Toyota ranks highest in sales satisfaction among the 12 mass market brands ranked in the JD Power 2016 India Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) study. With a score of 838, it performs particularly well in the delivery process factor. Nissan (831) ranks second, and does well in the salesperson factor. Honda, Hyundai and Mahindra tie for third at 815 each.
The 2016 SSI study is based on evaluations from 7,604 owners who purchased a new vehicle from September 2015 through April 2016. It includes 69 models covering 14 nameplates and was fielded from March through July 2016 in 30 cities across India.
The study examines six factors that contribute to overall customer satisfaction with their new-vehicle purchase experience in the mass market segment. These are sales initiation, dealer facility, deal & paperwork, delivery timing, salesperson and delivery process. Sales satisfaction performance is reported as an index score based on a 1,000-point scale.
The study finds that 37 per cent of customers experienced problems with a small selection of models and their salesperson having difficulties in answering their questions, up from 17 per cent in 2015. Similarly, 17 per cent of customers say they experienced pressure from their purchase dealer, up from 10 per cent last year. First-time buyers are particularly affected by these issues, which results in overall satisfaction scores 12 points lower (on a 1,000-point scale) than among repeat buyers.
New-vehicle buyers in India are increasingly turning to the internet as a source of information . More than a third of customers in 2016 are using it for shopping, up from 28 per cent in 2015. Nearly one-fourth of customers cite using some form of social media to gather information before their purchase, up from eight per cent in 2015. Nearly 18 per cent indicate posting online about their purchase experience, up from 10 per cent.