Indian Car Research Articles

Automated license plate authentication framework using multi-view vehicle images

The current framework for detecting Fake License Plates (FLP) in real-time is not robust enough for patrol teams. The objective of this paper is to develop a robust license plate authentication framework, based on the Vehicle Make and Model Recognition (VMMR) and the License Plate Recognition (LPR) algorithms that is implementable at the edge devices. The contributions of this paper are (i) Development of license plate database for 547 Indian cars, (ii) Development of an image dataset with 3173 images of 547 Indian cars in 8 classes, (iii) Development of an ensemble model to recognize vehicle make and model from frontal, rear, and side images, and (iv) Development of a framework to authenticate the license plates with frontal, rear, and side images. The proposed ensemble model is compared with the state-of-the-art networks from the literature. Among the implemented networks for VMMR, the Ensembling model with a size of 303.2 MB achieves the best accuracy of 89% . Due to the limited memory size, Easy OCR is chosen to recognize license plate. The total size of the authentication framework is 308 MB. The performance of the proposed framework is compared with the literature. According to the results, the proposed framework enhances FLP recognition due to the recognition of vehicles from side images. The dataset is made public at https://www.kaggle.com/ganeshmailecture/datasets.

Understanding the relationship between reviews, search and sales: a study of the Indian car market

PurposeWhile there has been extensive research on understanding the effects of online reviews on product sales, there is not enough investigation of the inter-relationships between online reviews, online search and product sales. The study attempts to address this gap in the context of the Indian car market.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses text mining and considers six important review features volume, valence, length, deviation of valence, sentiment and readability within the heuristic and systematic model of information processing. Panel data regression is used along with mediation analysis to study the inter-relationships between features of reviews, online search and sales.FindingsThe study finds that numerical heuristic features significantly affect sales and online search, numerical systematic feature affects sales and the textual heuristic and systematic features do not affect sales or online search in the Indian car market. Further, online search mediates the association between features of reviews and sales of cars.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough only car sales data from India is considered in this research, similar relationships between review features, online search and sales could exist for the car market of other countries as well.Originality/valueThis research uncovers the unique role of online search as a mediator between review features and sales, whereas prior literature has considered review features and online search as independent variables that affect sales.

Current Indian Car Market and EV Adaptation

Current Indian Car Market and EV Adaptation

Sustainable innovation for shared mobility: contextual and consumer factors of an Indian car subscription business model

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the nature and scale of the sustainability value of car sharing and to identify, through consumer analysis, the contextual and consumer factors of success of car subscription as a business model.Design/methodology/approachThe study evaluates the car sharing model against the sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations in 2019. Individual interviews were performed for preliminary understanding of the factors affecting consumers' choices. Subsequently, through two phases of data collection, factor analysis and path model analysis were performed to identify and confirm latent factors. Consumer market segmentation was performed using cluster analysis.FindingsCar sharing was found to have an overall positive net impact, with certain potential negative dimensions. Willingness, financial affordability, location and experience were identified as the key factors of consumers opting for car subscriptions. The findings further highlight the significant business potentialities of car subscription in India, consequent also to consumers' attitudes toward car ownership.Practical implicationsThe research has substantial implications for both society and business, with the former being presented with an innovative sustainable means of transportation, and the latter with the elements of success of an entrepreneurial business model to support the former.Originality/valueThe study is a pioneer in objectively evaluating and prescribing positive social and business value creation for and through car subscription in India, based on consumer analysis.

After-sale service experiences and customer satisfaction: An empirical study from the Indian automobile industry

For the growth of any industry, services play an essential role. Customers are more aware of the type of services they receive, and the expectations from the service providers are very high. Twenty-two percent total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country is generated through the automotive industry. Global automotive majors have entered India and have dramatically changed the country's car production scenario. Changes to international technology design and adaptation have helped Indian car manufacturing compete globally, facing worldwide challenges. Considering services' high significance and essential role in the automobile industry, this study examined customer satisfaction with after-sales service experiences in the automobile sector—this paper analyses customer satisfaction concerning automotive service interactions. The conceptual framework explains the impact on customer satisfaction in various car industries from various experiences, including employee behaviour, service lead time, service quality, service processes, and service costs. The respondents from Bangalore were selected. The data collection sampling approach used was convenience sampling. In a standardized questionnaire, data is collected from 400 respondents. The results demonstrate the substantial influence of service interactions on customer satisfaction.

Consumer lifestyles and ecological behavior: A study of car buyers in India

AbstractEnvironmental issues have gauged the attention of marketers and researchers all around the world. Automobile industry has a major environmental impact due to fuel consumption and emissions. A threadbare understanding of the automobile buyer is necessary to better connect with consumers with changing lifestyles, attitudes, and personalities, basically to cater to their sensibilities and psyche, gradually accommodating contemporary environmental viewpoints. Marketers have religiously focused upon studying the car buying behavior and its links with lifestyles. The present study aims to offer a preview of the relationship between lifestyles and ecological behavior among urban car consumers in an emerging economy like India. The findings of the study suggest factors like need for achievement, need for uniqueness, price consciousness, and need for status affect the ecological behavior of the Indian car buyers.

Drivers of purchase intention - hedonic or utilitarian values A case of Indian electric car market

Drivers of purchase intention - hedonic or utilitarian values A case of Indian electric car market

A Research Paper on Digital Transformation in Car Buying Process: Understanding Usage Intentions with the Technology Acceptance Models

Digital interventions have affected every business and product category. Consumers are making use of digital channels and platforms to research, explore, review and buy the routine items like grocery to speciality and high involvement products involving significant outlay such as Car. However, it remains yet to be researched adequately by the researchers in an emerging economy context, whether the purchase of a product like car has been affected in same way as that of routine items by the digital channels. This study compares the most popular intentions-based models namely technology acceptance model (TAM) with the decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB) to predict the intentions of Indian car buyers to employ digital marketing communication while making a car buying decision. The study is of great relevance to the academicians because it provides a peep into the role of consumer’s intention in shaping consumer behaviour. Not many studies have applied the intention based models in Indian passenger car market especially in technology mediated environment. The study has not only seen the application of intention-based models in a relatively unexplored category, but also puts forwards the most suitable model that could be used by the marketers to predict the usage intentions and actual usage of digital marketing communication thereafter, while taking a car buying decision. Primary data was obtained from 500 car buyers consisting of both actual and potential buyers from Delhi. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate and compare both the models in terms of overall fit, explanatory power and significance. The results of the study revealed that digital channels have transformed the car buying process and DTPB was more successful model in predicting Indian car buyers’ intentions to use digital marketing communication while buying a car.

Study of Aerodynamics on Indian Budget Concept Car

Currently demand of Indian budget cars also called people’s car in India is in great demand and around 1 million cars have been sold in the last financial year with 12% increase of sales in every forthcoming year. These are categorized in sub 4m category of sedan, hatchbacks and medium size SUVs’ and their price ranges between 7 to 11 lakhs. The aerodynamics significantly affects the performance of the vehicle particularly at high speed. The manufactures are more focused on styling and giving a luxury look and other features of the car which sometimes make them to compromise on its aerodynamic design. This may lead to increase in fuel consumption at Indian road conditions. A cost-effective way to reduce fuel consumption, drag coefficient, lift force is to improve aerodynamic behavior and reduce the aerodynamic drag. The software used in this work is Solidworks, Ansys Fluent and commercial CFD post. Consequently, of using this software, it allows us to apply, learn and link technical knowledge of aerodynamics and computer knowledge.

An assessment of customers’ satisfaction for emerging technologies in passenger cars using Kano model

Purpose Automobile industry has been the backbone of manufacturing sector in any country. During the past decade, passenger car industry has emerged as the one of the growing sectors in the Indian economy. Technological features in the passenger cars industry has been evolving in the global market, and customers have been the most important stakeholders to judge the requirement of these features. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the customers’ need for these emerging technologies using Kano model of customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach This paper has used the Kano model to assess the customer satisfaction for Indian passenger car companies. Overall, 250 customers of passenger cars from Northern India have been surveyed using well-structured questionnaire designed as per the Kano model. On the basis of responses, this study has categorized the technological attributes of passenger cars as attractive, must be, one-dimensional and indifferent. Findings “Auto Gear Shift” system has emerged as a must be attribute. “Premium surround system” has been categorized under one-dimensional attribute. “Communication between vehicles,” “integration with smart phone,” “connecting applications,” “dual-stage airbags,” “in-dash navigation system,” “rearview camera,” “heated and cooled seats,” “built-in fourth generation long term evolution,” “Wi-Fi system” and “automated window cleaning system” have emerged as attractive features. The customers have been indifferent about “gesture control,” “reality display on car wind screen” and “run-on-flat tyre.” In contradiction to the popular belief, this study has found that customers have shown Indifferent attitude toward “hydrogen fuel-operated cars” and “battery cars.” Research limitations/implications This present study gives insight about the acceptability of various emerging technological features in Indian car market. This study has fulfilled the existing dearth in assessing the customers’ insight about the implementation of these emerging technologies in Indian cars. This paper will be helpful to the manufacturers to inculcate the voice of the customers in designing the new technologies for the passenger cars. Originality/value Previous studies across the globe have applied Kano model for assessing customers’ satisfaction in various industries, but according to the authors’ knowledge, hardly any study was conducted in context of technological attributes for Indian passenger car companies.

Development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems for Indian Cars

The rising incidence of accidents in countries due to the lack of safety equipment in vehicles has been a hectic situation these days. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are the most promising technology for reducing road transport externalities (e.g. congestion, traffic accidents, and environmental stress). The purpose of this study is to increase the safety and efficiency of motor vehicles, commercial vehicles, and special vehicles and shape the mobility of tomorrow. Using a cross-sectional analysis, the study analyzed vehicle safety can be improved by using ADAS technologies such as radar, LIDAR, ultrasonic and infrared (IR) sensors, highly resilient and reliable cameras, optical sensors. A review of the most popular available technologies used in ADAS and descriptions of their application areas are discussed in this paper.

Identifying the Factors for Achieving Sustainability for Indian Car Market

In today’s competitive business scenario, the Pivot in supply chain is Consumer satisfaction. This could be considered as the most important internal goal to achieve in order to be active and leader in the business environment. Along with this when value chain partner are focusing on customer satisfaction external factor like the environmental issue are also important to make the business model a sustainable. All these issues forces the manufacturer and rest value chain partner to become Agile in nature. The consumer is also part of this continuously changing innovative environment, which is mainly meant for them only and to a large extent for sustainability. These volatile and continuously changing environment may also effects consumer satisfaction level in some or other aspects while using the product and at the time of use end. The agility in Supply Chain may leads to a shorter product life cycle and forces the consumer to cope with the secondary car market within few years of purchase. Also the role of government and dealer outlets regarding environmental effects like NGT legislatives and support of dealers for creating awareness among consumer regarding pollution control is also one of the key factors. This study focus on these factors that have impact on the satisfaction level of end-user .An effort is made to check the perceived effect of these factors on consumer, at the same time study suggest how these factors can be modulated to lower extent with the aid of eco-leasing business model in context of Indian car market.

Importance ranking of supplier selection scorecard parameters - among Indian car manufacturing industry

Importance ranking of supplier selection scorecard parameters - among Indian car manufacturing industry

Consumer Management in Internet Age: A Study of Indian Car Buyers Digital Communication Adoption by Applying Competing Models

Consumer management has always been a challenging task for marketers. The task becomes even more challenging in internet age witnessing proliferation of emerging marketing practices with each passing year. Digital marketing communication has emerged as the most preferred communication alternative in recent years. Consumer have adopted digital communication in their buying decision process for number of product categories, still the adoption has not been studied adequately for products lying in extended problem solving category. This study compares the most popular technology adoption models to predict the intentions of Indian car buyers to use digital communication while making a car buying decision to better under the consumer management. Primary data was obtained from 801 car buyers consisting of both actual and potential buyers from Delhi. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate and compare the models in terms of overall fit, explanatory power and significance. The results of the study revealed that Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour in explaining the digital communication adoption which could be used by the marketers for better consumer management.

Identifying the congruence among the presumed, communicated and perceived brand positioning strategies of Indian automobile brands

The incidence of congruence among presumed, communicated and perceived positioning strategies off our Indian car brands (WagonR, Santro, Spark and Figo) is examined. The triangulation research methodology (pilot survey, secondary data and content analysis) is applied to examine the three populations (expert views, advertising strategies and consumer perceptions) considered in the study. The results reveal the popularity of two positioning strategies i.e. “Visual Artistic” and “Basic Features” in case of three car brands whereas Figo stands on the positioning of “Cost and Finance.” Regarding the congruence among experts’ presumed strategies and the communication tactics employed by selected car brands, it is observed that all the communicated strategies are not presumed and thus ambiguities prevail in the process. This paper also calls the corporate attention to the fact that even positioning strategies perceived by the customers are not presumed by experts and hence there is need to re-assess the brand positioning strategies to curtail these ambiguities. However, the positioning activities highlighted in communications are successfully recognized by the target customers to some extent. The paper concludes with the discussion on managerial implications and limitations.

Importance ranking of supplier selection scorecard parameters - among Indian car manufacturing Industry

The Indian automotive industry is now the fastest growing industry in the world ranking at fourth position replacing Germany. For any manufacturing industry, it is not only the customers but suppliers also play a very vital role in success. The proper selection of suppliers is necessary. In this research perception of 40 experts from the car manufacturing industry in India obtained about supplier selection scorecard parameters. The ranking is done based on preference. This ranking is then compared with the ranking of key parameters obtained from the literature survey and Dickson's (1966) ranking. Dickson's study is referred to as the base of research in this area since 1966 by most of the researchers. This research helps - understanding how Indian car manufacturing industry's perceptions are different than global perceptions based on literature survey and Dickson's 23 criteria. It provides the Indian car manufacturing industry's preference rankings for these parameters.

An Empirical Study on Transaction from ICE [Internal Combustion Engine- Petrol, Diesel] to EV [Electrical Vehicle]: 2019 Indian Era of Green Mobility with Special reference to the Customer Buying Pattern in Indian Car Segment

An Empirical Study on Transaction from ICE [Internal Combustion Engine- Petrol, Diesel] to EV [Electrical Vehicle]: 2019 Indian Era of Green Mobility with Special reference to the Customer Buying Pattern in Indian Car Segment

A novel technique and detailed analysis of cars in Indian roads to adopt low ground clearance

ABSTRACT As the front wheels of a car descend along the slope of a bump, the vehicle comes down due to inertia. This motion is dampened by the suspension system. The Indian cars with low ground clearance when moving over bumps tend to have their under chassis brushed by the road surface which is mostly harmless. But if the bumps are too steep, the under chassis takes a hit .The result is damage to the critical parts of the vehicle. So our idea is to develop a system that will detect the presence of elements (bumps, speed breakers, stones, etc.,) in the course of the vehicle that could possibly cause serious damage to the vehicle’s under chassis and other critical parts. The system we propose aims to identify the presence of such unsafe obstacles. The system adopted for Indian cars will merely harden the suspension using MR damper to provide a small lift sufficient enough to the system. We aim to identify the presence of such unsafe obstacles. The system adopted for Indian cars will merely harden the suspension using MR damper to provide a small lift sufficient enough to get through the bumps.

Solving the problem of air quality in Indian cities by retrofitting the EGR

This paper touches problem of transportation pollution focusing on NOx reducing in the India. There were India country chosen for study as the second populated country and most polluted cities in the world. As from statistics, it is known that more than 65% of Indian cars are old and they are the main reason of air pollution. Most of the old cars do not have any control measures for eliminating deadli-est gases. Dumping the old cars is not possible, as the poor owns most of the old cars. For eliminating the pollution from old cars, the possible remedy is to control the emission of pollutants. Comparing to all gases in exhaust, nitrogen oxides are the dangerous one. It can may cause up to death. The best method to control the NOx gas is EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valves. This research mainly focuses on the possible ways of installing EGR in old engines and fabricate an EGR in one of the Indian cars. Maruti Suzuki 800 is best of for fabricating EGR, as it is a base model and most sold Indian car. As the result, there tremendous decreasing in NOx emission also the emission CO2 was reduced. The investigation about fabricating EGR in old vehicle results a positive output after calculated the cost of the fabrication, time consumption, work challenges and other facts. As Indian government adopt this concept, they can reduce the pollu-tion from all types of vehicles to a great extend in few years of time with low investment.

Development of Strategic Value Chain Framework for Indian Car Manufacturing Industry

A comprehensive strategy of an automobile-manufacturing company describes the methodology to create value for its shareholders, i.e., customers, suppliers, employees and society at large. A strategic value chain framework has been developed for the Indian car manufacturing industry. The concept of balanced scorecard, Kaplan and Norton (Harv Bus Rev 70(1):71–79, 1992), and strategy maps, Kaplan and Norton (Strategy maps—converting intangible assets into tangible outcomes. Harvard Business School Publishing Corp., Boston, 2004), has been used in the present research. The detailed design of the strategic value chain framework has been provided by making use of decomposition approach, Carrus and Cochran (in: 2nd international conference on engineering design and automation, Maui, HI, August 9–12, 1998). The decomposition approach is based on axiomatic design principles, Suh (The principles of design. Oxford University Press, New York, 1990). The detailed design of strategic value chain framework can be used for implementing the comprehensive strategy by the car manufacturing industry. The framework can be used for formulating and implementing a comprehensive strategy depending on the short-term/long-term financial perspectives of the car manufacturing company. The application of the research work has been illustrated with the help of an industrial case study.