One Nation, One Association: FADA survey aims to reveal India's auto customer satisfaction trends

Customer satisfaction indicator: Industry lobby Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) is known for its facilitation role in ensuring fulfillment of the dream of people in the country’s far-flung areas of buying a vehicle. With its objective of ‘One Nation, One Association’, FADA has often stressed the need for automakers to set up sales points in non-urban centres of the country.  On May 6, FADA will announce launch of its customer satisfaction survey to be held along with growth advisory company Frost & Sullivan. The pan-India association has been vocal on the levy of the lower tax rates on vehicle purchases, setting up of sale and service automobile facilities in the country’s small towns to get government recognition and be duly incentivised.

At a time when technology and features in personal vehicles determine the leader in the auto sector, knowing the future of customer experience is pivotal to the growth of India’s auto sector, said an industry source associated with the survey, wishing anonymity. Notably, as per the advisory committee member, the survey will be spanned across India’s length and breadth, covering a considerable sample size of existing car users and prospective car buyers.  
“A case in point of the wide reach of the survey is the country’s leading carmakers which has a widespread footprint. Similarly, even two-wheeler and three-wheeler makers, during the last decade or so have set up sales points in untapped markets of the country,” he said, adding that the outcome of the customer satisfaction survey will be interesting to watch out for.

FADA's past projections

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association of India along with PremonAsia, a consumer insights and advisory services firm in its dealership survey last year, revealed that the average dealer satisfaction score stood at 767 out of a maximum 1,000 points, an increase of 48 points from a year ago. 

While the country's automobile sales broke several records in 2023, tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India have proved to be lucrative markets for automotive companies. In 2021, it was carmaker Volkswagen that conducted a study jointly with Frost & Sullivan revealing that demand for pre-owned cars was set to touch eight million by FY2025. However, the most interesting trend is the one reflected in the electric vehicle (EV) segment. In its EV outlook released recently, FADA President Manish Raj Singhania said: “In FY24, India’s electric vehicle (EV) market has shown promising growth across all segments, although from a relatively low base. Electric two-wheelers (2W) led the charge with sales of 9,47,087 units, a YoY increase of 30.06 per cent , capturing a 5.4 per cent market share.”