Maruti Udyog ranks highest in customer satisfaction with automotive dealer service in India, according to the J D Power Asia Pacific 2003 India Customer Satisfaction Index Study.
The annual study identifies five factors that measure customer satisfaction with dealership service in India.
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In order of importance, these are: problems experienced, service advisor, service performance, service timing and facility appearance.
Maruti demonstrates a well-rounded performance, with industry-best scores on all five factors that determine service satisfaction," said Mohit Arora, India country manager at J D Power Asia-Pacific.
The 2003 study is based on evaluations from 3,295 owners of personal-use vehicles surveyed at 12 to 18 months of vehicle ownership and includes customers who purchased their vehicles between December 2001 and August 2002.
Ninety four per cent of Maruti owners felt that the dealership values their service business-a figure higher than for any other manufacturer. Consequently, nearly 70 per cent of all Maruti customers indicated that they will definitely recommend and return to the servicing dealership.
This is the fourth year in a row that Maruti has topped the survey by J D Power, which conducts customer satisfaction research and provides consulting services in the automotive, information technology and finance industries.
Fiat was rated as the brand that had improved the most with respect to the five parameters listed above. Tata Motors also made significant gains and has consistently improved its score and ranking over the past three years.
The study also found that for nine out of 10 makes ranked, customers report a greater number of repair problems in 2003.
However, more than 57 per cent of Maruti Udyog customers reported no repair problems.
"A problem experienced is often a function of the customer's expectation on how a feature or a vehicle system should look or perform, and any performance short of this expectation is perceived as a problem," said Arora.
The study found that fuel is the largest component of variable cost per kilometer of operation, accounting for 90 per cent of operating costs, followed by repair and maintenance, and tires. While diesel models register lower operating costs compared to petrol models, petrol models have lower maintenance and repair costs while offering comparable fuel efficiencies.
Tata Indica performed the best in the study in terms of operating costs followed by Toyota Qualis.
"In a highly cost-sensitive market like India, cost of ownership is a key factor in the vehicle purchase decision. The study reveals that satisfaction with the overall cost of ownership has a close relation to advocacy parameters such as intentions to recommend and repurchase the same make," said Arora.