Maruti Swift and VW Polo share honours in TNS study

While car market leader Maruti Suzuki India?s vehicles continue to hog many of the top slots, German passenger car brand Volkswagen has seen the biggest gains in the latest edition of the Total Customer Satisfaction study conducted by TNS specialist division ? TNS Automotive.

In the year 2010 car sales grew by almost 30 per cent. Popular models such as Swift, Swift Dzire, Hyundai i20, Volkswagen Polo and the Toyota Fortuner had long waiting lists. However, according to TNS? study ? the 2010 four-wheeler Total Customer Satisfaction (TCS), the car industry continued to provide a high level of customer satisfaction even when the customers had to wait to buy cars of their choice.

The study is a good indicator of the post-purchase satisfaction levels amongst car buyers. Some of the interesting pointers thrown up by the study are about the geographic differences in satisfaction levels.

Car owners in Northern India are relatively less satisfied compared to those in other parts of the country. The quality of after sales service seems to be the primary reason particularly as the age of the car grows. At the national level, customers in the relatively larger cities are more satisfied than those in the smaller cities. This may be a reflection of the growing expectations in the smaller cities. The manufacturers will do well to understand those rising quality expectations said the study.

The customer expectations even at the bottom end are rising. The owners of Tata Nano expect more in terms of design and Maruti 800 owners expect better servicing as the years go by. Also according to the study, relatively higher priced cars are able to deliver better satisfaction which shows that the Indian consumer respects value even if the price is higher. The satisfaction scores of the models in the Upper Premium Compact, Premium Midsize and Premium SUVs are among the highest.

Overall the industry score has largely remained the same (90), indicating highly stable user relationships. However, some traditionally strong models have seen a dip in scores this year. Interestingly, this year, two of the first time evaluated models (as they have gained critical mass in the market in their respective segments), emerged as the top ones (Volkswagen Polo in Upper Premium Compact jointly with Maruti Swift and Volkswagen Passat in the Entry Luxury category).

That the competition is getting intense is evident from the fact that in many of the segments the scores are very close and there are joint toppers in a number of segments. The study does not include many of the models launched towards the end of the calendar year 2010.

The 2010 four-wheeler Total Customer Satisfaction (TCS) study conducted by TNS specialist division, TNS Automotive, is the largest syndicated automotive study in India, representing the responses of around 9,300 new car buyers. This comprehensive study covered 56 models with customer evaluations taken in the key areas of sales satisfaction, product quality, vehicle performance and design, after sales service, brand image, and cost-of-ownership. The TCS index score provides a measure of Total Satisfaction and loyalty a given model enjoys with its customers