Carmakers fare well on product front: India CAR study

Our Corporate Bureau
19 October 2002

Mumbai: An India CAR (customer automobile recommendation) study reveals some interesting facts about the car market in India.

The syndicated study by idea7 (), a Mumbai-based automotive services vertical, is based on the concept of “referral value” and tracks the “willingness of the existing users of various car brands to recommend it to others.”

It assesses various car brands on three layers measured by the product recommendation score (PRS), the manufacturer recommendation score (MRS) and the dealer recommendation score (DRS), and a comprehensive index known as CAR Index, which is a function of the first three.

The Honda City tops the overall and C segment charts with CAR Index of 120 and has, along with it, the Maruti Alto topping the B segment chart with CAR Index of 108 and the Toyota Qualis that leads utility vehicles with a score of 117. The study this year did not include the newly created D segment, as the same has not matured enough to assess customer responses. The average industry CAR Index stands at 97.

The study delineates various value zones that determine the state of mind of the customers and maps various brands on these zones, namely Delight Value Zone, Satisfaction Value Zone, Zero Value Zone, Trouble Value Zone and Shock Value Zone. All the brands lie in Satisfaction Value Zone with only the Honda City touching the Delight Value Zone that begins at a score of 120.