JD Power presents awards to Honda Siel, State Bank

Our Marketing Bureau in New Delhi

HONDA Siel and the State Bank of India were presented the awards for JD Power Asia Pacific’s 2001 India Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) and Consumer Financing Satisfaction (CFS), respectively.

Mr Namio Hasumi, president and chief executive officer (CEO), JD Power & Associates Asia Pacific Inc, said that the two companies demonstrated a higher level of excellence in meeting the expectations of the Indian consumers.

On behalf of Honda Siel Cars and its business partners, Mr T Fujisaki, president and CEO, Honda Siel, received the trophy for 2001 SSI from Mr Hasumi. For the State Bank of India, Mr H N Verma, general manager, State Bank of India, received the award for the best finance provider in the 2001 CFS.

SSI, in its second year in India, examines customer satisfaction with vehicles’ sales and delivery process at one to six months of ownership. Similarly, CFS, also in its second year, examines customer satisfaction with the entire finance process among new car buyers at one to six months of ownership.

Mr Fujisaki of Honda Siel said: ‘‘The SSI award comes as a reassurance that our service has been appreciated by the Indian customers. Our dealers have made huge financial commitments to meet customer expectations, based on our conviction.’’

Speaking to The Financial Express, Honda Siel officials said that the company would remain focussed on SSI and engage international consultants to train its dealership’s sales personnel. So far Honda Siel has won six JD Power awards, including this year’s Customer Satisfaction award along with Maruti Udyog Ltd.

Mr Varma of SBI said that car financing formed a critical part of the bank’s business and that it would continue to provide transparent, convenient financial packages to its customers. Last year, SBI financed 49,000 four-wheelers with an outlay of Rs 600 crore.

Mr Rajeev Lochan, business manager, JD Power Asia Pacific, said: ‘‘The presence of a large number of players vying for a share of the multi-crore auto finance market makes it a fiercely competitive industry. Our data shows that customers opting to finance through nationalised banks are more satisfied with their finance experience compared to those opting for non-banking finance companies or foreign banks.’’

According to the SSI study, the six factors determining satisfaction remains unchanged compared to the 2001 study. ‘‘Sales experience is the most important factor, accounting for 37 per cent of the SSI score. The other five factors, in order of importance, are: explanation at delivery, price evaluation, delivery timing, sales-person knowledge, and post-delivery contact.

According to JD Power Asia Pacific: ‘‘Trends for the Indian automotive industry in terms of sales satisfaction are positive. Performance has improved for five out of the six factors that customers say influence their sales experience.’’

Also, the narrow gap separating the top three car-makers indicates that both HM/Mitsubishi and Ford are within close range of challenging Honda Siel, which recorded a score of 109 with above-industry average performance on all factors except price evaluation.