Background of Automobile Sector in India: Indian automobile industry has grown a lot since 1898, in the year 1989

the cars were seen on Indian streets for the first time. (http://business.mapsofindia.com/automobile). India is an emerging market for worldwide auto-giants. With low labour cost many multinational companies are investing in India. India is the second most populated country in the World, and the growth rate of Indian economy is very high, which attracts the presence of huge demand in the Automobile Industry. Nag, et.al. 2007, The Indian automobile market is dominated by Japanese and Indian manufacturers there are various multinational companies currently investing in India. Looking at the current scenario major foreign automobile manufacturers in India are Honda, Toyota, Fiat, Daimler Chrysler, etc. The major Indian operators are Maruti Udyog, TATA motors, Hindustan motors, etc. Automobile production in India grew substantially in the last five years. 77% of market share is captured by two wheelers. Passenger and commercial vehicles capture 19% market share in the current Indian automobile sector. (SIAM statistics for 2006-07) Scenario of the Automobile Industry: The Indian Auto Industry has a huge potential for growth. With a population of over one billion and an economic growth over 7%, the Automobile sector is one of the core industries of the Indian economy. With 4% contribution to the GDP, and nearly 5% of the total industrial output, the automobile sector has become a main contributor to the economy today. India is the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world, fourth largest Car market in Asia, eleventh largest passenger car market in the world .So it presents the complete scenario of the Indian Automobile sector. (http://www.grouptci.com/enroute/cover-story-apr07.pdf) The Indian automobile sector has witnessed an extraordinary boom in recent years; this is due to the improvement in living standards of the middle class, and a significant increase in their disposable incomes. The industry is expected to touch the 10 million mark very soon, to which the commercial vehicle segment will be a major contributor. Industry experts estimate the Indian Automobile sales growth at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5 per cent by 2010. Statement of the Problem

Due to the emergence of globalization and liberalization there is a stiff competition among the variety of car industries which are focusing attention in capturing the Indian markets. Cars though considered as luxury once, now occupies a part of dayto-day life and has become a necessity. Namakkal, which is selected for the study, is one of the main growing markets for car manufacturers. People who were not ready to spend their money on luxuries have now changed their attitude that, yesterdays luxuries are todays necessities. To be a successful marketer it is absolutely essential to read the minds and perceptions of the prospective buyers of cars. In addition to the above, the due weight age which is given by the Government for the growth of passenger car industry and the involvement of the consumers in the selection of a particular brand of car have also made the researcher to undertake a study on the passenger car industry with special reference to the perceptions, behaviour and satisfaction of owners of cars.

Review Literature: Understanding the automotive purchase process is crucial for automotive manufacturers and dealers. Huge amount of information available to consumers require manufacturers and dealers to understand consumer decision-making and the modes of influence which can affect consumer new car purchasing. Kotler et al. describes the customer buying behaviour as the buying behaviour of the final customers who purchase goods and services for personal consumption. A company get great advantages by understanding how customers respond to marketing stimuli that include the four Ps: product, price, place and promotion. Other stimuli in the customers environment such as economic, technological, political and cultural also affect all customers buying decision. All these stimuli enter the buyers black box where they, through the buyer decision process, are turned into a set of buyer responses. Chidambaram and Alfread (2007) postulates that there are certain factors which influence the brand preferences of the customers, Within this framework, the study reveals that customers give more importance to fuel efficiency than other factors. They believe that the brand name tells them something about product quality, utility,

technology and they prefer to purchase the passenger cars which offer high fuel efficiency, good quality, technology, durability and reasonable price. Satya Sundaram (2008) analyzed how the competition makes the automobile manufacturer to launch at least one new model or a variant of the model every year. This survey also pointed out that diesel cars are becoming popular in India and the announcement of reductions in excise duties by the government has helped to some extent to boost the demand. Clement Sudhakar and Venkatapathy (2009) studied the influence of peer group in the purchase of car with reference to Coimbatore District. It was also found that the influence of friends is higher for the purchase of small sized and midsized cars.