Tata Motors Leads in Large Trucks & Eicher in LCVs

TNS Truck Trak 2006 Customer Satisfaction Study

A buoyant Indian economy growing at nearly 8% is also driving increased demand for commercial vehicles. TNS Truck Trak has been designed to map customer expectations and experiences in the market and provide manufacturers with vital inputs in their efforts to enhance the customer experience. TNS Truck Trak 2006, the first wave, covers over 5000 truck customers across the sales and post-sales experience nationally.

It is evident that the efforts made by manufacturers in terms of infrastructure build up at both sales and service outlets in terms of facilities and customer comfort seem to have paid off handsomely.

In the key “heavy commercial vehicle” category (over 10 Tons), Tata scores highest. It also delivers the highest Index of any manufacturer in any category, with 90 in the 25T tractor trailer segment. Eicher scores the highest in the Light and Intermediate vehicle segment (up to 10 Tons).

Dealers have largely managed to provide a smooth purchase process for customers to choose and buy their preferred commercial vehicles. While the industry scores high on purchase experience in general, segments that deserve a mention are LCVs at a TRIM Index of 87 and Trailers at 90.

However, a lot still needs to be done for customer expectations from front-line sales persons in facilitating the purchase like providing information on comparative models and understanding individual customer requirements. These are "delight" areas for dealerships to work upon.

"Better infrastructure at the dealerships and the overall purchase experience at the showroom have been rated extremely high. Coupled with availability of good financing options, customers across the segments have gone away feeling they have got a good deal", says Ravi Shankar, Senior Vice President, TNS India.

 
Customisation, the big opportunity: While the quality of new vehicles delivered is rated very good and is fast matching customer expectations as in the passenger vehicle sector, customisation in standard features is still an improvement area, which could be a great opportunity area for companies in the future.

On the other hand, "On-time vehicle delivery" shows low ratings, perhaps due to the rising demand in most segments.

Another key improvement area is "Customer interactions during delivery process" like explaining warranty and service terms clearly. As in the car industry, post-purchase contact and relationship management will become key drivers in the near future.

After-Sales Service, the key customer concern: As in the rest of the automotive industry, after-sales service is the key concern area for customers as their expectations on the overall quality continues to go higher. After-Sales service is rated considerably lower than the purchase experience.

In the past, truck service centres always left a lot to be desired on the basic infrastructure front and lagged behind their cousins in the car and two-wheeler segments. However, the study shows that now customers are extremely happy with the overall infrastructure for servicing and customer comfort at the dealerships.

However 'Quality of service' and getting it "first-time-right", are rated very low, by customers. The happiest among them all are the tractor trailer customers where manufacturers seem to be getting it right as far as quality and diagnosis in service is concerned. This segment scores the best at 75 index points, which is commendable in post-sales service.

The study also finds that managing customer expectations becomes increasingly challenging as the length of vehicle ownership increases. While it varies by segment and make across the truck industry, the average TRIM score of 85 for owners in the up to 6 months period drops by 13 points to 72 for customers in 12-36 months ownership period.