The Hindu Business Line : Operating cost of new vehicles goes up with fuel prices: J.D. Power

THE rising price of fuel is taking its toll on car owners with a study finding that the operating costs of new vehicles have gone up significantly this year.

The operating costs of new vehicles have risen by 11 and 15 per cent for petrol and diesel vehicles, respectively, from 2004, the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2005 India Customer Satisfaction Index Study finds.

The overall cost of operation is an aggregation of three cost components: fuel, repair and maintenance and tyre costs. Diesel vehicle owners continue to report lower overall operating cost per km than petrol vehicle owners, largely due to significantly lower fuel costs. Yet, diesel vehicle owners report a 44 per cent higher repair and maintenance cost on per-km basis compared with petrol vehicle owners, the study finds.

According to the study, while the Tata Indica and Indigo car models record strong performances in the diesel segment in terms of cost of operation, Maruti models continue to outperform their competitors in the petrol segment.

Maruti Suzuki also ranked highest in customer satisfaction with after-sales services for the sixth consecutive year in the J.D. Power study. Overall satisfaction with the dealer's service department is assessed on 42 attributes, grouped into seven predefined factors: problems experienced, service quality, user-friendly service, service advisor, service initiation, service delivery and in-service experience.

According to Mr Mohit Arora, India Director at J.D. Power Asia Pacific, "Maruti's consistent performance in the study over the past several years has resulted in a steady increase in the percentage of its customers who say they intend to remain loyal to the brand."

The industry has improved its overall performance by three index points, with seven of the 11 nameplates (brands) ranked in 2005 showing improvements from 2004. Mahindra emerges as the most improved nameplate in the study with an increase in score of 30 index points from 2004. Mahindra, Ford and Honda are the only three companies that have improved performance across all seven factors from 2004.

The study, now in its ninth year, examines the satisfaction of new-vehicle buyers with the authorised service experience at 12 to 18 months of ownership.

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