have ISO 9001:2000 quality assurance approval, thereby enabling us to meet the latest ACEA and API specifications. Users should satisfy themselves that engines to be subjected to extended drain intervals have been designed for such, and the manufacturer of the vehicle issues an oil specification for ultra-extended drain intervals. Safety is a number one priority for Total Lubrifiants, which has made a voluntary commitment to the safety of its Blending Plants by implementing the International Safety Evaluation System (SIES) or its North American equivalent (OSHA). Quality Our Company considers quality as one of its principal strategic objectives to guarantee its growth and leadership in the markets in which it operates.Company has a fully equipped laboratory at Mahape, Navi Mumbai & team of qualified chemists runs this laboratory. Our laboratory is tasked with inspection of our raw materials and finished products to ensure that the Global performance specifications and established World Class quality standards have been adhered to. All the measuring instruments in our laboratory are calibrated maintained and tagged at specified intervals as recommended by the test equipment manufacturers (& this is verified through our periodic robust internal Round Robin Testing Program). Our production processes are formally documented and certified in accordance with QS-9000: 1998. Our QS-9000: 1998 certification was awarded by BVQI in June 2000 and has also been successfully re-certified in May 2003. This Re-certification is testament to our emphasis on, and commitment to, the high standards of our Plant processes and the quality assurance of our lubricating oils. Work is underway for ISO/TS 16949: 2002. Some of our engine oils are also registered with API, an internationally recognized institute for standards of quality for lubricating oils. A number of our products such as the range of ELF Performance (3D/Trophy DX/Victory) & ELF Super HDB Turbo products are licensed under the API's EOLCS, which is a voluntary licensing and certification program that authorizes its licensees to display the API Certification Marks on their products. The Certification Marks help customers to identify the quality of engine oils for their vehicles and is a sign that our products conform to API's quality and technical standards. Also few of our products like ELF Moto4Gold, ELF Moto2Champ and ELF Moto4 in the two wheeler categories have received JASO certifications. The Company maintains an open communication channel with its consumers and customers and carefully monitors the feedback to continuously improve its products and services and set quality standards to fulfill them. The company periodically reviews quality policy for its effectiveness and consistency with business objectives. Safety Company recognizes its responsibility to ensure safety and protection of health of its employees, contractors and visitors in all its operating sites, which include manufacturing, sales and distribution and offices during work and work related travel. Work is already underway towards obtaining OHSAS-18001: 1999 and this will act as a Good foundation for OHSMS. Company's all the Work related to Quality, Environment & Occupational health /Safety is aligned with the Total Group's HSEQ Charter. CHAPTER 3 DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION LIST OF SOME LEADING LUBRICANT COMPANIES • Castrol • Shell • Total & ELF • Valvoline • Mobile • Veedol • Gulf DETAILS OF SOME LUBRICANT SUPPLIERS IN COCHIN CITY Sl.No. Name of the Counter Location Total & Elf product Available/Not 1 Kumar Auto Spares Chullikal No 2 Powershift Motors Chullikal No 3 A.R.Autos Chullikal Yes 4 S.S.Auto Spares Chullikal Yes 5 St.Antony Auto Spares Chullikal No 6 Proficient Motors Kazhuthumuttu No(Bosch car Service) 7 C.R.Automobiles Chullikal No 8 Bensen Electricals Thoppumpady No 9 Tiara Two wheelers Chullickal No 10 Neo Magnum Motors Nettoor No 11 Neptune Motors Nettoor No 12 Merc Motors Nettoor No 13 Areepurath Traders Nettoor No 14 Team wheelers Nettoor No (Castrol bike Point) 15 United Automobiles Nettoor No 16 Master Motors Nettoor No 17 Sivasakthi Automobiles Nettoor No 18 Genuine Motors Nettoor Yes 19 Auto Syndicate Vytilla No 20 Lube Shop Nr.KSRTC Bus Stand Yes 21 R.S.Two Wheelers Nr.KSRTC Bus Stand No(Castrol Bike Point) 22 Cochin Services K.K.Road,Kaloor No 23 Bike Palace Kaloor No 24 Bike House Kaloor No 25 Sara Automobiles Palarivattom Yes 26 Master Automobiles Mamangalam No 27 New Jaina Automobiles Janatha Jn No 28 Titus Motors Kaloor stadium building No 29 P & P Motors Ayyappankavu No 30 Ideal motors Ayyappankavu Yes 31 Royal enfield Service Centre Ayyappankavu No 32 City Automobiles Ayyappankavu No 33 Spare n Spares Ayyappankavu No 34 Turbo Automobiles S.R.M.Road No 35 T &T Automobiles S.R.M.Road No 36 Good Motors S.R.M.Road No 37 Lottus Automotives Pachalam No 38 S.A.G. Automobiles Chittoor Road No 39 Gen-Nxt Freedom Road,kaloor No 40 Wins auto sales Deshabhimani Road No(Petronas Distributor) 41 Raju's motors Pottakuzhi No 42 Sunny Lubes Pachalam Yes 43 MotoGuard Racing L.F.C.Road,Kaloor No 44 Xtreme Motors Kathrikadavu No(Valvoline Bike Point) 45 Perfect Motors Pachalam No(Valvoline Bike Point) 46 Jay auto Chittoor Road No 47 Babu's auto garage Nr.syrian church, Palluruthy No 48 Anna Auto Spares Nr.syrian church, Palluruthy Yes 49 Vadayazhath Auto Spare Parts Nr.Jayalakshmi Theatre,Palluruthy Yes 50 P.s.Two wheelers Garage,aluva No 51 Bullet Two Wheelers Garage,aluva No 52 Star Automobiles Garage,aluva No(Veedol distributor) 53 V2 Motors Aluva No 54 Popular Automotives Aluva No 55 Anna Motors Ashokapuram,Aluva Yes 56 K.N.K. Motors Ashokapuram,Aluva No 57 Nandana Bullet Garage Ashokapuram,Aluva No 58 Ameen Traders Ashokapuram,Aluva No 59 Amirjan Motors Ashokapuram,Aluva No 60 Thachayil Automobiles Ashokapuram,Aluva Yes 61 Pratheesh Automobiles Marvar Junction No 62 P.J.Automobiles Marvar Junction No 63 Reliance Garage Marvar Junction Yes 64 Parveen Automobiles* Marvar Junction No 65 Friends Garage Marvar Junction No 66 Modern Automobiles Marvar Junction Yes 67 J.P.Automobiles Chunagamveli,Aluva No 68 Anu Auto Garage Chunagamveli,Aluva Yes 69 Friends Autos Thottumugam,Aluva No 70 Indian Scooter Garage Choondi,Aluva No 71 Saj Tyres & Spares Choondi,Aluva No 72 V.M.K auto Spares Choondi,Aluva Yes 73 Gireesh automobiles Choondi,Aluva No 74 We Care Auto Garage Priyadarshini Road,Aluva No 75 True Wheels Aluva Yes 76 Auto King Aluva No 77 Pee Pee Traders* Aluva Yes 78 A-One Auto Garage Companypady,Aluva No 79 Enpee Auto Parts Companypady,Aluva Yes 80 Metro Spares Vytilla Yes 81 Auto Clinic Thaikoodam,Vytilla No 82 J.S.Customizers Vytilla Yes 83 J.B.S.Motors Jawahar Road,Thykoodam No 84 Grand Automobiles Jawahar Road,Thykoodam No 85 A.J.Auto spares Vytilla No 86 A.N.V. Auto Spares Vytilla No 87 Honda Point Ponnurunni,Vytilla Yes 88 Madhu Motors Ponnurunni,Vytilla No 89 Team Motors Ponnurunni,Vytilla Yes 90 S.R. Motors S.C.B.Road No 91 J.H.Motors Koovapadom,Kochi No 92 St.Joseph Bike house Chullikal,kochi No 93 St.George Two Wheelers West Karuvelipady No 94 Sooraj Auto Garage Chemmens Jn,Kochi Yes 95 Perfect Motors nr.Chemmens Jn,Kochi No 96 C.L.auto garage Manthra road,Kochi No 97 Tekno Motors Thrikakkara No 98 Wiz wheels Thrikakkara Yes 99 Car Valley Thrikakkara No 100 G.K.Motors Kadavanthra No(Castrol Bike Point) 101 Friends Motors K.P.Vallon Road,Kadavanthra No 102 NewTech Automobiles K.P.Vallon Road,Kadavanthra No 103 Ajay Automobiles Kadavanthra No 104 S.P.Scooter Garage Gandhi Square Yes 105 Josy Bullet Workshop Maradu No 106 Riders Choice Chathari,Tripunithara No 107 Jolly's Hill Palace Road,Karingachira No 108 Union Automobiles Hill Palace Road,Karingachira Yes 109 Overdrive Hill Palace Road,Karingachira No(Castrol Bike Point) 110 Thachattu Traders Hill Palace Road,Karingachira No 111 Surya Auto Spares Karingachira No 112 Bike Tech Thiruvankulam Yes 113 Centigo motors Hill Palace Road,Thripunithara No(Castrol Bike Point) 114 Kalarickal Maruti Service Vaikom Road,Tripunithara No 115 Smooth Ride Vaikom Road,Tripunithara No 116 Orion Motors Kannankulangara Yes 117 Pheonix Motors Choorakadu Yes 118 Kinetic Scooter Garage Puthiyakavu Yes 119 Amala two wheeler garage Udayamperoor No 120 Dr. Wheels Car Clinic Udayamperoor No 121 Anusree Lubes Udayamperoor Yes 122 Pheonix Automobiles Nadakkavu No 123 Bike House Mulanthuruthy Yes(Elf garage) 124 Chithra Automobiles Mulanthuruthy No 125 Hitech 2 Wheelers Perumpilly,Mulanthuruthy Yes 126 Team Torque Mulanthuruthy No 127 Real Auto Spares Mulanthuruthy No 128 Southern Automobiles Mulanthuruthy Yes 129 B.B.S.Maruti care Pallithazham No 130 S.S.Motors kathrikadavu Old road No 131 Carbon Working journalist's colony,Kochi-17 Yes 132 Sen Motors Azad Road,Kaloor No 133 Hi-Tech 2 wheeler Workshop Civil lane Road,Vazhakala No(Castrol Bike Point) 134 Orange Car Vazhakala No 135 Modern agencies Vazhakala No 136 New Royal Two Wheelers Padivattom No 137 Fortune Motors Padivattom No 138 Rock On Lube Shop Padivattom No 139 Auto Point Padivattom No 140 Gold Wing Pipeline Road Yes 141 Vinod Auto service Station Pipeline Jn,Palarivattom No 142 IDL 2 Wheelers Pipeline Road,Palarivattom No 143 Janatha Automobiles Pipeline Road,Palarivattom No 144 Marangolil Enterprises Palarivattom Yes 145 Toyo Auto agencies Banerji Road No 146 Alapatt Automobiles Civil lane Road,Chembumukku No 147 universal Agencies Vazhakala Yes 148 Cherai Friends Automobiles Cherai No 149 Perfect Traders Cherai No 150 Sree Muruga Cherai No 151 Abhishek Auto Paravur Yes 152 Team Choppers Perumpadanna No 153 Prakash Two Wheelers Perumpadanna No 154 New Honda Auto Spares Republic Road,N.Paravur Yes 155 Palliparambil Auto Spares Perumpadanna No 156 S.K.Motors N.Paravur No 157 New Focus Auto Spares N.Paravur Yes 158 K.M.Auto Spares N.Paravur No 159 Joochi Automobile Workshop N.Paravur No 160 Vijay Two wheeler Garage N.Paravur No 161 Friends Auto Spares N.paravur Yes 162 New Benz Auto Spares N.Paravur No 163 V & V Auto Spares N.Paravur No 164 Suchendra Auto Station N.Paravur Yes 165 Indu Motors Poosaripadi,N.Paravur No 166 K.B.Motors Poosaripadi,N.Paravur No 167 Zen Autos Poosaripadi,N.Paravur Yes 168 Hindustan Automobiles Poosaripadi,N.Paravur No 169 Sunil's Two Wheelers Vazhikulangara Yes 170 K.J.Two Wheelers Kaitharam No 171 V.I.C Valluvally No 172 Combined Automobiles Valluvally No 173 Rai Enterprises Valluvally No 174 Angel Bullet Garage Valluvally Yes 175 E.S.Motors Valluvally No 176 Honda Service Point Valluvally Yes 177 Ace Mechanical workshop Kochal,Koonamavu No 178 St.Mary's Auto World Koonamavu No 179 Best Automobiles Koonamavu Yes 180 Nimal Automobiles Koonamavu No 181 Manakkattu Automobiles Koonamavu No(Castrol Bike Point) 182 Amba Auto Garage Koonamavu No 183 St.Mary's Auto Electricals Varapuzha No 184 J.J.Tyres Varapuzha No 185 Safe Motors Varapuzha No 186 Panakkal Two Wheelers Varapuzha No 187 Grace Automobiles Varapuzha No 188 Janatha Autospares Varapuzha Yes 189 Pee Pee Tyres and Traders Thaikkavu No 190 Metro Car Tech Cheranallur No 191 Motospprt Cheranallur No 192 Benz Auto Spares Cheranallur Yes 193 Ram's Auto Spares Vypin No 194 R.R.Motors Puthuvypin No 195 Kaarthika scooter Garage Nayarambalam No 196 Matha Auto Spares Edavanakkad Yes 197 Scooter House Pallathamkulangara No 198 S.N.Honda Palluruthy No 199 Panachi TwoWheelers WaterlanRoad,Palluruthy Yes 200 B.S.N.Autocare Mundamveli No 201 St.Mary's Mundamveli No 202 Delta Two Wheelers Santhom No 203 The Bike Smith Chirattapalam Yes 204 T.R.Motors Chirattapalam No 205 Nice Tech Motors 50 feet road,Fort Kochi No 206 I-One Two wheelers 50 feet road,Fort Kochi Yes 207 Puthan's Two Wheeler Garge Karuvelipady No 208 Simla Automobiles Karuvelipady Yes 209 Paramount Agencies Palluruthy No 210 Mani's Two Wheelers Palluruthy No 211 Auto Bazar Palluruthy Yes 212 Amal Two Wheelers Kumbalanghi vazhi,Palluruthy No 213 P.R.Agencies Kumbalanghi vazhi,Palluruthy No 214 TessaMotors Janatha Junction No 215 Soumya Scooter garage Thangalnagar Jn,Palluruthy Yes 216 Cochin Two Wheelers Pashnithodu,Edakochi No 217 Shaan Two Wheeler Garage Edakochi No 218 Vadassery Agencies Palluruthy No 219 Royal Motors Palluruthy Yes 220 Unique Auto Garage Murikkumpadom No 221 Unique Auto Spares Murikkumpadom No 222 Kurishingal Bike House Murikkumpadom No 223 Bismi Motors Murikkumpadom Yes 224 Fashion Bike Companypeedika No 225 Royal Auto Spares Companypeedika No 226 Oswald Ochanthuruth No 227 Auto Land Ochanthuruth No 228 S.K.Two Wheelers Ochanthuruth Yes 229 Vypeen Auto garage Malippuram No 230 Hero Motors Malippuram No 231 Honda Motors Perumalpadi No 232 City Motors Elamkunnapuzha No 233 S.J.Autos Elamkunnapuzha Yes 234 Shaji's Two Wheelers Elamkunnapuzha No 235 St.Antony's Two Wheelers Elamkunnapuzha No 236 Honda Spot Perumpilly No 237 Njarakkal Motors Njarakkal No 238 Take Care Service Centre Njarakkal No 239 Edison Enterprise Njarakkal Yes(Marine) 240 Proficient Motors Njarakkal Yes 241 Lakshmi Auto garage Edavanakkad No 242 Matha Tyres & Lubricants Vachakkal No 243 Fathima Two Wheeler Service Edavanakkad No 244 Devi Two Wheeler Garage Edavanakkad Yes 245 Amritha Two Wheelers Ayyambilly No 246 K & V Motors Cherai No 247 Ganesh auto Spares Cherai No 248 Pee Pee Tyres Cherai Yes 249 Royal Auto Stores Cherai No 250 Racers Two Wheelers Cherai No 251 Higway Motors Cherai No 252 S.R. Motors Cherai Yes 253 Bike World Companypeedika No 254 Ance Traders Kaalamukku Yes 255 St.joseph's Two Wheelers Kadavanthra No 256 A.R.Motors Thevara Yes 257 Rogo Engineering Works Thevara No 258 Grand Automobiles Chullikal No 259 Shine Agency Chullikal No 260 R.S.Two Wheelers Chullikal Yes 261 Premier Auto Spares Chullikal No 262 Abhishek Two Wheelers Karuvelipady No 263 A.S.Biwheelers Kazhuthumuttu Yes 264 Little Flower Tyres & Oils Kazhuthumuttu No 265 Okay auto agencies Banerji Road No 266 Super Automobiles Banerji Road No 267 St.Joseph Two Wheeler Garage KaruvelipadY Yes 268 Cochin Auto Spares Pathadipalam No 269 Target Auto Works Pathadipalam No 270 Cee Bee Auto Agencies Pathadipalam No 271 Martin Two Wheelers South Kalamassery No 272 Amazon Motors South Kalamassery Yes 273 C.K.A. Traders South Kalamassery No 274 Shihab Lubricants South Kalamassery No 275 Hari autos North Kalamassery Yes 276 Red Line Motorcycles HMT Road,kalamassery No 277 Pitline Seaport-airport Road,kakkanadu No 278 S.M.Engineering Works Paravur Jn No 279 Hero Honda Service Centre Muttam Yes 280 Yathra motors Ambattukavu No 281 Auto Team Parur Jn,Aluva Yes 282 Mototech services Parur Jn,Aluva No 283 Nissan Automobiles Desom No 284 Highway Spares Kunnumpuram No 285 Bike Sens Kunnumpuram Yes 286 Roadian's International Kunnumpuram No(Castrol Pitstop) 287 Highway Motors Desom jn No 288 Star Automobiles Athani No 289 Skilltech Automobiles Athani No 290 International Tyres & Spares Athani Yes 291 Moto Camper Nayathodu,Nedumbassery Yes 292 KairaliBatteries Mattoor Jn,Kalady No 293 Bike House Mattoor ,Kalady No 294 Classic Auto Parts Kalady Yes 295 Shakthi Automobiles Kalady No 296 National Automobiles Kanjoor Road,Kalady No 297 Maria Auto Spares Kanjoor Road,Kalady Yes 298 Jo Bike Workshop Chengal,Kalady No 299 Body Gear Kanjoor No 300 Kalady Scooter Garage Kalady Yes 301 C.D.Two Wheeler Workshop Mattoor Yes 302 Royal Automobiles Kalady No 303 Sree Krishna Lubricant Mattoor,kalady No 304 F.C.C. Motors Mattoor No 305 Prasad Two Wheeler Workshop Mattoor No 306 General motors Matoor No PERCENTAGE OF LUBRICANT SUPPLIERS DEALING TOTAL & ELF Yes - 60% No - 40% Interpretation About 60% of lubricant suppliers in Cochin City dealing with Total ELF lubricant. Another 40% is not dealing with it. TYPE OF AUTOMOBILE SPARE PARTS DEALING BY RETAILER TYPE PERCENTAGE 2 Wheeler 30% 3 Wheeler 20% 4 Wheeler 25% 6 Wheeler 15% Others 10% Interpretation Retailers mainly dealing with 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler spare parts. 3 wheeler and 6 wheeler are less compare to 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler. Some 10% spare parts are supplied for other automobiles used in construction and engineering purpose. SALES LEVEL OF LUBRICANT COMPANIES COMPANY NAME PERCENTAGE Castrol 30% Shell 20% Total & Elf 15% Valvoline 10% Mobile 10% Veedol 5% Gulf 5% Others 5% Interpretation Castrol is the leading lubricant supplier with 30% of market sales share. Shell and Total &ELF have second position. Other lubricant suppliers are Valvoline, Mobile, Veedol, Gulf and others who have marginal sales percentage. CUSTOMER DISTRIBUTION LEVEL IN RETAIL OUTLETS Vehicle Owners - 30% Mechanics - 50% Drivers - 20% Interpretation The main purchaser of lubricant oil from retail outlets is Mechanics. 30% purchasers are vehicle owners and 20% people who drive the vehicle. RETAILER SELLING PRECEPTION OF LUBRICANT COMPANY COMPANY NAME PERCENTAGE Castrol 25% Shell 15% Total & Elf 30% Valvoline 10% Mobile 5% Veedol 5% Gulf 5% Others 5% Interpretation About 30% of retails are interested to sell Total & ELF lubricants. 25% interested in Castrol, 15% for shell, 10% for Valvoline, 5% for mobile, Veedol, Gulf and others. QUALITY ASPECT OF CUSTOMERS REGARDING LUBRICANT PARAMETERS PERCENTAGE Viscosity 35% Economic 25% Colour 10% Contamination 15% Smell 5% Others 10% Interpretation Consider the quality aspect of lubricant customer mainly looking for viscosity level and economic. Other factors are colour, contamination level, smell. QUALITY LEVEL COMPARISON OF TOTAL & ELF WITH OTHER LUBRICANTS PARAMETERS TOTAL & ELF OTHER LUBRICANTS Viscosity 60% 40% Economic 70% 30% Colour 40% 60% Contamination 50% 50% Smell 60% 40% Others 50% 50% QUALITY LEVEL COMPARISON OF TOTAL & ELF WITH OTHER LUBRICANTS Interpretation Compare the quality aspect of Total & ELF with other lubricant it is clear that aspect wise Total & ELF is good. Only contamination level is factor which doesn’t have any much difference compare to others. BRAND ACCEPTANCE LEVEL OF TOTAL & ELF Very Good - 20% Good - 35% Satisfactory - 40% Bad - 5% Interpretation Customer brand acceptance level of Total & ELF is high. 20% customers are very good opinion, 35% said good about it. 5% have bad opinion that is negligible. PACKING SIZE CUSTOMER PREFER QUANITITY PREFERANCE LEVEL 1 Ltr 20% 2 Ltrs 40% 5 Ltrs 20% 10 Ltrs 10% 200 Ltrs 10% Interpretation Most customers prefer 2 Ltrs packing of lubricants, 20% customers prefer 1 Ltr and 5 Ltrs. 10% are interested in 10 Ltrs and 200 Ltrs. PACKAGING MATERIAL PREFERANCE OF CUSTOMERS Plastic - 50% Barrel - 40% Peel Pouch - 10% Interpretation 50% of customers like plastic can packaging. 40% customers like Barrel and 10% interested in peel pouch. RE-PURCHASING LEVEL OF TOTAL & ELF CUSTOMERS Very Good - 10% Good - 40% Satisfactory - 40% Bad - 10% Interpretation Re-purchasing level of Total & ELF customer is comparatively good. 90% customers have above satisfactory level of opinion regarding re-purchasing. CUSTOMER AWARENESS LEVEL ABOUT TOTAL & ELF Very Good - 10% Good - 30% Satisfactory - 40% Bad - 20% Interpretation Above 80% of customers are aware about Total & ELF lubricant. But 20% still not aware about Total & ELF. INFORMATIONS CUSTOMERS LOOKING IN LUBRICANT PACKAGING • Price • Quantity • Manufacturing Date • Grade DIFFERENT CHANNEL OF CUSTOMER AWARENESS ABOUT TOTAL & ELF CHANNEL PERCENTAGE Advertisement 15% Mechanic 20% Friends 10% Dealers 35% Others 20% Interpretation The main channel of customer awareness about Total & ELF is the Dealers or retailers. Other important channels are mechanics, advertisement and others. CUSTOMERS LEVEL OF INTEREST TO KNOW ABOUT TOTAL & ELF Very Good - 15% Good - 20% Satisfactory - 60% Bad - 5% Interpretation Most of the customers are interested to know about Total & ELF. Some 5% customers not shown interest to know about Total & ELF CUSTOMER INFLUENCING FACTORS FOR PURCHASING LUBRICANT Mechanics - 40% Advertisement - 10% Friends - 20% Cost & Quality - 30% Interpretation The main factor influencing the customers to go for a particular lubricant is the mechanics. Secondly is the cost and quality. Advertisement and Friends influence in minor level. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION LEVEL OF TOTAL & ELF Very Good - 15% Good - 30% Satisfactory - 50% Bad - 5% Interpretation 95% of customers are satisfied with Total & ELF lubricant. 5% have no opinion about Total & ELF lubricant. CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION 4.1 FINDINGS • About 60% of lubricant suppliers in Cochin City dealing with Total ELF lubricant. Another 40% is not dealing with it. Retailers mainly dealing with 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler spare parts. 3 wheeler and 6 wheeler are less compare to 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler. Some 10% spare parts are supplied for other automobiles used in construction and engineering purpose. • Castrol is the leading lubricant supplier with 30% of market sales share. Shell and Total &ELF have second position. Other lubricant suppliers are Valvoline, Mobile, Veedol, Gulf and others who have marginal sales percentage. • The main purchaser of lubricant oil from retail outlets is Mechanics. 30% purchasers are vehicle owners and 20% people who drive the vehicle. • About 30% of retails are interested to sell Total & ELF lubricants. 25% interested in Castrol, 15% for shell, 10% for Valvoline, 5% for mobile, Veedol, Gulf and others.Consider the quality aspect of lubricant customer mainly looking for viscosity level and economic. Other factors are colour, contamination level, smell. Compare the quality aspect of Total & ELF with other lubricant it is clear that aspect wise Total & ELF is good. Only contamination level is factor which doesn’t have any much difference compare to others. • Customer brand acceptance level of Total & ELF is high. 20% customers are very good opinion, 35% said good about it. 5% have bad opinion that is negligible. Most customers prefer 2 Ltrs packing of lubricants, 20% customers prefer 1 Ltr and 5 Ltrs. 10% are interested in 10 Ltrs and 200 Ltrs. 50% of customers like plastic can packaging. 40% customers like Barrel and 10% interested in peel pouch. • Re-purchasing level of Total & ELF customer is comparatively good. 90% customers have above satisfactory level of opinion regarding re-purchasing. • Above 80% of customers are aware about Total & ELF lubricant. But 20% still not aware about Total & ELF. • The main channel of customer awareness about Total & ELF is the Dealers or retailers. Other important channels are mechanics, advertisement and others. • Most of the customers are interested to know about Total & ELF. Some 5% customers not shown interest to know about Total & ELF • The main factor influencing the customers to go for a particular lubricant is the mechanics. Secondly is the cost and quality. Advertisement and Friends influence in minor level. • 95% of customers are satisfied with Total & ELF lubricant. 5% have no opinion about Total & ELF lubricant. 4.2 SUGGESTION • Castrol is the leading lubricant supplier with 30% of market sales share. Shell and Total &ELF have second position. Other lubricant suppliers are Valvoline, Mobile, Veedol, Gulf and others who have marginal sales percentage. Considering this Total & ELF need to make a marketing policy to improve the market share. • The main purchaser of lubricant oil from retail outlets is Mechanics. 30% purchasers are vehicle owners and 20% people who drive the vehicle. Consider this for targeting the real customer. • About 30% of retails are interested to sell Total & ELF lubricants. Level of selling interest among retailer’s to be increased by adopting some motivation package to retailers. • Re-purchasing level of Total & ELF customer is comparatively good. 90% customers have above satisfactory level of opinion regarding re-purchasing. This level is to be maintained. • Above 80% of customers are aware about Total & ELF lubricant. But 20% are still not aware about Total & ELF. Considering this, more public awareness program to be introduced. • The main channel of customer awareness about Total & ELF is the Dealers or retailers. Other important channels are mechanics, advertisement and others. This data may be used for creating marketing plans. • The main factor influencing the customers to go for a particular lubricant is the mechanics. Secondly is the cost and quality. Advertisement and Friends influence in minor level. This is important for creating marketing strategies. • 95% of customers are satisfied with Total & ELF lubricant. 5% have no opinion about Total & ELF lubricant. This is a good sign. This level of customer’s satisfaction to be maintained. 4.3 CONCLUSIONS About 60% of lubricant suppliers in Cochin City dealing with Total ELF lubricant. Another 40% is not dealing with it. This looks promising future for Total ELF lubricant. Castrol is the leading lubricant supplier with 30% of market sales share. Shell and Total &ELF have second position. Other lubricant suppliers are Valvoline, Mobile, Veedol, Gulf and others who have marginal sales percentage. Total & ELF management has to make necessary strategy to bring the Total & ELF position to further up. Customer brand acceptance level of Total & ELF is high. Re-purchasing level of Total & ELF customer is comparatively good. Considering this study Total ELF lubricant product is in the growing stage of product life cycle. That is a good sign. Total ELF management has to take necessary plan and strategies to maintain this for the future growth of Total ELF. CHAPTER 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS James F. O'Hara – 2004. Managing Your Business to Its Maximum Sales Potential. Krishna K Havaldar Vasant M Cavale – 2006. Sales and Distribution Management C. Lockwood Marine, ‎William Smith Greig – 1966. Estimating institutional sales potential for new food products WEBSITES www.total.co.in www.lubricants.elf.com/home.htm www.infraline.com/Search/lubricant+market+in+india+in+2011 CHAPTER 6 APPENDICES QUESTIONNAIRE Name of the Retailer & Location: 1. Are you a dealer or customer of Total & Elf? Yes No 2. Which type of Automobile spare parts and consumables are you dealing with? 2 wheelers 3 wheelers 4 wheelers 6 wheelers Others 3. Which of the following lubricant companies are you dealing with? Castrol Shell Total & ELF Valvoline Mobile Veedol Gulf Others 4. What is sales percentage of lubricant companies? Castrol Shell Total & ELF Valvoline Mobile Veedol Gulf Others 5. Who are your normal customers? Vehicle owner Mechanics Drivers 6. Which are the company lubricants you like to sell more? Castrol Shell Total & ELF Valvoline Mobile Veedol Gulf Others 7. What are the different qualities customers looking for regarding lubricants? Viscosity Economic Colour Contamination Smell Others 8. How you quality wise compare of Total & ELF with other lubricant company? Parameters Total & Elf Other Lubricant Viscosity Economic Colour Contamination Others 9. What is level of band acceptance of Total & ELF customers? Very Good Good Satisfactory Bad 10. Which packing quantity of lubricant customers interested? 1 Ltr 2 Ltrs 5 Ltrs 10 Ltrs 200 Ltrs 11. Which type of packaging customers prefer? Plastic Barrel Peel Pouch 12. Which type of information customers looking on packaging? Price Quantity Manufacturing Date Grade 13. What is the re-purchasing level of Total & ELF customers? Very Good Good Satisfactory Bad 14. What is the customer awareness level about Total & ELF? Very Good Good Satisfactory Bad 15. Which are the factors of customer awareness about Total & ELF? Advertisement Mechanics Friends Dealers Others 16. What about customer interest level to know about Total & ELF? Very Good Good Satisfactory Bad 17. What are the factors influencing customer to go for a particular lubricant? Mechanic Advertisement Friends Cost & Quality 18. What is the brand loyalty level of Total & ELF? Very Good Good Satisfactory Bad 19. What is the Total & ELF customer satisfaction level? Very Good Good Satisfactory Bad 20. Any specific suggestion about Total & ELF lubricant?