PRESTIGE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH

INDORE, MADHYA PRADESH

WINTER INTERNSHIP PROJECT REPORT

ON

Demand Generation in Apollo Tyres Ltd. and Dealer Satisfaction

Survey in Indore

AT

APOLLO TYERS LTD.

BY

VASU SAXENA
MBA(FT) 2018-20
Scholar No. : 1121211168

Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Prestige Institute of Management and Research Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Yogeshwari
Phatak (Director), for letting me intern at such an esteemed organization to gain exposure at the corporate world.

My experience at Apollo Tyres Ltd. has been enriching to say the least. I would like to express profound gratitude and
indebtedness to my Industry mentor Mr. Maneesh Shrivastav (ABU Manager) for constructive ideas. He has been a
constant source of inspiration to make this project a success.
 Vasu Saxena

Declaration
I hereby declare that I have completed the project titled “Demand Generation in Apollo Tyres Ltd. and Dealer
Satisfaction Survey in Indore” in the academic year 2019 – 2020. The information submitted is true to the best of my
knowledge.

Vasu Saxena
Prestige Institute of Management and Research
Indore, Madhya Pradesh

2 | Page
 CONTENTS

DESCRIPTION PAGE NO.

2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

3
DECLARATION

7
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

8
1. INTRODUCTION

8
1.1. COMPANY PROFILE

10
1.2 MARKETING STRATEGY

3 | Page
 14
1.3 DEMAND GENERATION

27
1.4 OBJECTIVES

27
1.5 ROLE OF DEMAND GENERATION

28
1.6 SCOPE/BENEFITS OF DEMAND GENERATION

30
2.METHODOLOGY

30
2.1 OBJECTIVE

30
2.2 RESEARCH APPROACH AND STRATEGY

31
2.3 TARGET RESPONDENTS

31
2.4 DATA COLLECTION

32
3.ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS:

32
3.1MARKET SHARE OF APOLLO TYRES

34
3.2 ANALYSIS OF DEALER SURVEY

4 | Page
 41
4.FINDINGS & INFERENCES

43
5.RECOMMENDATION

45
6.CONCLUSION

47
7.BIBLIOGRAPHY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5 | Page
The Title of the project is “Demand Generation in Apollo Tyers Ltd. and Dealer Satisfaction Survey in Indore”

Apollo Tyres is the one of major tyre manufacturing company of India. Established in 1972, Apollo is one of the biggest
companies in India having a market share of 28% in India. Apollo Tyres manufactures the tyres for almost all the segment
of vehicle like for Car, Motorbike, Earth mover, Industrial, Farm, truck etc. Company also has a global presence as it is
ranked as 11th biggest tyre manufacturing company in the world.

Its first plant was established in Perambra, Kerala India. The company now has four manufacturing units in India, 1 in
Netherlands and 1 in Hungary. Apollo tyres has 5,000 dealerships in India and about 2,500 exclusive outlets.

The central idea of the project was to determine two things that was market share of Apollo Tyres in passenger Vehicles
segment, for which I took survey of 100 passenger vehicle and other was to calculate the satisfaction level of dealers with
regard to Apollo tyres, for which questioner was formed and 16 dealers participated in the survey. On the basis of data
interpretation was done and key finding were generated.

Chapter 1

1.INTRODUCTION

The origin of tyre industry in India dated back to 1926 when Dunlop Rubber Ltd setup the first tyre factory in West
Bengal. MRF followed the suit in 1946.Since then the Indian tyre industry has grown rapidly. Transportation industry and
tyre industry go hand in hand as the two are inter-dependent. Transportation industry has experienced 10% growth rate
year after year with an absolute level of 870 billion tone freight with an extensive road accounts for over 85% of all
freight movement in India. Tyre industry consumes over 60% of the total rubber production with respect to Indian
economy. But in actuality only just around 52% of the tyre is natural rubber. Remaining 48% consist of synthetic rubber,
carbon, chemicals, etc. The Indian Tyre Industry produced 736 lakh units of tyres (11 lakh tones) garnering Rs. 19,000
cores in FY 07. MRF Ltd. was the market leader (22% market share) followed closely by Apollo Tyres Ltd. (21%). The
other major players were JK Tyre &Industries Ltd (18%) and Ceat Ltd. (13%). The industry tonnage production registered

6 | Page
a 5 year CAGR of 9.69% between FY 02-07. The tyre industry in India is classified under 4 categories based on the year
of commencement of production namely1.

1st Generation Companies: -which included Dunlop and FireStone.

2nd Generation Companies: -which included MRF, CEAT, GoodYear, andPremier.

3rd Generation Companies: -which included Apollo, Vibrant, Modi Rubber, and J.K.Tyres.

4th Generation Companies: -includes the companies started dafter 1970 and also which are yet to start production.

1.1 COMPANY PROFILE

Apollo Tyres Ltd is a high-performance company and the leading India tyre manufacturer. Head quartered in Gurgaon, a
corporate-hub in the National Capital Region of India, Apollo is a young, ambitious and dynamic organization, which
takes pride in its unique identity. Registered as a company in 1976, Apollo is built around the core principles of creating
stakeholder value through reliability in its products and dependability in its relationships. Apollo’s present strength and
market dynamism steps from its early years of strife in establishing itself as a tyre manufacturer within the closed Indian
economy. Over two decades, Apollo worked on a portfolio of products, tuned to customer needs and an array of
innovative marketing initiatives to establish itself as a leader in its home market. Some of these include segmenting
customers by their load and mileage requirements, running tyre loyalty programs, establishing customer contact programs
which resulted in better 9 | Page health and driving habits, introducing India’s first farm radials and India’s first range of
high-speed tubeless passenger car tyres. For the first time, in 2006 Apollo ventured outside India in its quest to test itself
outside its home comforts. Apollo acquired Dunlop Tyres International Pty Ltd in South Africa and Zimbabwe and
renamed as Apollo Tyres South Africa Pty Ltd. The company holds brand rights for the Dunlop brand across 30 African
countries.

In 2009, Apollo acquired Vredestein Banden B V in the Netherlands, and thereby adding Europe as its third crucial
market. The company currently produces the entire range of automotive tyres for ultra and high speed passenger cars,
truck and bus, farm, Off-The-Road, industrial and specialty applications like mining, retreaded tyres and retreading
material. These are produced across Apollo’s eight manufacturing locations in India, Netherlands and Southern Africa. A
ninth facility is currently under construction in southern India, and is expected to commence production towards the end
of 2009. The brands which are produced across these locations are: Apollo, Dunlop, Kaizen, Maloya, Regal and
Vredestein. In the three domestic markets of India, Southern Africa and Europe, Apollo operates through a network of
branded, exclusive or multi-product outlets. Branded outlets are called Dunlop Zones in South Africa, while in India they
are named as Apollo Tyre World and Apollo Radial World. Out of these three key manufacturing locations exports reach
over seventy destinations across the world, comprising Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South-East Asia. For Apollo
Tyres, offering the right product to the right customer is essential. Special efforts are made to understand customer needs
and segment the market accordingly. After which, products are developed for niche applications within a larger category
to enable the company to provide efficient, fuel and cost-saving products to each customer segment. Innovation has

7 | Page
always been an integral part of the Apollo way of doing business, this applies as much to product development and
marketing as to how the company as a whole is focused on challenging existing boundaries. An integral part of the Apollo
Tyres world is its community involvement and giving programs directly related to its business. In India, the focus has
always been on finding ways to ensure a direct benefit to customer groups. For the commercial vehicle community, the
company runs extensive HIV-AIDS awareness and prevention programs and has established Health Care Clinics across
the country to cater to the community’s health needs. For passenger car customers the focus is on cultivating Safe Driving
10 | Page habits. Across its manufacturing locations, the key initiatives revolve around health and education programs.
Apollo is one of the largest corporate investors in developing sporting talent through its Mission 2018, which is focused
on nurturing and training youngsters in the sport of tennis to enable an Indian to win Singles Grand Slan Championship by
the year 2018.

1.2 MARKETING STRATEGY

Marketing strategy are the key factor for the evolution of Apollo Tyre. This involves the following analyses:

Understanding markets:

Skilful analysis of the market trend is required in strategic perspective and how they affect the market size and demand for
the firm’s product.

Finding market niches:

In Indian market the niches are technology, price, convenience and services.

Product and service planning:

Analysis of the customer’s promotion of the brand, both of the firm and competitors, besides an analysis of the situation in
which the customer uses the product.

(i)Distribution: Structural changes in inventory management, mobile distribution is some of the key factors that are going
to affect the distribution process in Indian market

ii) Managing for result: With pressure on costs, prices, and margins, marketers will have to make effective utilization of
every rupee spent in marketing.

Market opportunity of Apollo Tyres

Before the management of affirm takes a decision to launch or diversify in any product area it’s important to identify the
market opportunity. Following analysis are involved in this:

8 | Page
→ Market Size

→ Marketing strategies and the quality of services rendered by other firms in the industry.

→ Identification of key success factors in an industry and linking them to a firm’s strength and weakness.

Market opportunity

a) Size of the market

b) How well the market is reserved

c) Prospective Inches

d) Marketing mix required to succeed

e) Core competencies required

MARKETING MIX

A Marketing mix is the division of groups to make a particular product, by product, place, branding, pricing, and quality.
Although some other P’s have also been added such as personnel and packaging, fundamentals of marketing typically
identifies the four P’s of the marketing mix as –

1) Product

2) Price

3) Promotion

4) Place

Product

Apollo Tyres have large number of product categories which includes all most every segment of vehicle such as-

9 | Page
Cars, SUV’s and Vans

Trucks and Buses

Motorbike

Industrial

Earthmover

10 | Page
 Farm

Price

Price is basically an amount which is paid by customer at the time of purchase. There would be difference in pricing
which could be determined by market share, competition, material cost, quality, product identity, product category and
customer value perceived of the product. In Apollo Tyres the increase and decrease in prices is defined by the company
itself according to the demand in market.

Place

Location where the product can be purchased represents as Place. Place is also defined as distribution channel it can be
both physical store and virtual store. Apollo Tyres have physical in Indore city consist of approx. 20 dealers which deals
through physical stores.

Promotions

In order to achieve marketing objectives requires various integrated strategies and promotional activities plays major role
in marketing mix. Other than being product, price, place, promotion is one of the 4P’s of marketing mix. The promotion
focuses on different strategy a business can use to provide information to the consumer about the product.

1.3 DEMAND GENERATION

Demand generation is the focus of targeted marketing programs to drive awareness and interest in a
company's products and/or services. Commonly used in business-to-business, business-to-government, or longer

11 | Page
business-to-consumer sales cycles, demand generation involves multiple areas of marketing and is really the marriage of
marketing programs coupled with a structured sales process.

There are multiple components of a stepped demand generation process that vary based on the size and complexity of a
sale. These components include, among other things: building awareness, positioning relevance, supporting validation and
mitigating customer evaluation. Useful demand generation methodologies include AIDA (attract Attention, maintain
Interest, create Desire, get Action), developed by E. St. Elmo Lewis.

Building Awareness

Demand generation is a holistic approach to marketing and sales cohesion within the company. Through various nurture
campaigns and marketing approaches, demand generation efforts aim to both create a long-term relationship between a
brand and a potential buyer, and at the same time gauge and develop a prospect's purchasing interest in said brand's
products/services. Building brand or product/service awareness is a vital component in the demand generation process,
and often takes a continued effort and involves multiple facets of marketing.

12 | Page
Advanced demand generation programs typically rely on some form of proactive Lead Generation activities supported by
more traditional market programs and processes. This is because demand generation programs tend to assume that
prospective customers are aware that they have a need or problem, and are attempting to solve it when they search for
solutions. If the prospect is unaware (consciously or, at least, subconsciously) that they have the problem, then demand
generation may not be effective - thus the need for adjunct lead generation activities.

Customer Engagement

The pivot for establishing a superior customer engagement rests with the Company’s Customer Service department,
which serves as the bridge between the customers and other departments, including R&D, Marketing and Manufacturing,
by sharing customer feedback.

Each member of the department has specialised product expertise, technical expertise and commercial understanding to
provide value-added services to the customers. The Company has rolled out multiple initiatives to ensure a world-class
customer engagement programme.

Demand Generation Activities Followed by Apollo Tyres

1) ATOM- Apollo Tractor Owners Meet.

2) CV- Commercial Vehicle Campaign.

13 | Page
3) LCV- Light Commercial Vehicle Campaign.

4) SCV- Service Commercial Vehicle Campaign.

5) STAND Campaign- For Three Wheeler.

6) Road Show Campaign- For LCV, SCV, Three Wheeler.

Apollo Tractor Owners Meet(ATOM)

This is one of the main Demand Generation activities which is conducted by the company. This activity is organized by
the both sales and service team of the company, This campaign is basically for the tractor owners and is held in rural areas
in order to provide information regarding the usage of the different type of tires used in the tractor for farming, in this
campaign information regarding launch of new tyres is also communicated. Many more activities like quiz, lucky draw,
free lunch, refreshment is also included to ensure the more and more people attend the campaign plus have high level of
customer engagement is maintained. During this campaign we identify the areas where there is more competition and
have less market share of Apollo Tyres so that we could identify potential customer and hence capture the market share.

ATOM is 3 days campaign, following is the steps involve in the campaign-

Day 1

● Identify the area for the campaign.

● Contact the dealers for the list of potential customer.
● Get the data of all customers (Name, Address, Phone number etc.).
● Book venue for the meet.
● Assemble all the things required for the meet (Gifts, laptop, projector etc).

Day 2

● One to one invitation to potential customer and Apollo Tyres Dealers (same reign).
● Take fallow-ups.

14 | Page
 (Gandwani ATOM, 04/01/2019)

Day 3

● Take fallow-ups.
● Gather all the customer.
● Presentation regarding information on product or new launch.
● Communicating the best way to use the product.
● Conducting the quiz and providing the gifts.
● Announcing the lucky draw and providing the gift (mostly front tire of the tractor).
● Lunch with the customers.
● Get feedback.

15 | Page
 (Gram Utsav Campaign, Ujjain, 04/02/2019)

CV-Commercial Vehicle Campaign

This is a Demand Generation activity which is conducted by the company. This activity is organized by the both sales and
service team of the company, This campaign is basically for the Commercial Vehicle owners and is held in urban/rural
areas in order to provide information regarding the usage of the different type of tires used in the Vehicle for
transportation, an analysis of almost 15 truck tyers is done and convey all the draw back and method of use of tyers , also
this campaign information regarding launch of new tyres is also communicated. Many more activities like quiz, free
lunch, refreshment is also included to ensure the potential people attend the campaign plus have high level of customer
engagement is maintained. During this campaign we identify the areas where there is more competition and have less
market share of Apollo Tyres so that we could identify potential customer and hence capture the market share.

This campaign, following is the steps involve in the campaign-

Day 1

● Identify the area for the campaign.

● Contact the dealers for the list of potential customer.
● Get the data of all customers (Name, Address, Phone number etc.).
● Book venue for the meet.
● Assemble all the things required for the meet (Gifts, laptop, projector etc).

Day 2

● One to one invitation to potential customer and Apollo Tyres Dealers (same reign).
● Analysis of their truck tyres, (Air Pressure, Tyres thread depth etc),route on which they mostly travel (Indore-
Mumbai), kilometer they have travelled etc.
● Take fallow-ups.

16 | Page
 (Inspecting Tyres thread depth and air pressure,24/01/2019)

17 | Page
 (Truck Inspection, Sendhwa, 24/01/2019)

Day 3

● Take fallow-ups.
● Gather the entire customer.
● Presentation regarding technique on better use of tyres, common issue/problem seen in maximum truck, resolving
method of those problems.
● Communicating the best way to use the product.
● Conducting the quiz and providing the gifts.
● Lunch with the customers.
● Get feedback.

18 | Page
 (CV Meeting, Sendhwa, 24/01/2019)

LCV Campaign

In this campaign information regarding new tire launch or any promotional activities for that particular time is
communicated. Mostly the truck and mini truck which are used for commercial purpose are targeted. The owners of truck
and mini truck services were contacted under the reign of Ujjain which have almost 50 truck drivers or the owners.
During the conversation the sales person also influences the drivers or the owners to use there tire instead of other by
communicating the benefits of there tire over other. At the end of the campaign feedback is collected from every owner
and drivers about the Apollo tires products, and in exchange of this information free merchandise is distributed to the
owners and drivers.

Campaign Process

● Invitation to potential customer and Apollo Tyres Dealers.

● Book venue for the meet.
● Assemble all the things required for the meet (Gifts, laptop, projector etc).
● Gather all the customer.
● Presentation regarding information on product or new launch.
● Conducting the quiz and providing the gifts.
● Lunch with the customers.
● Get feedback.

19 | Page
 (Ujjain LCV Campaign, 16/01/2019)

SCV Campaign

In this campaign information regarding new tire launch or any promotional activates for the time being is communicated.
Mostly small commercial vehicle owners and drivers are targeted in this campaign. During the exchange of information
with the drivers and owners free merchandise is also given as a gift. During the conversation the sales person also
influences the drivers or the owners to use there tire instead of other by communicating the benefits of there tire over
other. At the end feedback is taken from every driver and owner.

20 | Page
 (Indore SCV Campaign, 09/01/2019)

Campaign Process

● Identify the target market (current users ,influencers)

● Identify the communication channel (one to one, etc)
● Set the objective for the campaign (promotion, awareness, etc)
● Develop clear and unambiguous messages
● Information on product or new launch
● Take feedback from the coustomers
● Evaluate the campaign effectiveness

21 | Page
 (Indore SCV Campaign, 09/01/2019)

STAND Campaign

This campaign is basically for the 3 wheeler vehicles like auto-rickshaw. As Apollo Tyres has newly introduced the tires
in this segment so there is no information in market about the new tire segment. In this campaign Auto-rickshaw stands
are targeted to delivers as much information regarding the tires and persuading the customers to use the tire instead for
other brand by delivering the additional benefits of Apollo tyre over the tires of other brand. These campaigns are used to
increase demand, sales, raise awareness about social issues, increase brand equity or change public opinion. It helps
Apollo to engage with a customer at multiple touch points. In this campaign different tools like demand generation, direct
marketing and sales promotions. The messages across these different tools needs to be carefully customized and designed
to meet the objectives of the promotional campaign.

22 | Page
 (Indore STAND Campaign, 12/01/2019)

Roadshow Campaign- For LCV, SCV, Three Wheeler

In Roadshow campaign the sample tyres of LCV, SCV, Three Wheeler are taken to various potential places where the use
of Apollo Tyres could be made. It is a major and effective activity to generate demand in a particular region. We get
directly connected to the vehicle owner and driver. The additional benefits of Apollo tyre over the tires of other brand.
These campaigns are used to increase demand, sales, raise awareness about social issues, increase brand equity or change
public opinion. It helps Apollo to engage with a customer at multiple touch points. In this campaign different tools like
demand generation, direct marketing and sales promotions. The messages across these different tools needs to be carefully
customized and designed to meet the objectives of the promotional campaign.

23 | Page
 (Roadshow Campaign, 22/01/2019)

1.4 OBJECTIVES

Each Campaign is a specific communication that must be effective, not just for one customer, but for many target buyers.
This means that specific objectives should be set for each particular campaign. It is a form of dermand generation and
promotion; the objectives of Campaign should be specific. This requires that the target consumers should be specifically
identified and that the effect which is intended to have upon the consumer should be clearly indicated. The objectives of
Campaign were traditionally stated in terms of direct sales. Now, it is to view advertising as having communication
objectives that seek to inform persuade and remind potential customers of the worth of the product. Campaign seeks to
condition the consumer so that they may have a favourable reaction to the promotional message. Campaign objectives
serve as guidelines for the planning and implementation of the entire Campaign programme.

1.5 ROLE OF DEMAND GENERATION

The role of demand generation activity as a discrete and increasingly vital part of the marketing function is well accepted
amongst corporation. Demand generation provides a great window into how targeted campaigns translate into qualified
leads, the intersection of marketing and sales. Understanding the bigger picture is how are demand generation can set up a
success for the Company. One of the great aspects of transitioning to a demand generation role is the broad skill set
required, which most marketers already possess. To help assess if a demand generation role, take a look at some of the
key skills needed to succeed in this role.

It is more and more common these days to see a director of demand gen working alongside of counterparts who manage
closely aligned departments such as marketing communications and corporate communications. Indeed, this is exactly the
structure we have at company, Marketo.But, this was not always the case, even in the relatively recent past. I was talking
with a colleague the other day about the emergence of the “demand gen” specialty in marketing departments. Neither of
24 | Page
us could pinpoint the exact time-frame when the term started to appear with some regularity. One thing is certain: The
demand gen role is a pretty new phenomenon in business and marketing.

1.6 SCOPE/BENEFITS OF DEMAND GENERATION

Demand Generation is often regarded as the most important means of marketing a company’s services and tools. The
scope of demand generation is to communicate a message to current customers or potentially target new customers. It
helps a company get a message or a piece of information across to their customer base regarding a new product or special
deal.

Demand Generation is a huge industry. It has created opportunities for various domains. Thebenefits of advertising
include:

Launch of a new product:

Demand Generation plays very significant role in the introduction of a new product in the market. It stimulates the people
to buy or know about a product.

Increases markets:

It helps the manufacturers to expand their markets. It opens the horizons for new markets for the product or service.

Consumer awareness:

Demand Generation is educational and dynamic in nature. It increase awareness among customers about the new products
and their diversifications.

25 | Page
 Chapter 2

2.METHODOLOGY

2.1 OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study is to get knowledge on tyre industry. This internship gave me the chance to relate the
theoretical knowledge with the practical experiences. The following are the objective for internship in a tyre company

● To apply theoretical knowledge in the practical field.

● To know about its operation.
● To know the dealer perception about the company and their satisfaction level.
● To identify the market, share of Apollo Tyres for passenger of different segment in Indore region.

2.2 RESEARCH APPROACH AND STRATEGY

I thought the best way to research on identifying the satisfaction level of the dealer would be a survey which would have
various sets of questions.

In the process of conducting the research I prepared one questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 8 questions which
had both close ended questions and open ended questions. But mostly I tried to put close ended questions so that it gets
easier for the respondents to answer. There were some questions that had more than two options. Respondents were asked
to scale the certain options on 5-point Likert scale. The survey was done one to one interview and mailing the
questionnaires to the respondents asking them to fill up and send back. After getting all the responses from the customers
and the dealers I input those into the sheet and expressed the opinion through various graphs and pie charts and analyzed
the results based on various concepts and practical knowledge.

26 | Page
2.3 TARGET RESPONDENTS

Apollo Tyres Indore has 20 enlisted dealers (latest), out of which, I interviewed 16 dealers and for fitment survey took the
sample of 100 vehicles from various areas of Indore city.

2.4 DATA COLLECTION

To collect the data, I used Primary data source because the internship report is mainly based on research. I also used
secondary data source for the information regarding the company. For fitment survey of passenger cars rear and front tires
I took the sample size of 100 vehicles, models like Indica, Octavia, TATA sumo, Wagonr, Santro, Swift etc., and for the
dealer’s satisfaction survey 16 dealers were chosen for the data collection.

Primary Data:

In Apollo Tyres I was assigned in sales and marketing department; where my job was to learn all the work which sales
department does and to be the part/conduct various promotional activities. But most importantly I worked on identifying
dealer satisfaction level plus market share of Apollo tyresin Indore and what they actually want from me. Regarding this I
prepared a survey questionnaire and interviewed the respondents. Other than that we arranged a dealer meet during my
course of internship where the dealers’ one to one interaction with the employees and higher authority gave me much
information that I needed for the report, and for the Fitment survey I took sample of 100 passenger cars for data
collection.

Secondary Data:

In regard to know the companies profile, marketing mix, competitors, pricing strategy I took the help of secondary data
source. I used official website of Apollo Tyres, newspaper articles, online articles etc as a secondary data source.

Chapter 3

3.ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS:

I conducted two surveys to measure the satisfaction level of Apollo Tyres customers. Apollo has two categories of
customers one is their end customer or the buyers and another category is the dealers.

27 | Page
3.1MARKET SHARE OF APOLLO TYRES

Utility- From the following data analysis of market share of Apollo Tyre in Indore city is obtained Result- The result is
divided into following category: -

A- FITMENT SURVEY

● Analysis of front tyre

● Analysis of rear tyre
● Over all analysis (Front + Rear)

Analysis of front tires

28 | Page
 Analysis of rear tires

Analysis of front and rear tires

29 | Page
After analyzing the fitment survey of 100 passenger vehicle, the leading brand in front tyres was MRF followed by Apollo
Tyres but the results were different in rear tyres Apollo Tyres managed to rank 1st position followed by MRF, combining
the data of front and rear fitment survey the results showed that MRF and Apollo have same market share in passenger car
vehicle in Indore as Apollo had market share of 26% where as MRF had 25.25%. Hence, according to the fitment survey
of passenger car the main competitor is MRF in Indore.

3.2 ANALYSIS OF DEALER SURVEY

Questionnaire that I prepared contained 8 questions for dealers. I interviewed 16 dealers during my internship. All of them
were the dealers of Apollo Tyres but also deals in other brand like JK, Bridgestone, CEAT etc. The analyses of the key
questions are given below:

Question 1

Influential factors:

The 1st question which was asked was about the factors that influence them to deal with a particularbrand of tyre. Four
key factors were given to choose. The factors were Quality, Profit, Customer Demand and lastly The Company Policy.

Customers’ demand was the factor on which most of them agreed. If the market has a demand for a particular product,
then they are forced to keep only those brands in the shop even if they are awareof other good brands in the industry. The
second major factor was profit. The dealers said they are always interested in doing business with those brands which give
them the maximum profit because at the end of the day they are here to make profit. The Quality of the product as number

30 | Page
3 influential factors. They like to deal with those brands that have fewer complaints in the market. Because if aparticular
brand has major issues regarding the quality of the product then the dealer also suffers for that. Lastly, they kept the
company policy. They said that it is easier to do business with those companies whose business policy makes their process
of doing business smoother, will help them to increase their profit. They basically avoid the companies that has
complicated business policy or hidden clauses.

Question 2

Rank the brands:

Next I asked them to rank the brands which they feel are actively present and have popularity in the market. 5 brand
names were given to them to rank. Those were MRF, Birla, Apollo, JK, CEAT.

As we can see in graph MRF has the strongest presence in the market. It is one of the most popular brand in the market.
The next most popular brand is Apollo. Then in the third place stands the CEAT. Fourth was JK and last was Birla

Question 3

Rate Apollo Tyres (based on their 12 months’ performance):

Gradually I asked the dealer to rate Apollo Tyres based on their last 12 months’ performance. The hoptions which were
given to them was Quality, Profit, Policy and which Apollo Tyres considers to be the most important one in terms of
doing business.

31 | Page
The factors Quality was ranked 1st and Profit was ranked second but was almost the same as quality. The rest two factors
Demand and Policy was on 3rd and 4th position as earlier. The dealers said comparing to other brands Apollo Tyres gives
them a satisfactory amount quality and the profit. But the demand is not that high as it is for MRF and also the company
are bit difficult.

Question 4

Rank the features:

Then I asked them to rank some more factors that Apollo considers as their strength. The rating was done on the basis of
how they agree with the given statements. The statements were ‘Apollo Tyres delivers on time’, ‘I like the schemes of
Apollo Tyres’, ‘I am satisfied with the profit I get from Apollo Tyres’ ‘Apollo Tyres maintains good connections with the
dealer’s, and ‘Apollo is trustworthy’.

32 | Page
Among all the factors the good connection process has been well appreciated among the dealers. They agreed that Apollo
Tyres maintains a very good relationship with its dealers, the sales personnel are quiet efficient. And the lowest scored
factor was delivery time. They think that Apollo Tyres should deliver the product at time as during peak season the
demand is very high.

Question 5

Importance of promotional activities:

Next I wanted to know about their opinion on the importance of promotional activities of a product. The dealers were
asked to rate on scale of 1-5(5 point Likert scale) importance of promotional activities. 80% of the respondents said they
disagree as promotional actives are much more important in rural areas than urban areas, 20% were those dealers which
comes under rural areas as the are much benefited from the promotional activities like ATOM which generates demand in
their areas.

33 | Page
Question 6

Choose the Schemes:

Next question which was asked to dealers were to choose the scheme which they prefer the most. There were 3 options
Trade/Cash discounts, Gifts, Foreign trips.

Majority of the dealers’ first choice is cash discount scheme. The dealers think this sort of schemes give them a
motivation to do business with a certain brand. To stay competitive in the market Apollo Tyres has to launch different
scheme like this because the other companies do this often. Next, they like to have foreign trips. They think that its very

34 | Page
much motivational and new concept. After that comes the Gifts scheme. According to the dealers Gift scheme is very
common approach and almost every company do that.

Question 7

Are you satisfied with Apollo Tyres?

Majority of the dealers (81%) said that they are happy with Apollo Tyres but on the other hand 19% said they are not that
much happy with the company. To explain the majority choice, it can be said that Apollo Tyres in present is doing good.
The way company maintains its communication with the dealers might be another reason why they rated Apollo Tyres
like this. One of their policies of giving 3 years’ warranty of the purchased product and in some cases 5 years’ warranty
which has 2 years unconditional warranty also left a positive impact on the dealers because this kind of scheme is unique
in the market. But the number that is not happy with Apollo Tyres cannot be ignored. Because 19% is quiet a heavy
number. And the company has to bring its foremost focus on it. The reason of their being not happy with the company can
be the insufficient scheme, high prices.

Question 8

Recommend to others:

35 | Page
87.5% of them replied positively. They said they would recommend the brand to other dealers. As Apollo Tyres is
maintaining customer relationship can be one of the reason to recommend. The way they are communicating with dealers
has impressed a lot of the dealers. The warranty offer is also well appreciated. The rest 12% where the dealers who said
they wont recommend because they don’t want more Apollo dealers in their city other than they will recommend Apollo
to others.

Chapter 4

4.FINDINGS & INFERENCES

In my internship I came across certain things that gave me a core idea about the organization. There were many good
sides of working process but at the same time in which organization is lacking at some areas that is leading towards
dealer’s dissatisfaction to some extent. The problems that I felt during my term after interviewing the dealers was mostly
related to the shortage of the tires when needed as during the month of Jan there was too much lack of demand of tires in
Indore as it was the low season in the market and demand was low but supply was up to the mark and more over Apollo
lacks in claim policies as compared to MRF has a better clam policy. According to my opinion these are effecting the
growth Apollo Tyres and also impacting negatively on its customers. Here, I tried to point out some of those findings:

● There are already some well-established tyre companies in this industry and the people are not so ready to switch
their brands. Apollo Tyres is mainly targeting those customers who purchase Tractor, Passenger car and Bus
tyres. The customers of this category are very brand loyal and cannot be persuaded to choose other brand. Among
all other competitors, MRF has the highest market share. People are more likely to purchase or doing business
with this brand.

36 | Page
 ● In terms of doing business or purchasing a particular brand, there are some influential factors that affect the
dealers buying decisions. From dealers’ point of it is the demand of the market. Along with these things there are
some other factors too.
● Dealers have complained about the unavailability of the tyre when needed. According to them it is very difficult
to wait when the customer is standing at their counter or the customer urgently needs the tyre.
● According to dealers one major benefit that they get from the particular brand is that it provides one of best
quality products in the market which one major factor for the customer to buy the product.
● One of the main issues of dealers is the tyre price. According to them Apollo has much higher price than other
brand like CEAT, JK and MRF. As a result, whenever they ask their customers to purchase Apollo Tyres they
compare between other brands mainly with MRF Tyres. And because of this, it becomes very difficult for them to
influence the end customer to buy it.
● The claim process of Apollo tyres is bit of tiring as they have too much of rules and regulation while taking tyre
for claim and time span for changing the tyre take almost 48 hours as compared to MRF which changes the tyre
within 24 hours and some time the they do it hand to hand.
● After sales service of Apollo Tyres is considered to be very good comparing to other companies in the market.
The dealers appreciated their follow up process, inspection and investigation upon a claim. But along with this,
they also suggested to increase the number of skilled employees who will frequently work in the field. The dealer
also suggested some after sales services that would motivate them to buy Apollo tyres.
● One of the major part of the company are the promotional activities which is very helpful in demand generation
for the dealers which are in rural areas but for the dealers who operate in urban areas are not much benefited by
these activities, though there are some campaign which also helps in generating demand in urban areas like LCV,
SCV and STAND campaign.
● Finally, the dealers demanded for some schemes that would benefit them and their customers as it can also give
them a push to sell the tyres of Apollo because both the dealers and customers need to experience something good
at the end of the day. As the competitor are finding new and innovative ways of doing business and capturing
market share, so as to be in competition and ahead of every one Apollo Tyres should be innovating all the time.

Chapter 5

5.RECOMMENDATION

37 | Page
During my internship my main focus was to find the market share of Apollo Tyres and to find the dealer satisfaction level
towards the company. According to my survey of dealers there were many finding as to how much dealer is satisfied with
the company, what are the plus point that dealers likes about the company and market share of Apollo Tyres compared to
other brand in Indore. Following would be some recommendation according to my insights: -

Introduce Attractive Schemes:

Apollo should introduce some attractive schemes for both dealers and customers. Although there are many schemes like 5
years’ warranty (which includes 2 years’ unconditional warranty), gold coupons etc. But this is not enough as dealers
were not much satisfied by the schemes policies and more over they have price disadvantages over MRF which is there
main competitor, so they can have scheme advantage over MRF as to compensate for pricing disadvantage.

Pricing strategy:

According to the market the price of Apollo Tyres it is bit high priced then other brand mainly of MRF as it is one of the
main competitor of Apollo Tyres in India, so Apollo Tyres should closely investigate the issue and change the price after
comparing the other brands in the market.

Claim policy:

After analyzing the market and identifying the main competitor of Apollo Tyres i.e. MRF one of the main reason that
came across other than pricing was claim policies. MRF claim policies is much more easy and less time consuming as
compared to Apollo Tyres, as stated above there are too many rules and regulation in Apollo Tyres for taking tyres into
claim where as MRF does not have much rules when it comes to claim policy, this is one of the factor which Apollo tyres
need take in consideration.

38 | Page
 Chapter 6

6.CONCLUSION

During the course of my internship, I basically tried to assess what are the factors which contributed change in satisfaction
level of the dealers and what are the expectations of the dealers from Apollo Tyres Indore, Madhya Pradesh. After the
survey I got some really good data or insights which answered almost all the questions regarding the market share of
Apollo Tyres and dealer’s satisfaction level. Apollo Tyres is already one of major player in tyre industry and has been
established very well in the market as it is ranked 2nd in India among top sales company. After the analysis I came to
know dealers were holding almost mix thoughts about the company that is negative and positive opinion. Again, the
analysis of data disclosed that Apollo Tyres needs to focus on innovative schemes, there pricing strategies and one of the
main claim policies. I also observed, to establish a positive a company image and to increase the satisfaction level of the
customers, a major role lies upon the employees’ side. It will be very beneficial in terms of understanding buying
behavior, human psychology that works as an influence behind this, knowledge about company’s product and services,
competitive environment, types of customers and their varying characteristics, communication skills and most
importantly- knowledge of selling process. Following is the data which concludes the current position of Apollo Tyres in
the market of Indore and the satisfaction level of dealers:

● The market share of Apollo Tyres in Indore is 26% in passenger car segment.
● Approximately 81% dealers are satisfied with the Apollo Tyres in Indore.
● Majority of the dealers agreed that Apollo Tyers maintain good relation with dealers.
● Apollo Tyres stand on 2nd place after MRF according to the dealers of Indore.

39 | Page
 ● One of the major reason dealers deals in Apollo Tyres is because of the quality as the ranked quality as main
preference when asked to rate Apollo Tyers.

The experience of spending my internship period in Apollo Tyres Ltd. has been rewarding and very smoothing. The
organization has given me a scope of functioning as a member of highly active team of professionals serving to the need
of such global brand and has added to my competences of working under pressure and effectively maintaining all aspects
of work environment. I have been rewarded with great opportunity of developing a professional attitude which would
certainly act on my benefit in my future career endeavors.

Chapter 7

40 | Page
7.BIBLIOGRAPHY

➢ Apollo. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.apollotyres.com.

➢ Econ. Times. (n.d.). Retrieved from economictimes.indiatimes.com.

Supportive Websites:

www.robertwalters-usa.com

www.blog.bizzabo.com

http://www.pondiuni.edu.in

41 | Page