The Hindu Business Line : New car buyers seek design, performance: Study

While price remains a major driver for rejection, buyers of new models seek products with better design and performance, as they reject other models mostly on these grounds.

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Sept. 18 Nearly 45 per cent of buyers of recently launched vehicle models tend to evaluate at least one other new vehicle model during the shopping process, compared to buyers of models that have been on the market for two or more years (37 per cent), according to a JD Power study.

Now in its third year, the study analyses the reasons why new-vehicle shoppers consider, but ultimately reject, certain models in favour of another and identifies a possible 48 reasons why shoppers may reject a new vehicle, a release said.

New models launched in the past two years are positioned as products with contemporary styling and improved performance, which partly explains the comparisons made by buyers of these vehicles with the other models available, said Mr Mohit Arora, Senior Director, JD Power Asia Pacific, Singapore.

Price factor

While price remains a major driver for rejection, buyers of new models seek products with better design and performance, as they reject other models mostly on these grounds.

The study also finds that a higher proportion of buyers (42 per cent) in the four metros shop around for another model before purchasing their vehicle, while buyers in non-metros and other cities are less likely to do so (33 per cent).

In addition, the study finds that buyers with higher income levels and higher education are more inclined to consider additional models while shopping.

Top performers

For the third consecutive year, Maruti Suzuki performs well in persuading shoppers to purchase the brand, with 43 per cent of its shoppers eventually purchasing a Maruti Suzuki model.

However, this figure has dropped by eight percentage points since 2006.

Among the nine vehicle makes covered in the study, Hyundai buyers shop around the most before purchasing their new car, while Skoda buyers are least likely to consider another model in their shopping process.

Maruti Suzuki benefits from its large model range, which offers a wider choice to shoppers and enables the brand to retain customers within its brand portfolio, said Mr Arora.

Further, delivery of superior sales processes at the dealership increases the chance of converting enquiring shoppers into buyers.

The study is based on responses from more than 5,000 buyers and 2,300 rejecters of new cars and utility vehicles who purchased their vehicles between September 2006 and April 2007.

Fieldwork for the study was conducted between March and June 2007 across 15 major cities in India.

A total of nine makes and 40 models were covered in the study.

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