J.D Power 2015 Study Reveals Latest Indian Car Buyer Trends

According to J.D Power 2015 India Escaped Shopper StudySM (ESS) that released today, new vehicle buyers in India are more and more inclined towards considering models from utility and mid-size car segments during their purchase process. This study is based on responses from 8,116 buyers and 2,983 rejectors of new cars and utility vehicles. The survey considered buyers who made their vehicle purchases between September 2014 and April 2015.

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Over the last four years, popularity of small cars has seen a substantial decrease, as buyers move to bigger car models. The percentage of potential car owners considering small cars has decreased to 45 percent from 65 percent in 2012. As a result of which, percentage of buyers considering utility cars increased by 12 percent and mid-size cars up by 7 percent.

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Mohit Arora, executive director at J.D. Power said “Today, price gaps between vehicle segments have narrowed, with many automakers offering models of different body types around the same price point. This has given new-car buyers a wider range of vehicles for consideration, including larger models,” said.

Percentage of potential buyers considering newly launched models has increased to 10 percent in 2015 vs 7 percent in 2013. Cost of the car was deduced to be the primary reason for rejecting a new model, amounting to 30% consideration in buyer’s motivational factor, which is followed by 21% attributed to exterior design and 18% to fuel economy.

For an 11th consecutive year, Maruti has become the most considered company by potential car owners. About 40 percent of new car buyers opt for a Maruti model, but company’s retention rate has decreased to 37 percent in 2015 from 38 percent in 2014.

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