With household incomes on the rise, Indians are now opting for more expensive cars with better styling and more features, a JD Power Asia-Pacific study says.
According to the Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) study, the average number of months of income required to buy a small car, 10 months, has not changed in the past five years.
So, while buying capacities are up, the financial stretch required to own a car remains unchanged because they are buying more expensive cars.
Mohit Arora, Executive Director at JD Power Asia-Pacific, Singapore said, “Over the past several years, automakers in India have strived to offer higher value to their customers, especially for highly competitive small cars.
“This has resulted in far greater choices for customers, who have thus shown a propensity to migrate toward the greatest value offering.”
This trend is highlighted by the fact that the Maruti Suzuki Swift, a premium hatchback in the Rs 4.5-6.8 lakh range, is today the second best seller in the country after the Alto.
Till last year, the Maruti’s WagonR (Rs 3.5-5.5 lakh) was the second most popular car.
Diesel Car Interest
High petrol prices are also driving consumer interest in diesel vehicles, with 43 per cent of consumers purchasing a diesel this year, up 11 per cent from last year.
With increased demand comes longer wait for vehicle delivery, as customers indicate waiting 17 days, on average, for a diesel vehicle, nearly double the waiting period last year.
“Communicating delivery time of the vehicle accurately and promptly is an important element of managing customer expectations,” said Arora.
Seven factors
With 7,382 new vehicle owners interviewed between March and July, the 13{+t}{+h} India SSI Study examines seven factors that contribute to their overall satisfaction with the sales experience, the delivery process, delivery timing, salesperson, sales initiation, dealer facility, paperwork and deal.
Overall sales satisfaction is 820 index points (on a 1,000-point scale), fell two points from last year.
Satisfaction in each factor declined, most notably in salesperson (down by six points), JD Power said.
Among the 12 brands ranked in the study, Honda came out on top, followed by Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki. Mahindra made the most improvement, achieving a 17-point increase from last year.