A study was recently conducted in India in which the customers were polled to determine their preferences for features while picking a personal car. The survey was commissioned by Skoda Auto India and conducted by NIQ BASES. With 9 out of 10 respondents believing that all cars in India should have a safety rating, it was clear that customers had a strong preference for the vehicle’s safety characteristics.
Indians want cars with safety rating and airbags: Survey
According to the poll results, the top two features influencing customer car purchase decisions in India were crash ratings and the number of airbags. One of the most popular attributes, fuel efficiency, came in third. About 67 percent of the respondents consisted of current car owners who owned a car above Rs 5 lakh. Some 33 percent did not own a car but intended to purchase one above Rs 5 lakh within a year.
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The survey was conducted on individuals between 18 and 54 years of age in the SEC A and B bracket, with 80 percent of respondents being male and 20 percent female. The car’s crash rating was the top driver of customer car purchase decisions with an importance score of 22.3 percent followed by the number of airbags with an importance score of 21.6 percent.
With a 15 percent relevance score, fuel economy was rated as the third most crucial factor when buying an automobile. Also, when it comes to crash ratings for cars, a maximum customer preference of 22.2 percent was observed for a 5-star rating followed closely by 21.3 percent preference for a 4-star rating. Zero star rating is the least preferred with only 6.8 percent score.
Here’s what Skoda and NIQ BASES has to say about this survey:
Petr Solc, Brand Director, Skoda Auto India, said, “For us at Škoda, safety is part of our DNA and it is our philosophy to build safe cars. Since 2008, every Škoda car has been crash-tested globally, and in India, with a 5-star safety rating. The survey reveals Škoda to be perceived as among the top-3 brands having models with high safety ratings. Škoda will continue focusing on these values to grow the brand in the Indian market.”
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Amrita Srivastava, Regional Director (APMEA), BASES Speciality Sales, NIQ BASES, said, “The survey, which was done using NIQ BASES solution – FPO (Feature Price Optimiser) based on discrete choice methodology, revealed that the customer places the safety feature of ‘Crash Rating‘ among the tested features, at the forefront of their purchasing criteria. The survey covered 1,000 people in 10 states across India. The states covered were Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.”
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