Faraz Ahmed (name changed), a 55-year-old small-time businessman from Lucknow who had been driving a Maruti 800 for around 10 years, had long wanted an automatic car, but within his budget of around ₹5 lakh.

Though there were models such as A-Star available from Maruti India Suzuki’s stable, Ahmed wanted a new model with better mileage. That’s when the country’s largest carmaker launched the Celerio with automatic transmission (AMT) this February.

Maruti had gathered information from customers such as Ahmed that led to the introduction of the Celerio. The automaker had been tracking customer preferences and emerging trends through data analytics, which indicated that there is a big demand for an AMT vehicle if priced appropriately.

“The result was the development of AMT technology for the Celerio that turned out to be a runaway success. We manage a database of over nine million customers. Using the tool of data mining and cluster analysis, we are able to sell about four per cent of our volumes through this,” Mayank Pareek, Chief Operating Officer-Marketing and Sales, told BusinessLine . The company is now targeting to raise this share to 10 per cent in the near future.

It’s not just Maruti; other auto companies are also using data analytics to boost sales.

In Maruti’s case, the company tracked servicing requests from its old customers such as owners of the Maruti 800 and the Zen and was able to get leads for building newer models for them.

Three pillars

Among the early adopters of data analytics in the industry, Maruti’s analytics programme rests on three pillars – dealer management system (DMS), customer relationship management (CRM) analytics solution and a customer response centre.

“Our DMS is hosted on a private cloud by Maruti Suzuki. DMS gives real-time display of critical operational parameters of the business, including sales, service and parts management,” Pareek said.

He added information on enquiries, bookings, retails, inventories and even latest trends on variants and colours are all within easy access for the management through data analytics.

“Last year, we also hosted all customer interface portals such as product Websites on a public cloud – Microsoft Azure. It is convenient, safe, hassle-free and economical,” Pareek said.

Hyundai Motor

Similarly, the country’s second largest passenger vehicles maker, Hyundai Motor India, has also been using data analytics and CRM tools since 2006. By the end of 2011, it introduced SAP and in 2012, SAP Business Warehouse solution was introduced.

By using such tools, the company could save time and reduce error rates, thus improving accuracy and quality.

The analyses are immediately channelled back into the operational process, which helps in the real-time coordination with vendors, precise material procurement and manpower and operations planning.

“Change in trends can easily be analysed periodically and course correction, if any, can be effected from time to time,” a company spokesperson said.

“Data analytics helps in segregating relevant information from the robust data provided by the dealerships and service outlets. These insights help us in modifying the products according to the markets,” he added.

Training programmes

The South Korea-based company also organises regular training programmes at its Seoul headquarters for its IT team members from Hyundai, with an aim to equip all participants, across the world, with new technologies and provide them a platform for sharing their experiences.

Since Hyundai produces more than 6.5 lakh cars annually, (40 per cent of which are exported to more than 120 countries) forecasting helped the company in managing the complex data which includes product design, production process for the cars made for different countries, fuel systems, legislative norms and colours options, the spokesperson said.

Other carmakers such as Tata Motors, Honda Cars India and Mahindra & Mahindra are also using data analytics tools to gather information around production and customer behaviour, say analysts.

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