Econ 4020 reaction 12-13 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Econ 4020 reaction 12-13 - Term Paper Example However, the total nation debt has kept on fluctuating with different administration implementing significantly different economic policies. In 1919, the participation of the USA in the World War I escalated the total national debt from $6 billion to slightly above $27 billion. The period marking 1920s was characterized by increased levels of private sector spending. As a result, the government generated excess revenue that lead to reduction of the national debt to $16.9 billion. Rate of unemployment also reduced drastically; the nation almost achieved full employment. Unfortunate, in 1929, another great recession invaded the economy as the private spending started to decline. The rate of unemployment too increased (Davidson, 2010). The total national debt continued to increase and by 1936, its ratio to GDP was approximately 4:6. Notably, irrespective of the high debts the USA economy still grew significantly. The period marking World War II (1941-1945), the USA government expenditure drastically increased due to the massive funding of the war. What is interesting is that while the total national debt increased by over 500%, the GDP also doubled. It is recorded that the period that marked the ending of World War I saw each American household have improved standards of living. There was not negative effect of the war as was speculated. The lesion learnt from the historical economic review of the USA is that there should not be fear in spending huge amount of money that results into high debts. The theoretical evidence provided in this paper justifies that the USA economy mostly thrives in times of recession and great depression. Keynes theory suggests that spenders (government) should increase aggregate market demand through spending heavily. This will go along way into creating more job opportunity and at the same time generating additional profits that can be reinvested to grow the economy (Davidson, 2010). The idea is

Marketing Strategies Of Hong Thai Travel

Marketing Strategies Of Hong Thai Travel As the tourism is important industry in Hong Kong, more and more travel agencies use different marketing strategies to attract tourists. These travel agencies have like Hong Thai travel and Smart Holiday. Hong Thai Travel is a big organization. It is established in 1966, and now has more than one thousand employees. On the other hand, Smart Holiday is a small organization. It is established in 2007, its been only two years since it established. They can be existence together through use different marketing strategies. In this proposal, I will compare Hong Thai travel and Smart Holiday can be existence reasons together. I would focus on Hong Thai and Smart Holiday in Hong Kong to deeply know about the marketing strategies, thats mean I would like to compare on marketing strategies of Hong Thai and Smart Holiday as well as what factors will affect /attract tourists, what promotion channels will use for tourists and so on. By using questionnaires, 140 tourists will be asked, in other to investigate which one may attract tourist between Hong Thai and Smart Holiday. Relationship between factors such as package price, travel agency location, service quality and so on. Besides, I will use the data collection method to finish this proposal like communication approach. Beside, sampling method was used by this proposal. I will through interview, telephone, e-mail, internet to study and analysis the marketing strategy of Hong Thai and Smart Holiday. And I would like to use those methods to test what are strategies usefully. In additional, I will be refer to some relevant literature to analysis and study about marketing strategies, such as Medial Tourism Business Plan (Medial Tourism Business Plan 2009) and some reasons lead to consumer to choose travel agency (V. C. S. Heung and R. Chu 2000: 52-59). Aim A comparison of Hong Thai Travel and Smart Holiday concerning about the aspects of marketing strategies is conducted and information regarding of that is going to be shown in this project in which some elicitations hopefully can be given out. Besides, because the marketing strategies must be affect travel agencies sales, I have interest to study their marketing strategies. Background Hong Kong travel agencies developed very rapidly. In the past, Hong Kong has only large organization of travel agency, such as Wing On Travel agency, Hong Thai travel agency and so on. In some survey showed that tourists are rather well education with 34 percent having post secondary school and another 37 percent university qualification or above. (Eturbonews 2009) More and more people have money to travel because much more peoples have high education and they have some pressure in working. Also, they want to reduce a lot of pressure through a trip. Therefore, the travel industry needs larger. In travel agencies, large organizations of travel agency has use difference preferential price to attract more peoples. Besides, small organization of travel agency has use difference marketing strategy to attract more peoples, therefore, these operation are increasingly successful. Now, Hong Kong has more than 133 travel agencies. It is including small and large organizations of travel agency. In the past ten years, Hong Kong has only 105 travel agencies. It meaning travel industry developed very rapidly. In some travel agency make a survey in the past twelve months, 37 percent of tourists went to mainland china and Macau, 34 percent of them want to north and northeast Asia that including Taiwan, 15 percent of them went to south and Southeast Asia. (Eturbonews 2009) It meaning china trip, north trip and south trip and so on, it is very popular trips. Also, travel agency can make above trips to attract peoples. It is a selling point for tourists. In smart holiday travel agency, it is focus on to provide Southeast Asian line for tourist because this line trip has cheap cost price. So, Smart holiday travel agency can establish more and more stores from one to eleven branch stores. Also, south and Southeast Asia line trips have big development areas. In some travel industry survey, it showed that when Customer chose trips, they are considering reliability of the branch, price, quality, customer services and popularity. So, in this situation, Hong Thai travel agency has above superiority. it is large travel agency which have much more experience in operation. So, it can make tourists reliability and satisfaction. For the recently tourism, more and more competitors have different marketing strategies to enhance their sales. Such as Hong Thai Travel and Smart Holiday. They are use different methods to attract consumers. In aspect of Hong Thai Travel, it is established in 1966, and now has more employees around thousand. A branch stores was distributed in different location like Kowloon, Hong Kong, New Territories, Macus and China. There are 30 branch stores because Hong Thai Travel is a big organization. In additional, based on Nielsen Media Index Hong Kong Report of 2001 to 2008 show that Hong Thai Travel has maximum tourists in Hong Kong. Hong Thai travel is a full services travel agency. It provides tour packages, cruise planning to single and groups. Hong Thai travel focus on tourists throughout Asia including Hong Kong, Singapore and so on. Hong Thai of Hong Kong is a full service agency, it offer group and single tour packages, cruise packages to a variety of destinations, ticketing and h otels and more. Hong Thai travel offers the best level of travel services and quality of tourism to customer. It offers quality services as a strategy that it leads business attracts more tourists. It includes business and personal travel. Hong Thai travel agency is a one-stop travel department store to offer wide travel products and services. Travel agency managing director Mr.Jackie Wong is widely recognized as one of the leader in travel industry of Hong Kong. Hong Thai motto we make it for you, that is Hong Thais commitment to continuous to develop better and more innovation and services. In aspect of Smart Holiday, it is established in 2007, which is its been only two years since it established. Although Smart Holiday is only two years operation experience, it has been own important position in travel agency. Smart Holiday have 11 branch stores that was distributed in different place such as Kowloon, Hong Kong and New Territories. Hong Thai Travel and Smart Holiday have differe nt selling point. In aspect of Hong Thai Travel, it always provides much more different trip line to consumer. Thus, Tourists have more choice about tourism. Hong Thai vision has become the customers most beloved travel agent. Hong Thais have ability to develop new products to their success. They work closely with tourism boards and handling agencies worldwide to bring the newest travel destinations to customers. Hong Thais a place of open communication and preferred place to work in. Hong Thais provide concrete service guarantees, namely is department guarantee, price guarantee, and Itinerary guarantee. These promises make their customer worry-free since they always book their trips months in advance. They match up potential opportunities and threats from external environment with their strength and weakness in internal competence, forming strategic initiatives in four aspects. It includes financial, customer, internal business process, learning growth. They use customer touch point strategic for the customers. Its mission is innovative, receptive to changes and socially responsible in offering high quality travel services. In aspect of Smart Holiday, it only focuses on to provide Southeast Asian line for tourist. Because of Smart Holiday is small travel agency, there trip price is cheaper than other big travel agencies. Its mission is providing high quality travel services and cheaper price tourism. Smart holiday enhance network marketing for their successfully. Much smaller travel agency tells us clearly that the market has played an important role and they maintain close contact existing customers and attract new customers. Smart holiday ensure that the company name, logo, message and tone in consistent from a communication tool in other to help strengthen the brand recall. Smart holiday should build a links to their website, blog and social network throughout all their communication channels. And, this makes it easy for interested reader to find out more about their company and what the ir can provides. Smart holiday use an event marketing tool to manage their event, and promote it via their social networks. Smart holiday can provide some discount incentives in shopping event and customer appreciation. Above informations is very important for me. I will refer to above information to compare their marketing strategies, and I would like to know they can be existence reasons together. On the other hand, travel agencies are affected by economic environment factor and social-culture environment factor and so on. For example, a travel agency sale was affected by economic environment badly. Objectives Below are the main points of the objectives of this research: Comparison of 4p marketing strategy of Hong Thai Travel and Smart Holiday (place, price promotion and product) Examine the reasons why they join the trip from that channel? (Hong Thai Travel and Smart Holiday) Examine the relationship between factors (package price, travel agency location, service quality, training between staff etc.) Study the consumer behavior of Hong Thai Travel and Smart Holiday Examine the most beloved tourism lines? (in Hong Thai Travel? In Smart Holiday?) Compare travel services in Hong Thai and Smart Holiday ( customer services quality) Examine Smart Holiday can be existence reasons( have lower cost? Focus on Southeast Asian line?) Research Methods I will use the data collection method to finish this proposal like communication approach. Beside, sampling method was used by this proposal. I use sampling method because it is lower cost. In additional, it has greater accuracy and greater speed. Questionnaires: During doing the project, I need to do a research for collecting the data from manager of Hong Thai and Smart Holiday and some tourists. Therefore, I decide to design the questionnaires for research with my focus group. I will discuss some questions about collecting the data which I want to know from interviewers. Also, I need to think that what kinds of format of questionnaire that will help me to analysis the data more easier, for example, yes/no questions or open-ended questions. After decision in the choice in format of questionnaire, I then print out some questionnaire and make an outdoor research by face to face method or by uploading the questionnaires onto the internet for collecting the useful data. 100-200 interviewers will be asked about the questionnaires. Sampling: First I sample the tourists which are in stores of Hong Thai and Smart Holiday. Those places are many tourist visits that place every day. After that, I sample the manager of Hong Thai and Smart Holiday. When I am doing the survey at that moment, I use convenience sampling the tourists or managers who are male or female. Internet: The Internet is the worldwide, publicly accessible network .On internet, I can find lots of information such as news, also many other services including e-mail, file and sharing. About my report, I will find the primary data or the second data though the discussion areas of internet, on discussion area, I can find the specify one such as travel agencies area .On this area, I can leave the message to people who are the travel lover or I can see whether there are tourist in discussion website, waiting for their response within some days. Sampling: I use the convenience sampling, because I do not know who are on internet, I post the questionnaires on internet and they will doing the survey who are telling me are tour guides. Another way is searching the tourist on the internet forum, I focus on the tourism part to find out the tourist. Telephone: Tele-interviewing is simple process of using a telephone interview as a means of collecting data about the interviewees experience in tourism and lifestyle. I can get the information about the customers satisfaction of tourism though telephone. By telephone, I find friend, family member, colleague, classmates etc. Moreover, different people have different explanations, so, their response to my questions will have different results. Those in formation just only for my reference to more understand tourist and I can gather some primary data about the marketing strategies of Hong Thai and Smart Holiday. Sampling: I will use the quota sampling, first I may be told to Hong Thai and Smart Holiday to ask about the marketing strategies, To interview tourist who are stay in at home at that moment, ask about the marketing strategies of they think. E-Mail: Send the data and questions by e-mail which include my university name, course name, subject title, major questions and our purpose are to tourism hobbyist, leader, tour guides and other relevant persons. Sampling: I will use the quota sampling, first I may be told to Hong Thai and Smart Holiday to ask about the marketing strategies, I sent e-mail to above travel agencies in Hong Kong because I want to know their marketing strategies. Also I do not expect they are asked the question about marketing strategies. Interview: I gather the information by using face to face interview. Interview is a procedure designed to solicit information from a persons oral responses to oral inquiries. I will utilize structured interview for gathering the data from interviewees in that research. I am going to prepare the questions that will be asked before going out. During setting questions on questionnaires, I have to analyze the current situations in the Hong Kong so as to make the questions on questionnaires more updated. Besides of this, I also decide whether the dialogue will be recorded or not. As interview need to be allow by managers, I will send them a require letter, wish they will allow me to conduct interview. Or, maybe to interview tourist who are stay in travel agencies at that moment, ask about the marketing strategies of they think. Project plan Please refer to other paper Critical review of relevant literature The literature review is focused on information search. Referring to that topic, I shall take about travel marketing strategies and choice of Hong Thai and Smart Holiday. According to Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in 2006, HKGCC Judging Panel said that now is Hong Thai Travel has successfully marketing strategies. It shows that Hong Thai Travel has successfully identified a market role and provided love seeking tour to specific group of consumers who expect companions. Using by a strong innovative culture, Hong Thai Travel is able to develop new gimmicks continually, adding value to its traditional services, and enhancing its leadership in a highest competitive market. Thus, the company can success is demonstrated by remarkable achievement in Hong Kong (HKGCC 2006). After that, Tourism Consultative Council suggests that travel agency may encourage innovation in future. Travel has an integral element in marketing strategies. I think that an integral element can use in marketing strategies of Hong Thai Travel and Smart Holiday Travel. If travel agencies has integral element of marketing strategies, it will explore how this will impact areas of manpower and technology in tourism market (the Tourism Consultative Council 2003). On the other hand, according to Medial Tourism Business Plan information, it shows that Travel agency should offer consumer VIP services and it ensures the highest level of consumer services. Besides of the product strategy, in aspect of promotion strategy, travel agency may hire a professional manager to generate publicity that reinforce their images and attract more consumers by focusing on consumer satisfaction. Thus, it may expect to achieve strong word-of-mouth advertising as consumes share their tourism experience with their close friends. Hence, it may be to minimize advertising cost through this way. Moreover, travel agency can use the internet to promote themselves, they can invest in a best-in-class website that is designed to appeal to the sensibilities of upscale consumers. Other way, travel agency can make limited use of direct mail by creating an extremely high quality mail piece that will be send to the consumers. In aspect of sales strategy, Medial Tourism Business Pl an suggests that travel agency may employ professional case manager who will be first point of contact with prospective consumers. Thus, it can encourage up-selling of their VIP services. Above strategies might be use to Hong Thai and Smart holiday (Medial Tourism Business Plan 2009). In additional, there are many reasons lead to consumer to choose travel agency. A total of 183 Hong Kong consumers were surveyed and were asked to rate 29 attributes that might affect their choice of travel agency for all- inclusive package tours by V. C. S. Heung and R. Chu. The results showed that 29 attributes were affected about choice of travel agency in travel agency reputation. V. C. S. Heung and R. Chu said that Travel agency reputation was rated as the most important attribute in travel agency selection, followed by word-of-mouth communication and staff attitude. V. C. S. Heung and R. Chu suggested that might use seven factors to analysis choice of consumer. Also, Hong Thai and Smart Holiday are use seven factor to analysis choice of travel agency of consumers. It includes namely, Interactive Agent Quality, Formal Communication, Overall Convenience, Pricing, Product Features, and Image. Those factor can use to analysis marketing strategies to consumers (V. C. S. Heung and R. Chu 2000: 52-59). Besides of above strategies and some information, Susskind, A. M., M. A. Bonn, and C. S. Dev suggested that travel agency must let consumer has trust and trustworthiness of an information sources as well as booking channel (Susskind, A. M., M. A. Bonn, and C. S. Dev 2003: 256-64). Nysveen H suggested that travel agency has on line booking channel, which should be security and trustworthiness. So, Hong Thai Travel has online booking services, which website should be based on added values first of all aimed at the reduction of risk and uncertainty (Nysveen, H. 2003:113-127). On the other hand, Susan Segal-Horn suggests that manager needs to improve operational efficiency which through programs, such as total quality management, time-based competition, and benchmarks. Also, both smaller and large organization may changed how they performance of the activities, to eliminate efficiency and enhance customer satisfaction and successful the best practice. In order to keep pace with changes in the productivity of border management has accepted the continuous improvement, empowerment, change management, and so-called learning organization. (Susan Segal-Horn 2001: 75). In additional, Combes, G.C. and Patel said that the internet offers a potentially low-cost Retail distribution channels to reach customers 24 hours a day anywhere in the world. In addition, as the transfer of customer transactions to electronic channels, the detailed data that can be stepped up to collect Targeted advertising and marketing work, and reduce other operating expenses. The Internet has increased the price of access to information and products, so that Clients determine the best treatment, in the online and traditional channels to improve their communication with suppliers. Hence, Hong Thai travel and Smart Holiday is open 24 hours communication channel for their customers. (Combes, G.C. and Patel 2000: 1) After that, Susan Segal-Horn implies that companies are success that only it can create different strategies, and the need to save the strategic. So, Hong Thai travel and Smart Holiday are must provide greater value to customers or at a lower cost to create a higher value, or both. Arithmetic superior profitability is as follows: to provide greater value, enabling the company to charge higher average unit prices, higher efficiency resulting in lower average unit costs. Lower or higher prices in the cost of time to the creation, production, marketing products and services to them, such as according to customer requirements, can improve the final product assembly and train their employees.( Susan Segal-Horn 2001: 74). Besides, Shohreh A. Kaynama, PhD and Christine I. Black, suggests that many service industries, travel agents believe the Internet is an opportunities and threats. So, some of the smaller agencies like Smart Holiday Travel Agency will choose to use the internet merely as a medium of communication, in order to promote with their business Static web site or as a way to receive e-mail with the customer. These small establishments Wish to participate in the competition and offer highly specialized travel services to customers and attract customers attention. Other traditional travel agencies are in a state of transition. These hybrid organizations also provide individual customers by focusing on Walk in and telephone services, while at the same time through their Web sites to develop automated reservation and booking system. Hence, it can increase company benefits. (Shohreh A. Kaynama, PhD Christine I. Black, MLS 2000:65).

Essay --

Freedom of Religion The individual right to freedom of religion means that you can freely practice your religion without the government interfering. It’s in the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, in the Constitution, it protects all U.S. citizens to a certain extent. The first amendment went into effect on December 15th, 1791. 1The first amendment states â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof† (American Civil Liberties Union). There are two clauses in the U.S. Constitution that guarantee freedom of religion. The Establishment Clause which prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion. There is also the Free Exercise Clause, it prohibits the government from interfering with someone’s practice of religion (LII). The first amendment also sets a fine line between states’ rights and the churches rights (Black,130). Throughout time, many things have happened to w here the first amendment has had to been set into play. In 1620, a large group of settlers moved into the New England area, and formed individual colonies. This group was known as the Puritans. The Puritans fled Europe in search of religious freedom, which was not granted by the Church of England. The church expected everyone to turn to the Catholic religion. They worked toward religious reforms, so they could purify the church and their own lives. However, they discovered the church was far beyond reform because it was so powerful (Kizer, Kay). They realized the only way to purify their lives was to break away from the Church of England. They came to America where they could freely practice their religion. At this point in time there was neither a law against nor ... ...ace where every religion is accepted and welcome. It’s supposed to be a place where you can freely practice your religion without people discriminating against it (Washington Times). Another con is that some displays of symbols can be a violation of freedom of religion. It all depends if its for a certain season or if its to benefit or promote a certain religion (Harper, 62 and 63). Depending on what you’re showing, you can get in trouble for trying to convince people to believe in a certain religion. The public school system not allowing kids to read their religious book or let the teachers read excerpts from certain religious books, some feel isn’t right because they should be able to freely express their religion. So depending on who you’re talking about, this could be a negative or positive thing. There are also some cons to freedom of religion, as well as pros.

Commercial Vehicle Market in India

2010 Commercial Vehicle Market in India-Industry Report Commercial Vehicle Market in India-Industry Report Table of Contents Executive Summary3 Usage Segment6 Market share & Competition Situation8 Key Opportunities14 Key Success factors15 Financial Analysis17 Regulatory Advantage & legal frameworks22 Recent Mergers & Acquisitions26 Industry SWOT27 Market forecast with Macroeconomic assumptions28 PEST Analysis30 Annexure32 List of Industry Associations32 Executive SummaryIndia being the second most populated and seventh largest nation in the world provides a vast and untapped market for automobile giants. The de-licensing in 1991 provided the well-deserved growth essentials, which attracted international automobile majors to set up their production facilities in the country to take advantage of various facilities available. According to my research, the economic slowdown has had moderate negative effects on commercial vehicle market. The slowdown of commercial activities i n infrastructure, construction, manufacturing and other sectors resulted in sluggish demand for commercial vehicles.However, in 2009-10, the commercial vehicle segment regained its growth momentum, both in terms of production and sales, on the strong fundamentals of recuperating demand from almost all prominent sectors. Especially, passenger carriers registered notable sales momentum and boosted the overall commercial vehicle development outlook. In coming years, rapid expansion of cities to suburban areas will also create more demand for mass transportation vehicles in the country. It is expected that a major part of India will be well connected by 2013-14, which will fuel the demand for commercial passenger carriers in the country.Keeping this in mind, we have projected the sales of commercial passenger carriers to register nearly 13% CAGR between 2010-11 and 2013-14. On utility vehicle front, the country posted one of the fastest year-on-year production growths in 2009-10. In 200 8-09, manufacturers were forced to halt their production capacity amid falling domestic and export demand for utility vehicles. Consequently, the production saw a massive 11% drop in the same year. With recovering vehicle demand from schools, corporates and public sector organizations, the production grew strongly at the rate of 24. % in 2009-10. We anticipate this trend to continue in coming years also, thus enabling the country to become a dominant utility vehicle player in global arena. This report is an outcome of extensive research and objective analysis on Utility Vehicle, Multipurpose Vehicle and Commercial Vehicle markets in India. The report provides detailed data and statistics on production, sales and export trends for each of the abovementioned market segment. It studies all the past and present trends prevailing in the market to give the future market outlook.Industry in India ———————————â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- KEY POINTS 1. ————————————————- Automobile production and sales went up in 2007-08 as compared to 2002-03. 2. ————————————————- They reached a peak in 2009-10 3. ————————————————- Sales of commercial vehicles are growing day by day due to the growing construction industry and commercial developments and many other conditions such as growing urbanization. ———————————————— ————————————————- KEY POINT S 4. ————————————————- Automobile production and sales went up in 2007-08 as compared to 2002-03. 5. ————————————————- They reached a peak in 2009-10 6. ————————————————- Sales of commercial vehicles are growing day by day due to the growing construction industry and commercial developments and many other conditions such as growing urbanization. ———————————————— High economic growth of India has worked wonders for most of its industries. With advantages like low labor costs, easy availability of raw materials and well qualified employees, Indi a has established many industries thereby marking the beginning of an era of rapid industrialization. This has led to the increase in employment rate and income levels, giving rise to a more affluent middle class in the country, which serves as an active consumer base for most of the industries, including the automobile industry.India opened its automobile industry to global players with the de-licensing of the industry in 1991. As a result, automobile production and sales went up strongly in 2007-08 from 2002-03 levels. Even amid global economic slowdown, the industry was able to sustain its positive growth momentum. Moreover, in 2009-10 automobile production and sales surged phenomenally and India emerged as a potential competitor of the largest automobile markets such as China and Japan. Sales of commercial vehicles, particularly light commercial goods carriers are touching new heights, both in domestic and export markets.The growing construction industry and commercial developme nts have opened new vistas for light commercial goods carriers. But medium and heavy commercial vehicles will also see high demand in the domestic market due to infrastructure development like hydro power projects, port development and mining industry. Commercial passenger vehicles will also hit the peak due to increasing urbanization and growing need to commute from rural and sub-urban areas to industrial areas for work. All these are creating suitable conditions for India to emerge as an automobile production hub in the future.The sectors which have major contribution in LCV sales in the country are expected to see sustained capital expenditure in coming years. For instance, the organized retail sector which is growing at an annual pace of 30% is highly untapped and the players are planning to aggressively increase their presence in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. This will further boost the demand of commercial vehicles as they are largely deployed in redistribution of consumption good s. Usage Segment * Transport operators: This segment includes all fleet operators and owner-operators.There are around 200,000 road transport operators in India. However, most of them are small owner-driven firms. Road freight transportation is highly fragmented with the truck operators owning less than five trucks estimated to account for over 75% of the truck fleet. It is estimated that 77% of truck fleet is under operators who own 5 trucks or less; 10% belonged to those with 6-10 trucks; 4% belonged to those with 11-15 trucks; 3% belonged to those with 16-20 trucks; and only 4% of fleet belonged to those with more than 20 trucks. Thus, the industry is characterised by intense competition.The high competition is the result of relatively lower capital requirement, ease of obtaining driving licenses and permits. The small operators are involved mainly in the physical movement of goods and depend on brokers and other fleet operators who in turn depend on the booking agents for obtain ing business. These operators do not have the geographical reach and necessary infrastructure to tap business on a continuous basis, and thus rely on brokers. Fleet operators are the medium and large, organised-sector players in the transportation industry. The arge fleet operators are small in number, and generally operate throughout the country. These fleet operators primarily work on a hub and spoke model. The hub and spoke distribution system enables optimisation of costs and higher revenues for the transport companies/ fleet operators. These transport companies generally have formal contracts with the users, which is very rare in the case of small operators. Some larger fleet operators have ventured into offering value-added services such as courier and express cargo business and providing third party logistic services. Companies: This segment accounts for a small proportion of CV sales. Some companies located in industrial areas use these vehicles primarily for employee and ma terial transportation while a few companies use them for secondary distribution of the goods from warehouses to distributors, such as wholesalers and retailers. * Government organisations: The vehicle purchases made by municipal authorities, State transport undertakings, and various other Government departments primarily include LCVs and special application vehicles. Private bus operators: There has been a significant increase in the number of private bus operators in the country as State transport undertakings have proved inadequate in meeting the increasing demand for transportation. These vehicles are used as passenger carriers or chartered buses. ————————————————- ————————————————- Key points ————————â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- ————————————————- Key points ————————————————- Zzzzzzzzzz ————————————————- Yyyyyyyyyyyyyy ———————————————— Key points ————————————————- Zzzzzzzzzz ————————————————- Yyyyyyyyyyyyyy ——————————à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- Key points Market Structure & Segmentation ————————————————- Enter key points: ————————————————- Enter key points: The commercial vehicle market can be divided into four segments: 1. Segment A-High performance and image sensitive- The consumers in segment A are brand conscious and are willing to pay any price for that brand.But, they usually don’t compromise on quality. However, that doesn’t means they are loyal to one brand. To target such type of consumers, companies have to concentrate on performance as the main criteria. 2. Segment B-Balanced perspective-The consumers in segment B are the most difficult ones to please. They want both price and performance rolled into one product. To target suc h type of consumers, companies have to concentrate on delivering high performance at the best prices. Hence, they have to keep their operating costs to a minimum. 3. Segment C-ROI and quick payback period sensitive- .Segment D-Extremely price sensitive-The consumers in segment D want a product at an economical price and for this, they are ready to compromise on performance if they are offered a good price. To target such type of consumers, companies have to design products keeping costs at a minimum even if that means a medium or low performance but the main criteria is that price should be the best in the industry. Market share & Competition Situation The following are the main players in the Production of Commercial Vehicles in India; * Ashok Leyland Ltd. * Hindustan Motors Ltd. * Telco Force motors Ltd. ( Previously known as Bajaj Tempo Ltd) * Eicher Motors Ltd. * Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. * Swaraj Mazda Ltd. * Tata Motors * Ashok Leyland Ashok Leyland Ashok Leyland is one of the biggest players in the Production of Commercial Vehicles in India. Ashok Leyland is one of the oldest automotive company of India. It was set up in 1948 in Madras (now called Chennai) to assemble Austin cars. However, the company's future changed after British Leyland made equity participation. Hence the company became Ashok Leyland in 1955 and started the Production of Commercial Vehicles.They offer a wide range of in Heavy and Light Commercial Vehicles varying from buses, trucks, engines to special application vehicles. They were the first company in the history of Indian to win the ISO 9002 Certification in 1993. Again it became the first Indian company to receive ISO/TS 16949 Corporate Certification. Their global ambition is very simple, it is; Global Standards, Global Markets. Hindustan Motors Ltd Hindustan Motors Ltd is one of the oldest car manufacturing company of India. It was founded in 1942. It manufactures a wide range of vehicles from cars to trucks to school bu ses to trekker to porter.However, it is more popular for one of its particular car model called the Ambassador. But, at the same time it does manufacture a lot of Commercial Vehicles as well. It was one of the leading players in cars till the early 80's but could not maintain its position after globalization came into effect and the markets were opened. It has its manufacturing plants in Uttarpara- West Bengal, Pithampur- Madhya Pradesh, Thiruvallur- Tamil Nadu and Hosur- Tamil Nadu. Telco Telco deals with Heavy Commercial Vehicles, Light Commercial Vehicles, Multi-Utility Vehicles etc.Telco was set up in 1945 to manufacture steam locomotives. Now it's the largest private sector company in Commercial Vehicle manufacturing. The four manufacturing plants of Telco are located in Jamshedpur in Jharkand, Pimpri and Chinchwad in Pune ( Maharashtra) and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. It has a market share of 31. 2% in Multi Utility Vehicle Segment. Force motors Ltd. (Previously known as Bajaj T empo Ltd) Force motors Ltd. (Previously known as Bajaj Tempo Ltd) is a promising company in the Commercial Vehicle segment. The company is now working on the project of introducing state-of-the-art range of trucks.The company has different technological collaboration with many international giants. Hence, it has an upper edge with new and modern technology. They are also working on eco friendly CNG bus engines. They are the only company to have a full range of Commercial Load carrying vehicles. Eicher Motors Ltd. Eicher Motors Ltd. deals with the manufacturing of Commercial Vehicles. They mainly deal with buses, trucks and chassis. These products comply with all the specifications of BS II norms. Its CNG Technology is also known to be the very best in the market. Mahindra ;amp; Mahindra Ltd.Mahindra ;amp; Mahindra Ltd. has a hugh Indian market with Multi Utility Vehicles. It was originally set up in 1945 to cater to general purpose utility vehicles. However, today it is one of the t op five manufacturers of tractors in the world. Swaraj Mazda Ltd. Swaraj Mazda Ltd. deals with the manufacturing of Light Commercial Vehicles. They mostly manufacture buses, trucks, police personnel carrier, ambulance, water tankers and special vehicles. The company was formed in 1983 and production started from 1985. Tata Motors Tata Motors is one of the most important fore runners of the Indian automobile industry.They believe in focus and state-of-the-art facilities. They probably have the best infrastructure required for the assurance of manufacturing quality vehicles. They deal with M;amp;H Commercial Vehicles, Intermediate Commercial Vehicles, Light Commercial Vehicles, Small Commercial Vehicles, Utility Vehicles Etc. In the Commercial Vehicles segment, they mostly manufacture buses and trucks. They even have a good range of passenger vehicles as well. Market Share of Major Players: The Commercial Vehicle Market is divided into following categories: 1. Light Commercial Vehicle s 2. Heavy Commercial Vehicles 3.Medium Commercial Vehicles Table 1-Market share of different players in commercial vehicle industry Type of Vehicle| TATA| Ashok Leyland| Mahindra| Eicher Motors| Force Motors| Swaraj Mazda| HindustanMotors| Volvo| Tatra| Trucks| 64%| 24%| -| 8%| -| 3%| -| ;lt;1%| ;lt;1%| Buses| 40%| 30%| 7%| 5%| 10%| 6%| 1%| 1%| -| Temposand Lorries| 59%| ;lt;1%| 32%| 4%| 3%| 3%| ;lt;1%| -| -| In the MHCV goods carrier segment, TML is the market leader with a 68% share in 9MFY2010, which represents a sharp increase from 63% in FY2008. While new players have entered the MHCV segment, some of them have limited their presence to niche segments—e. . VIL in the higher tonnage RV and HT segment; Tatra in the higher tonnage RV segment. Although the competitive intensity has increased with the entry of new players, TML and ALL continue to dominate on account of established product performance, strong brands and customer support, wide servicing network and availabilit y of spares (ease of servicing). Although TML and ALL dominate nearly all sub-segments in MHCV goods carriers market, EML has a strong presence in the 7. 5-12 tonnes segment, with a market share of 39% in 9MFY2010. However, while EML’s market share in the 7. -12 tonnes segment has declined from 53% in FY2003, TML’s market share has increased from 27% to 47% in 9MFY2010. ————————————————- Enter key points ————————————————- Enter key points Key Drivers 1. Strong economic growth- A revival of economic reforms and better economic policy in first decade of the 21st century accelerated India's economic growth rate. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India expanded at an annual rate of 8. 80 percent in the last reported quarter. From 2004 until 2010, Indi a's average quarterly GDP Growth was 8. 37 percent reaching an historical high of 10. 0 percent in September of 2006 and a record low of 5. 50 percent in December of 2004. The economy has posted an average growth rate of more than 7% in the decade since 1997, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. In recent years, Indian cities have continued to liberalize business regulations. By 2008, India had established itself as the world's second-fastest growing major economy. Economists predict that by 2020, India will be among the leading economies of the world. According to the BRIC report, published by Goldman Sachs, India will be the second largest economy after China by 2043. . Robust industrial growth -The industrial sector is one of the main sectors that contribute to the Indian GDP. The country ranks fourteenth in the factory output in the world. The industrial sector is made up of manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and electricity, water supply, and gas sectors. The indus trial sector accounts for around 27. 6% of the India GDP and it employs over 17% of the total workforce in the country. 3. Low interest rates –Although the interest rate has been a little high this year, it has been around 6. 0% on an average for the past 5 years which has boosted trade. 4. Road and Infrastructure development -The most distinct part of India’s physical infrastructure development in recent years is the development of road network across the country; per sq. km. of surface area in India is now endowed with one km of roadways. India has one of the largest road networks in the world, aggregating to 3. 34 million km. The country’s road network consists of Expressways, National Highways, State Highways, Major District Roads, Other District Roads and Village Roads.The road network, as on December 2007, comprises 66,590 km of National Highways, 128,000 km of State Highways, 470,000 km of Major District Roads and about 2. 65 million km of other District and Rural Roads. The National Highways Development Project (NHDP), the largest highway project ever undertaken by the country, is being implemented by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). NHDP Phase I ;amp; II envisage 4/6 laning of about 14,279 km of National Highways, at a total estimated cost of Rs. 650 million (at 2004 prices).These two phases 109 comprise of Golden Quadrilateral (GQ), North-South and East-West Corridors, Port Connectivity and other projects. The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ-5,846 km) connects the four major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The North-South and East-West Corridors (NS-EW-7,300 km) connect Srinagar in the North to Kanyakumari in the South, including spur from Salem to Kochi and Silchar in the East to Porbandar in the West. 5. Good Agricultural production -Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm output. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry and logging accounted for 16. % of the GDP in 2007, employed 52% of the total workforce and despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, is still the largest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic development of India. India is the largest producer in the world of fresh fruit, anise, fennel, badian, coriander, tropical fresh fruit, jute, pigeon peas, pulses, spices, millets, castor oil seed, sesame seeds, safflower seeds, lemons, limes, cow's milk, dry chillies and peppers, chick peas, cashew nuts, okra, ginger, turmeric guavas, mangoes, goat milk and buffalo milk and meat.It also has the world's largest cattle population (281 million). It is the second largest producer of cashews, cabbages, cotton seed and lint, fresh vegetables, garlic, egg plant, goat meat, silk, nutmeg. mace, cardamom, onions, wheat, rice, sugarcane, lentil, dry beans, groundnut, tea, green peas, cauliflowers, potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, gourds and inland fish. It is the third largest producer of tobacco, sorghum, rapeseed, coconuts, hen's eggs a nd tomatoes. India accounts for 10% of the world fruit production with first rank in the production of mangoes, papaya, banana and sapota. 6.Good replacement demand- There has been good replacement demand recently for commercial vehicles. Decisions about replacing vehicles are relatively complicated: people compare the transportation services they get from their present vehicle and the costs associated with running it, with the services they could get from another vehicle, given the costs of buying and selling vehicles and of running the new one. Replacement decisions are also affected by developments in the used-vehicle market: when people replace vehicles, they may buy either new or used, and they very often sell a vehicle on the used-vehicle market when they acquire another.Thus, although only production and sales of new vehicles affect the industry’s contribution to GDP, demand for new vehicles is influenced by prices, quantities, and qualities in the used-vehicle market. Key Challenges / Barriers 1. Increasing Competition and WTO Regime 2. Cyclicality of businesses 3. Increasing Customisation and Application Profileration-While the earlier paradigm aimed at meeting the needs of segments of consumers, the new paradigm treats every customer as unique.The development of technology has made it possible to address the needs of individual customers, the day may not be very far off when a customer wanting to buy a toilet soap may have to put his/her hand into a scanner which will sense the skin complexion and pop out a pouch of liquid soap that is ideally formulated to suit his/her skin. Also, innovation is more than creativity; it is the commercial realization of creativity. Consumers like what they have but also crave change. The word â€Å"New, Improved, Better† can influence the customer preference.Innovation is the life blood of Marketing. Creative ideas are valuable but the greater part is harnessing them to profitable productive change. 4. C ompetition from alternative modes- The alternative modes of transport are the telecom, air and port services. These services have grown exponentially as compared to the traditional commercial vehicle sector. Container port traffic has increased from less than a million in 1991 to about 5 million in 2005 with an annual growth rate of about 266 percent since 1991.Also, the increase in air freight and air transport has been around 15% whereas the increase in fixed line and mobile phone subscribers has been around 150% from 1991-2005. 5. Stiff Emission and other Regulatory Changes- The emission norms have become really strict these days. From the earlier emission norms of Euro 3 in metro cities and Euro 2 in rest of the country, the automobile companies have to ensure that the automobiles produced in or after 2009-10 adhere to Euro 4 in metro cities and Euro 3 in rest of the country. 6. Operating Cost Pressures 7.Increased Customer Awareness- In the 21st century, the customer has become very aware due to the various sources of information available to him. Now, it is very difficult to fool the customer as he can get the full information with the click of a button. Hence, companies have to keep the customer needs in mind while designing a product. 8. Accelerated Technology upgradation requirements and other change needs Key Opportunities Enter key points Enter key points †¢ Vibrant Indian Economy †¢ Automotive Industry showing double digit growth in all segments †¢ Growing engineering and IT capability for manufacturing Auto Component Industry :Culturally compatible-Quality, Experience and Values Key Success factors * Ability to enhance and vary product mix – A diverse and broad product mix enables a manufacturer to serve a wide variety of transportation solutions across different load levels. * Sales and distribution service network * Balance between outsourcing and in-house production * Quality: A company must have good quality product to ga in a customer trust. This would also help in building long term relationship with the consumer and also gain viral marketing. Environment: A company need to adapt to the surrounding environment and must act in a way to improve and sustain environment around it. ————————————————- Enter key points: ————————————————- 1 ————————————————- 2 ————————————————- 3 ————————————————- Enter key points: —————â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- 1 ————————————————- 2 ————————————————- 3 Enter key pointsEnter key points Market Entry Strategy * Collaboration for Manufacturing Excellence and Process Design * Production Sharing in India & Europe for a Holistic Service Capability * Partnering for Global Requirements * Merger & Acquisition * Establish JV ————————————————- Enter key points: ————————————————- 1 ———————————à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- 2 ————————————————- 3 ————————————————- Enter key points: ————————————————- 1 ———————————————— 2 ————————————————- 3 Financial Analysis Commercial Vehicles- Recent Trends During FY2004-07, CV sales volumes growth in the domestic market had been healthy led by buoyant economic activity, easy access to finance, entry of new truck financing companies, increased momentum in highway construction, b etter operating economics of new trucks, and a Supreme Court (SC) order prohibiting overloading of trucks. However, continued hardening of interest rates and a slowdown in economic activity has impacted CV sales volumes since FY2008.Since mid-2008, domestic CV sales volumes have declined significantly because of an economic slowdown, slowdown in index of industrial production (IIP), tighter credit conditions and constraints in the availability of vehicle finance from banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). Though in-house vehicle financing of major manufacturers has increased, the additional credit flow was unable to fully offset the decrease in credit availability from outside sources. As compared with a year on year (yoy) growth of 9. 2% in Q1FY2009, domestic CV sales declined 1. 8% (yoy) during Q2FY2009, and by a sharp rate of 47. % (yoy) in Q3FY2009, and 35. 7% (yoy) in Q4FY2009. The rate of decline was lower at 12. 1% (yoy) in Q1FY2010 primarily because of 16% (yoy) gr owth in LCV segment. A significant proportion of trucks are purchased by small truck operators in the unorganised sector, who may have to pay a relatively higher rate of interest as compared with large-fleet operators, and are more vulnerable to interest rate fluctuations and slowdown in economic activity. Production: The Indian automobile sector, described as the sun rise sector, had been growing at a healthy double digit rate till 2006-07.However, it witnessed a downturn during the later half of 2007-08 and 2008-09 due to global economic slowdown. To tide over the situation, the Government of India took immediate remedial action and announced three stimulus packages. As a result of this, the overall position has improved since July, 2009 onwards. In the year 2008-09 the industry witnessed a modest growth in production at 2. 96% over 2007-08. In the year 2009-10 (April 2009 to December, 2009), passenger vehicle segment, two-wheeler segment, three-wheeler segment and commercial vehi cle segment have all recorded a growth of 24. 55%, 19. 0%, 16. 04% and 15. 10% respectively over the corresponding period last year (CLPY). The details of actual production of various automobile segments during the year 2006-07 to 2009-10 (upto December, 2009) are given below: ————————————————- [Type a quote from the document or the summary of an interesting point. You can position the text box anywhere in the document. Use the Text Box Tools tab to change the formatting of the pull quote text box. ] ————————————————- [Type a quote from the document or the summary of an interesting point.You can position the text box anywhere in the document. Use the Text Box Tools tab to change the formatting of the pull quote text box. ] Automobile Production Trends: Segment| 2 006-07| 2007-08| 2008-09| 2009-10| Passenger Vehicles| 1,545,223| 1,777,583| 1,838,593| 2,351,240| Commercial Vehicles| 519,282| 549,006| 416,870| 566,608| Three Wheelers| 556,126| 500,660| 497,020| 619,093| Two Wheelers| 8,466,666| 8,026,681| 8,419,792| 10,512,889| Total| 11,087,997| 10,853,930| 11,172,275| 14,049,830| Table 2-Automobile Production Trends Exports:The period from April-December 2009 saw growth in automobile exports sliding sharply to 10. 4% (yoy) with deceleration in almost all segments. Although CV exports declined 14. 6% (yoy) in 9MFY2010, the decline was lower than the decline of 28% (yoy) in FY2009. CVs and 3Ws segments recorded declines of 14. 6% (yoy) and 1. 9% (yoy) respectively during 9MFY2010. Although exports of 4Ws increased at a high rate of 30% (yoy) in 9MFY2010, this represented a decline from the high rate of 54% in FY2009. 2W export growth slid from 22. 5% (yoy) in FY2009 to 7. % (yoy) in 9MFY2010 attributable to a sharp decline in growth of motorcyc le exports. Although export growth has decelerated sharply in 9MFY2010, there has been a recovery in Q3FY2010 attributable partly to the base effect. The key reason for the decline in export growth was the fall in auto sales especially the CVs in the major destination markets of Asia, Africa, US, and Europe. Automobile Exports Trends Segment| 2006-07| 2007-08| 2008-09| 2009-10| Passenger Vehicles| 198,452| 218,401| 335,729| 446,146| Commercial Vehicles| 49,537| 58,994| 42,625| 45,007|Three Wheelers| 143,896| 141,225| 148,066| 173,282| Two Wheelers| 619,644| 819,713| 1,004,174| 1,140,184| Total| 1,011,529| 1,238,333| 1,530,594| 1,804,619| Table 3-Automobile Exports Trends Figure 1-Monthly Exports of Commercial Vehicles The exports of CVs which were growing till FY2008, registered a decline in early FY2009, though there was minor recovery in Q2FY2009, due to the growth in LCVs exports but that was also short-lived. The rate of decline was lower in Q2FY2010, and subsequently CV exports increased 50% (yoy) in Q3FY2010. However, this was largely due to the base effect.CVs segment was the worst hit by the economic downturn in the American and European countries, but the decline after peaking in Q3FY2009, has been showing some signs of recovery. Evidence for the US and Canada suggests that the sharp reduction in CV sales since mid-2008 has been magnified by the lack of access to credit, leading many firms to postpone their CV purchases. This implies that continued improvement in financial market conditions could provide an impetus to CV sales. Domestic Sales: Overall production growth declined from 0% (yoy) in Q2FY2009 to sharp declines of 50. % (yoy) in Q3FY2009, and 43. 5% (yoy) in Q4FY2009. However, production declined at a lower rate of 19. 5% (yoy) in Q1FY2010, because of recovery in LCV production. MHCV production continued to decline at a high, albeit lower rate through Q2FY2010. Overall CV production actually increased 4. 4% (yoy) in Q2FY2010, followed by an exceptionally high increase of 95. 4% (yoy) in Q3FY2010, albeit on a low base. Domestic MHCV sales increased at a 3-year CAGR of 10. 4% to 270,994 units during FY2008, followed by sharp declines thereafter till Q1FY2010. The less than 3. tonnes category is the largest segment, accounting for 84% of domestic goods LCV sales in 9MFY2010. This segment has reported very high growth rate during FY2005-08, primarily because of the superior price-performance ratio, and the launch of ACE by Tata Motors Ltd. (TML). The LCV segment is dominated by TML and the high growth in goods carrier segment during the last few years has been driven by the launch of Tata Motors’ 207DI (a 2-tonne pick-up vehicle), which enabled the company to strengthen its presence in this segment. During FY2006-07, growth was driven by the launch by TML of a mini-truck—the TATA ACE (with a GVW of 1. 5 tonnes). Since FY2006, the demand growth for this LCV goods carrier has been higher than other sub-segments , driven by the trend of increase in consumption of consumer goods and durables in smaller cities/towns and restrictions on goods movement by bigger vehicles in metros/bigger cities especially during daytime. The increasing popularity of the lower tonnage LCVs can be attributed to the increasing distribution of goods inside Indian towns and villages that need small vehicles because of disaggregated nature of freight generation and narrow roads.The increasing popularity of door-to-door service has contributed to the growth of LCVs in the recent past. As these vehicles have relatively lower acquisition costs, the fleet operators may prefer them to carry small cargo. The corporates not only look for speedy, reliable, door- to- door services, but also for a complete logistic solution that minimises the costs of transport, logistics and inventory. With the share of the high value consumer goods (which call for timely transportation and better handling) increasing, lower tonnage LCVs are expected to witness higher growth in the medium-term.Automobile Domestic Sales Trends Table 4 –Automobile Domestic Sales Trends Segment| 2006-07| 2007-08| 2008-09| 2009-10| Passenger Vehicles| 1,379,979| 1,549,882| 1,552,703| 1,949,776| Commercial Vehicles| 467,765| 490,494| 384,194| 531,395| Three Wheelers| 403,910| 360,781| 349,727| 440,368| Two Wheelers| 7,872,334| 7,249,278| 7,437,619| 9,371,231| Total| 10,123,988| 9,654,435| 9,724,243| 12,292,770| Figure 2-Monthly Domestic Sales of Commercial VehiclesRegulatory Advantage & legal frameworks In India the Rules and Regulations related to driving license, registration of motor vehicles, control of traffic, construction & maintenance of motor vehicles etc are governed by the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (MVA) and the Central Motor Vehicles rules 1989 (CMVR). The Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways (MoSRT&H) acts as a nodal agency for formulation and implementation of various provisions of the Motor Vehi cle Act and CMVR.Figure 4 –Regulatory Framework of Indian Automobile Industry In order to involve all stake holders in regulation formulation, MoSRT&H has constituted two Committees to deliberate and advise Ministry on issues relating to Safety and Emission Regulations, namely – * CMVR- Technical Standing Committee (CMVR-TSC) * Standing Committee on Implementation of Emission Legislation (SCOE) CMVR- Technical Standing Committee (CMVR-TSC) – This Committee advises MoSRT&H on various technical aspects related to CMVR.This Committee has representatives from various organisations namely; Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises (MoHI&PE)), MoSRT&H, Bureau Indian Standards (BIS), Testing Agencies such as Automotive Research of India (ARAI), Vehicle Research Development & Establishment (VRDE), Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT), industry representatives from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Automotive Compone nt Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) and representatives from State Transport Departments. Major functions the Committee are: To provide technical clarification and interpretation of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules having technical bearing, to MoRT&H, as and when so desired. * To recommend to the Government the International/ foreign standards which can be used in lieu of standard notified under the CMVR permit use of components/parts/assemblies complying with such standards. * To make recommendations on any other technical issues which have direct relevance in implementation of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules. * To make recommendations on the new safety standards of various components for notification and implementation under Central Motor Vehicles Rules. To make recommendations on lead time for implementation of such safety standards. * To recommend amendment of Central Motor Vehicles Rules having technical bearing keeping in view o f Changes in automobile technologies. CMVR-TSC is assisted by another Committee called the Automobile Industry Standards Committee (AISC) having members from various stakeholders in drafting the technical standards related to Safety. The major functions of the committee are as follows: * Preparation of new standards for automotive items related to safety. * To review and recommend amendments to the existing standards. Recommend adoption of such standards to CMVR Technical Standing Committee * Recommend commissioning of testing facilities at appropriate stages. * Recommend the necessary funding of such facilities to the CMVR Technical Standing Committee, and * Advise CMVR Technical Standing Committee on any other issues referred to it The National Standards for Automotive Industry are prepared by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The standards formulated by AISC are also converted into Indian Standards by BIS. The standards formulated by both BIS and AISC are considered by CMVR-TSC f or implementation.Standing Committee on Implementation of Emission Legislation (SCOE) – This Committee deliberates the issues related to implementation of emission regulation. Major functions of this Committee are – * To discuss the future emission norms * To recommend norms for in-use vehicles to MoSRT&H * To finalise the test procedures and the implementation strategy for emission norms * Advise MoSRT&H on any issue relating to implementation of emission regulations. Based on the recommendations from CMVR-TSC and SCOE, MoSRT&H issues notification for necessary amendments / modifications in the in Central Motor Vehicle Rules.In addition, the other Ministries like Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) and Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources are also involved in formulation of regulations relating to Emissions, Noise, Fuels and Alternative Fuel vehicles. Tax Structure 1. State VAT Rate and Classi fication of goods Uniform rate structure across the country helps in avoiding diversion of trade from one State to another, checks unhealthy competition and reduces tax evasion. It helps automobile industry to plan and commit long term investments.Basic rationale needs to be developed for generation of revenue from industrial products. This should be long term and the share of taxation in the total value of the ultimate customer needs to be defined. SIAM recommends such a policy in taxing goods and services under VAT. Total taxes from both Centre and State as proposed by SIAM not to exceed 25%. Considering Cenvat at 16%, Designated rate should not exceed 9%. The classification of goods should be aligned to central taxes to reduce litigation. Uniform classification across all States and central taxes would create favourable environment for growth of industry.No separate classification of Capital Goods 2. Multiple levies and Industrial input One of the stated objectives of VAT is to r educe multiple levies. Number of rates under VAT should be 0%, 4% & RNR in addition to 1% on precious metal and 20% on petroleum products. All other levies like Octroi, Entry Tax should be abolished. Inputs used in the manufacturing should be taxed at 4% against issue of declaration. There should not be any specific list of industrial input, as it will deprive the benefit to the industry using input other than the one mentioned in the list.Reduced rate on industrial input will avoid refund problem and avoid unnecessary interaction with the Department. Further when interstate transactions are zero rated, manufacturer selling predominantly in interstate ends up having huge input tax credit without set-off. Automobile manufacturers having one manufacturing facility in the country sells more than 80% of the production outside the Sate and forced to seek refund from the State Government for excess input tax credit. SIAM suggests VAT rate of 4% on all industrial input to mitigate the refund issue. 3. Set-off mechanismSet-off of tax paid should be allowed for all inputs including raw material, components, consumables, fuel and capital goods. Tax paid on services should be allowed to be set-off. Tax paid on capital goods should be allowed as set-off in full in the same year to avoid confusion and litigation later. 4. Interstate transactions All interstate transactions should be at zero rate. Further automobile manufacturers ‘Stock Transfer' goods by setting up huge facilities to strengthen distribution net work in order to reach the product to the customer at the earliest and at least cost.This mechanism should not be affected even under VAT. 5. Sales Tax Incentives Automobile manufacturers have made huge investments, which are in phases in unviable locations. These locational disadvantages are partially offset by fiscal incentives. Any detrimental variations or withdrawal will affect the viability of such investments. This may adversely impact the country's image as an attractive investment destination. It is heartening to note that all States have agreed in principle to honour all existing incentives under VAT SIAM suggests the following: Incentive| SIAM Suggestion|Input Tax Exemption| Refund Input Tax separately – adopt Maharashtra model| Output Tax Exemption| Continue exemption, Option to Defer output tax| Output Tax Deferral| Continue Deferment, refund input tax separately| Input Tax Exemption ;amp; Output Tax Exemption| Refund Input Tax separately,Option to Defer output tax| Input Tax Exemption ;amp; Output Tax Deferral| Refund Input Tax separately,Option to Defer output tax| Table 5-Tax Structure in Automobile Industry 6. Refunds Due to various reasons there is no alternative but to seek refund from the Government in case of excess credit.Given the state of finances, refunds will be difficult and uncertain while locking up working capital for industry. Refunds should be honoured within 15 days from the date of filing retu rns and credited to the assessee's account. Alternatively, VAT Entitlement Certificate on the lines of freely tradable DEPB may be considered Recent Mergers & Acquisitions 1. Merger of Ashok Leyland and IVECO,Italy 2. Merger of Eicher and Mitsubishi,Japan 3. Merger of M&M and Nissan Motor Company,Japan 4. Merger of Swaraj Mazda and Mazda Motor Company,Japan Industry SWOT Strengths: Automobile industry is an established and an evergreen industry. * India is the strongest player in the small car segment of the global automobile market. * Indian companies are the best cost innovators. * The automotive industry has long been known for its development and promulgation of the assembly-line. * Some of the greatest developments in the automotive supply chain lie in the development of Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory methods. * Through the use of advanced technologies, assembly line manufacturing, and JIT inventory management, the automotive industry has been able to achieve significant gains in productivityWeaknesses: * India is lacking in proper infrastructure. * This is slowing the pace of growth of auto industry. * Companies are not improving after sale services. Opportunities: * The automotive ecosystem is in the midst of significant change, with increasing challenges in consumer demands, technology development, and globalization. * While demand for incumbent technologies will remain strong, alternative power trains could capture more than 20 percent of the global market by 2020, depending upon boundary conditions such as fuel taxation and emissions regulation set by governments as well as oil price development. Storage is in the heart of the next generation of efforts for fuel economy. * More realistic scenario will emerge for technologies using Hydrogen as automotive fuel. * Intelligent use of NCES (Non conventional energy sources) for powering Public Transport. Threats: * Global Crisis * Companies not focussing on R&D are under great risk * High competi tion from foreign players * Lack of technology for Indian companies Market forecast with Macroeconomic assumptions Investments in future: The market is so large and diverse that a large number of players can be absorbed to accommodate buyer needs.The sector not only has global players looking to invest and expand but leading domestic companies are also pumping in huge sums into expanding operation. Some of the investments made by various companies or organisations are as follows: * Investment Planning Commission has set target of attracting foreign investment worth US$5 billion for the next five years (in automobile industry). * Rasandik Motors, a group company of Rasandik Engineering Industries India plans to set up a three-wheelers unit at Nanjangud in Mysore district of Karnataka. Work on the project was expected to commence by July 2010. An Indian automotive site called wheelsunplugged. com suggests that Daimler is planning to invest US$700 million-$1 billion to increase the cap acity of its planned truck assembly plant at the SIPCOT Industrial Park in Oragadam, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. An initial capacity of 70,000 units a year is planned from a 1,000-acre site. * Mercedes-Benz plans to invest e700 million to increase the production capacity of its trucks in its manufacturing plant in Chennai. While the infrastructure is expected to address future expansion plans of the company, details of the time frame of investment were not disclosed.The German car maker is also on course to increase its headcount three-fold at its R&D centre in Bangalore by next year and will invest close to Rs. 450 crore on infrastructure and people-related costs. * Bharat Forge invested US$ 135 million in its Pune plant for increasing capacity to 240,000 tonnes. * Amtek Auto is expanding capacity of its casting unit to 70,000 tonnes per annum. * Rico Auto is investing Rs 350 million to expand its capacity. * Apollo Tyres plans to invest US$469. 58m to increase production capac ity in India and abroad. * Robert Bosch of Germany will invest U$201. 0 million in its subsidiaries over the next two years. * Ceat has inaugurated the Radial tyre greenfield project in Gujarat with an investment of Rs 7,000 million, which will create employment opportunities for 1,000 people. Demand forecast: Before looking at the forecast demand of automobiles, specially, commercial vehicles, let us look at the demand forecasting process used in automobile industry In forecasting the demand, we have used various statistical methods considering all the relevant demand drivers for each segment. Then, models were prepared considering an exhaustive list of variables such as: Macro-economic variables-GDP components, industrial production, inflation, interest rates, stock indices -Sector variables- model launches, vehicle price, inter-segment competition -Enablers/barriers- Finance availability, road connectivity Forecasts for 2010-11 Automobile Segments| 2010-2011 growth over 2009-10(% )| Passenger Cars| 12-13| Utility Vehicles| 13-14| Commercial vehicles(goods)| 19-20| ————————————————- Enter key points: ————————————————- 1 ————————————————- 2 ———————————————— 3 ————————————————- Enter key points: ————————————————- 1 ——————————— —————- 2 ————————————————- 3 Commercial vehicles(buses)| 4-5| Two wheelers| 9-10| Three wheelers(goods)| 5-6| Three wheelers(passengers)| 8-9| Table 6-Demand Forecast for 2010-11 Some of the key forecasts made with respect to growth of commercial vehice industry are: †¢ Expected demand in Passenger segment to grow at 6% CAGR in volume terms over the period FY05-FY10. Goods segment to show 4. 6% CAGR over the same period. †¢ Light Commercial Vehicles to grow at a rate of 20% YOY. †¢ Heavy Commercial vehicles to grow at a rate of 12% YOY. PEST Analysis Economic Scenario The fortunes of the CV industry are closely related to the general economic conditions prevailing in a country. The demand for transportation is directly proportional to the growth of the economy, mobility of population, and other related factors. In nearly al l countries, a close connection between growth in transport, goods traffic and economic growth can be observed.The effects are two-fold: * Increasing economic development causes more traffic. Increasing amounts of goods, greater transportation distances, enhanced division of labour (globalisation), new production technologies (e. g. just-in-time production), higher levels of commuter traffic, and an increase in business travel are producing a growth in goods transport and production-related passenger transport. The increase in the prosperity of private households, together with the reduction in the working week and the working life, produce an increase in holiday and leisure transport. The mobility of people and goods is a precondition for greater productivity and economic growth. The latter result from enhanced division of labour, faster structural change, the exploitation of new raw and other materials and greater competitiveness in international trade. POLITICAL SCENARIO: The gov ernment has taken many initiatives to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) in the industry; a few of them are given below: * Automatic approval for foreign equity investment up to 100 per cent of manufacture of automobiles and components is permitted. * The automobile industry has been delicensed. There are no restraints on import of components. Besides the above mentioned initiatives, the government has envisaged the Automotive Mission Plan 2016 to promote growth in the sector. It targets: * Emerging as the global favourite in the area of design and manufacture of automobiles and auto components. * Taking the output to US$ 145 billion, accounting for more than 10 per cent of the GDP. * Offering additional employment to 25 million people by 2016. ? TECHNOLOGICAL SCENARIO: Road Infrastructure Development 52000 + Kms Road development project taken up under NHAI * 5851 Kms of Golden Quadrilateral (93% completed) 7300 Kms of NSEW corridor (Phase I&II) –(11% completed) â₠¬â€œ Target Date – Dec’09 * 380 Kms of Port Connectivity (29% completed) – Target Date – Dec’12 * 46000 KM Length of Road Development- US $ 27Bn Project in progress – Completion by Dec’12 Port Infrastructure Development * Port Infrastructure upgradation projects ~ US $ 16 Bn. in progress * Upgradation of major ports through private sector involvement (13 projects are operational and 4 under implementation) * Development of container terminals (in 6 ports of total 15 million TEUs capacity) – Target Date – 2013-14 * Projects worth US$ 13. 3 billion proposed under National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) –Target Date – 2013-14 * Additional port handling capacity of 530 MMTA in major ports Annexure List of Industry Associations The automobile industry like any other industry has a number of associations to look after its interests. They provide a greater bargaining power to the industry and act as a sourc e of bridge between the industry and the government. They help in formulating laws for the industry and help in getting technology from abroad.These associations enable the industry to lobby hard to get extra incentives in the Union budget in the form of reduced import duties etc. They also act as data banks and provide insightful researches into the industry and they also regularly conduct auto fairs and exhibitions. Some of the major automobile Manufacturers Association along with a brief description of their profiles is as follows: Society of Indian automobile Manufacturers ( SIAM)-This is the apex body of the automobile industry in the country representing nearly thirty eight vehicle and vehicular engine manufacturers in the country.It is an important channel of communication between with the Government and other national and international organizations. It works with all quarters of the industry and helps in formulating policies for the automobile industry. It also enhances com munication between all the stake holders of the industry and helps in technological up gradation though collaboration with foreign players. For more details of the organization log on to http://www. siamIndia. com/ The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA)-This organization is the nodal agency for all the automobile component manufacturers in the country.They have nearly 500 hundred members and their supply form the majority of the components in the organized sector. Like SIAM, this association also helps in dissemination of information about the industry, enhances trade promotion, technological up gradation and quality enhancement thus playing an important role in the development of the industry. It also sends delegation to foreign countries and participates in international trade fairs and regularly publishes data about the sector. More information about the organization can be sought from http://www. acmainfo. om/ Federation of automobile Dealers Associat ion (FADA)-This association is the apex body of automobile dealers in India and it was established in 1964 to promote and protect the interests of the retail automobile market in the country. The four founder members of FADA which have played a key role in the formation of the association are as follows: †¢The automobile Dealers Association of Maharashtra, Mumbai †¢Motor Industries Association, Kolkata †¢Automobile Traders Association, Delhi †¢Motor Vehicles and Allied Industries Association , Chennai Click http://www. adaweb. com/ for more details. Motor and Equipments Manufacturers Association (MEMA)-This association as the name suggests represents the interest of the automobile equipment manufacturers by making the companies associated with this trade more profitable and efficient. It provides useful information about the industry, valuable market research, government representation and other valuable commercial services. The body was established in 1904 and s ince then they have provided valuable service to the light motor vehicle and the heavy industries.To know more click http://www. mema. org/index. php List of graphs and tables * Table 1-Market Share of Different Players in Automobile Sector * Table 2-Automobile Production Trends * Table 3-Automobile Domestic Sales Trends * Table 4-Automobile Exports Trends * Table 5-Tax Structure in the Automobile Industry * Table 6-Demand forecast for 2010-11 * Figure 1-Monthly Domestic Sales of Commercial Vehicles * Figure 2-Monthly Exports of Commercial Vehicles * Figure 3-Regulatory Framework of Automobile Industry

Dinner Table Conversations

Dinner table conversations had been considered as contributor to the learning of the child particularly to the language skills and reading skills. A number of randomly-selected parents were asked to participate in the study by allowing their dinner table conversations to be audio-taped. Their conversations were analyzed and it was found that the dinner table conversations the child has with his parents can be a basis for the learning output of the child. It has improved vocabulary and reading skills of the child. It can also be an avenue for the development of the social-well being of the child.DISCUSSIONIt is most probably that the family is complete in gathering during dinner. Because of that, of the three important meals of the day, dinner was viewed to be of importance not in terms of nutritional benefits but of learning. Dinner table conversations have been viewed as an important factor that affects a child’s learning positively. There could be a lot of ways that it could improve language and cognitive learning of the child. First thing that a dinner conversation can do would be to improve the faculty of language of the child. Learning and broadening the knowledge about the language starts early.It has been said that children speak the language even before they could understand it (Snow and Beals). During dinner, the parents of the child can help the child improve his vocabulary with the parent’s guidance. At dinner, many stories both by the children and the parents are told. In that case, explanatory and narrative talk is what being utilized. Results show that the degree of their explanation and narration depends on the level of vocabulary of the child. It was also found that narrative talks during a young age allow for an easy definition of terms when they get six years older.Results also showed that narrative talks at a very young age of two can help improve reading skills when the child gets into grade 2. It also showed that explanatory t alks are related to the scores the child can get in school. These findings only show that dinner table conversations with both the children and the parents participating on it can improve the language skills of the child by improving his vocabulary and the reading skills. And why wouldn’t it? The parent’s assistance helps them to recognize what they could have said wrong are what exactly are the words they are using.The parents also guide them to use the appropriate words. The child may use words that he has only heard of from other people of from watching the television and may not understand what it really means. The child would use those words and when the parents could hear of it, the parents could correct improper use of the words and if it is inappropriate to use. The parents also have the option to â€Å"filter† the words that the child may use by commanding the child not to use such words or by not introducing such words. Introducing new words is also a good way of improving vocabulary.Reading skills are improved because the child had already learned of the words and clearly understand what a certain statement conveys. When a child doesn’t understand what the word means, it is more likely that the child wouldn’t understand what he read or heard. These findings also tells that it is good that both the parents and the child are present during the meal especially while the child is very young since the child’s learning at that very young age is critical for the learning output a few years from now.If the child could start early with his improved language skills, he can do a lot better when he gets older. In some cases though, the contribution of the mother to the child is greater than that of the father probably because the mother is at the primary level of care giving to the child (Ely et. al,). But dinner table conversations not only affect cognitive learning of the child. It could also contribute to the social- well being of the child. The child can see many things from his parents and may look at it as examples.Parents may consciously shape up to be the best example for the child (Pontecorvo, et al. , 2001). The parents mold their kids through teaching appropriate use of the language. The parent may teach the child how to use words to convey a message that sounds polite and not being rude. Also, by having conversations, the child gets to have a wider perspective of a lot of things and can use those to analyze and critically think over certain things. During conversations, the child is also encouraged to participate by telling what goes through his mind and is encouraged to clarify his thoughts.That is a very important behavior especially in class. If the social-well being of the child can be molded while they are still young, then, they should be molded while still young. And if this can happen during conversations during dinner, then let it be. This only tells that parents have the respo nsibility to look forward to the future of their children and prepare them for what they could be. The study was conducted based on random sampling of the family. The study is more focused on the descriptive analysis of the data.It would be difficult, though, to quantify the results because words or language is involved. The method used to correlate the trend with practical implications was statistical analysis. Their correlation determined what it could contribute towards the conclusion, but, dinner table conversation can really be a basis for the learning output of the child. It is difficult to say, though, that there is an absolute relation between dinner table conversations with both the parents and the child participating on it and the child’s future learning output.One problem may have risen during the data gathering. It is possible that the parents were being conscious with the way they held their conversations with their children and was aware that they are being tape d. In that way, they may have deviated from their natural way of having a conversation within the family. The way they have behaved during the data gathering may be a bit different from how they behave when they are in that unsuspecting mood. They may have tried to be more polite and avoided making rude comments because they want to make an impression.The age of the children participating in this study was from two to five and a half. The learning output was taken into account several years after the dinner table conversations. The learning output cannot be attributed solely to the dinner table conversations the child had during his earlier years. There are a few questions that are yet to be answered by conducting further researches, like, how long a conversation should be to make it effective?Does the improvement in language skills due to dinner table conversations encompasses all types of people and all races? ; and would it matter if the parents are not the one present during the dinner and having conversation with the child? This study is very good basis for child development. Because of the findings, perhaps, even the government may promote complete gathering of the family during dinner time. Parents with very young children would surely be interested to start conversations with their child.