Suzuki Fx - Consumer Behaviour

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In this assignment, details of an interview with a customer are summarized who is using a product costing more than $100 and performing a utilitarian function. The aim of this essay is to highlight the factors that affect the consumer actions, feelings towards the product, and their ownership experience. For these purposes I have selected one of the most sold cars in Pakistan: the Suzuki Mehran. Mehran, launched in 1988 as a successor to Suzuki Fx, scored merely two out of five stars on pakwheel.com, Pakistani equivalent to mobile.de.

To get an insight in the consumer behaviour, I selected an interviewee who has been using this car since 1997 and bought a newer version of Mehran in 2014. First I focused on the thinking process as what the said customer of Mehran looked for and what were the priorities in car selection? As the car is mostly popular in middle and lower classes of Pakistan, it was not surprising to know that budget, maintenance cost, and price of spare parts were the top priority of my interviewee. Being a symbol of middle class, it can be speculated that there are not many upper class buyers for this car. The purchasing process of the car also seems an important factor as certain cars, especially the more expensive Toyota and Honda as well as the imported second hand Japanese cars have long waiting times.

Suzuki Mehran is an integral part of life of many people in Pakistan. Its engine is durable despite its low quality exterior and interior. Many families use it as secondary car used by housewives for completing the house hold stuff. Since driving in big cities like Karachi and Lahore is incredibly tough, Mehran provides a low-risk option to travel in crowded areas of the city. My interviewee uses his Mehran for performing day to day tasks and uses bigger and fancier Toyota Corolla for meeting and get-togethers.

Brand is not important for most Suzuki Mehran users as their focus is on lower short- and long-term costs. For my interviewee, practical things matter like mileage and cheap maintenance. In contrast to the first world countries, where Euro5 is a norm for new cars, Mehran with Euro2 is a big thing. Of course the customers want to have more economical cars, but the lack of competition is Pakistani market is not pushing the producers and suppliers to pursue more advanced vehicles.

There was a detailed discussion on the user experience and the pros and cons of Mehran with the interviewee. As already mentioned, the major factor for Mehran customer is price i.e. good mileage (around 18km/litre), maintenance and cheap spare parts etc. Mehran is a car which can be repaired at almost every car workshop. This car due to its low maintenance and small size is widely used by driving schools and learners. The traffic situation in Pakistan is not ideal and a small car offers possibility to squeeze through a traffic jam. Further the absence of public transport infrastructure, makes Mehran and other economical vehicles an attractive option.

My interviewee as well as the users of Mehran on pakwheels.com reported almost similar negative reviews. The design of car is practically the same since 1988. The finishing got poorer and poorer in every newer version. One by one the manufacturers removed the additional features like radio and ventilation system. The road grip is dangerously low and there are no safety mechanism in place like ABS, safety belts and airbags. With time the inner volume of the car got reduced which lowered the leg space. Thus this car is not seen suitable for long road trips. In short, the customer see Mehran not worth the price as it lacks all the stuff that should come at its price.