J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2015 India Dealer Satisfaction with Automotive Manufacturers Index (DSWAMI) StudySM suggests that the optimism among car dealers in India is growing as a majority expect their financial performance to improve this year. The study finds that 56 percent of dealers in India estimate that their financial performance in fiscal year 2015 will improve, compared with fiscal year 2014. In the 2014 study, only 46 percent of dealers indicated that their financial performance will be better than last year.
In its fifth year, the study measures dealer satisfaction with vehicle manufacturers or importers in India and identifies dealer attitudes regarding the automotive retail business. Overall dealer satisfaction is determined by examining nine factors: marketing and sales activities; product; vehicle ordering and delivery; sales team; parts; warranty claims; after-sales team; training; and support from the manufacturer.
Sales team (16%) is the highest-weighted factor in the 2015 study, increasing in importance by 6 percentage points year over year and contributing most to overall dealer satisfaction. Similarly, the marketing and sales activities factor has increased in importance year over year (15% vs. 9%, respectively).
KEY FINDINGS
- Overall dealer satisfaction with automotive manufacturers averages 826 points on a 1,000-point scale in 2015, down from 827 in 2014. Satisfaction improves across five of the nine study factors, most notably in parts, after-sales team and warranty claims.
- In 2015, parts satisfaction improves more than any other factor year over year, with 83 percent of dealers indicating they received parts within 15 days of ordering, which is the highest percentage since 2012.
- Product satisfaction, including the variety of models to meet market needs and frequency of product updates, declines the most (-14 points). More than one-fourth (27%) of dealers indicate their manufacturer does not adequately support them in introducing new models/ variants. Additionally, 24 percent of the dealers indicate their automaker does not have the range of vehicles to compete effectively in the market, an increase of 5 percentage points from 2014.
- The top four ranked makes—Toyota, Maruti Suzuki, Honda and Hyundai— also have the highest proportion of dealers who are expecting to make a profit this year.