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Indians top ranks of intending car buyers

Globally, price was the most frequently cited driver of choice

INDIANS HAVE topped the list of Asians who intend to purchase a car in the next one year with 44 per cent intending to do so. A global online survey on car ownership and purchase intentions conducted recently by ACNielsen revealed that people in Asia are the most `aspirational' when it comes to car ownership in the next 12 months when compared with their American and European counterparts. The ACNielsen Online Consumer survey polled over 14,100 Internet users in 28 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe and America.

Nine of the bottom ten ranked countries for car ownership hailed from Asia. Interestingly, 60 per cent of Internet-savvy Indians own a car, the highest among other Asian nations. The lowest ownership was in Hong Kong (20 per cent), China (31 per cent) and Singapore (39 per cent).

Across Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand were the only countries in the region making the list of the global top ten driving nations with 90 per cent Australians claiming to own a car, on a par with Italians and just behind Americans at 92 per cent. New Zealanders were ranked fourth in the global car ownership stakes with 89 per cent.

"The desire to own a car in this part of the world corresponds proportionately to the region's relatively lower ranking in terms of current car ownership," said Jairaj Jatar, Head, Automotive Industry Practice Group, ACNielsen India.

"Sales have grown strongly in the last three-four years in India. But road infrastructure development will decide whether or not pent-up demand will emerge strongly. Our study shows that half of the new buyers will be first time ever buyers — a clear indicator that the evolution of the Indian automobile consumer is happening rapidly. )In a market where price is an important factor, this is a signal that affluence is growing parallel to aspiration and therefore bodes well."

The study also indicates substantial consumer interest in engine size larger than 1.4 litre (80 per cent).

"It is clear that most Indians aspire for a roomy, family car going forward. Indians can aspire to buy mid-size models as family incomes across urban India continue to grow and household composition increasingly moves towards double-income, nuclear families," said Mr. Jatar.

Globally, price was the most frequently cited driver of choice and therefore was a universal consideration for new car purchases.

While Malaysians (88 per cent), Indonesians (82 per cent) and Thais (81 per cent) were the most price-conscious, Indians and Chinese seemed equally conscious (75 and 65 per cent respectively).

On fuel consumption, Indians were the most conscious (54 per cent) across the Asian region. In the rest of Asia Pacific, Chinese (37 per cent) were relatively less concerned while Koreans and Singaporeans were relatively more concerned.

RAMNATH SUBBU

in Mumbai

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