Maruti Suzuki Ranks Highest in India Customer Satisfaction Study for a Sixth Consecutive Year

Mahindra Emerges as the Most Improved Nameplate

JD Power Asia Pacific 2005 India Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Study

Maruti Suzuki continues to set the industry benchmark on satisfaction with after-sales service in the Indian automotive industry, ranking highest in customer satisfaction for the sixth consecutive year, according to the JD Power Asia Pacific 2005 India CSI Study^SM released in October 2005.

 
Overall satisfaction with the dealer's service department is assessed on 42 attributes, grouped into seven predefined factors: problems experienced, service quality, user-friendly service, service advisor, service initiation, service delivery and in-service experience.

"Maruti Suzuki's overall strength lies in building an organisation that is sharply focused on the voice of the customer," said Mohit Arora, India director at JD Power Asia Pacific. "Maruti's consistent performance in the study over the past several years has resulted in a steady increase in the percentage of its customers who say they intend to remain loyal to the brand."

The industry has improved its overall performance by three index points, with seven of the 11 nameplates ranked in 2005 showing improvements from 2004. Mahindra emerges as the most improved nameplate in the study with an increase in score of 30 index points from 2004. Mahindra, Ford and Honda are the only three nameplates that have improved performance across all seven factors from 2004.

"It is heartening to note the efforts put in by most manufacturers to provide customers with a delightful service experience," said Arora. "Manufacturers in India today realise that investing in customer satisfaction not only yields greater advocacy and loyalty for their brands, but it also creates positive word-of-mouth recommendations that drive first-time sales of their products."

Additionally, the study finds that operation costs of new vehicles have risen 11 to 15 per cent for petrol and diesel vehicles, respectively, from 2004. The overall cost of operation is an aggregation of three cost components: fuel, repair and maintenance and tyre costs. Diesel vehicle owners continue to report lower overall operating cost per kilometer than petrol vehicle owners, largely due to significantly lower fuel costs.

Yet, diesel vehicle owners report a 44 per cent higher repair and maintenance cost on a per-kilometer basis compared to petrol vehicle owners.

While the Tata Indica and Indigo car models record strong performances in the diesel segment in terms of cost of operation, Maruti models continue to outperform their competitors in the petrol segment.

 
The study, now in its ninth year, examines the satisfaction of new-vehicle buyers with the authorised service experience at 12 to 18 months of ownership. More than 4,200 owners of 33 different vehicle models participated in the 2005 study, which was fielded from June to August 2005.