[TusharK]

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) recently conducted a 'Dealer Satisfaction Study' and has now released its report.



According to the study, Kia dealers are the happiest in the country, followed by MG and Toyota dealers. Mahindra, Ford and Honda are at the bottom of the list, with Honda dealers being the most dissatisfied.



In the luxury car segment, BMW dealers top the list, followed by Mercedes, Audi and Land Rover.



In the 2-wheeler segment, Honda dealers were found to be the most satisfied, with Hero MotoCorp and TVS dealers in second and third place respectively. Royal Enfield dealers were the most dissatisfied.



In the commercial vehicles segment, Eicher dealerships were the most satisfied followed by Mahindra, Tata and Ashok Leyland.

According to FADA, at the overall industry level, dealers attach high importance of 27% on Business Viability. Dealers feel that products, in terms of quality and range meet the expectations of customers but frequent updates are necessary to keep up with future requirements.



Dealers of mass-market passenger vehicles remained most satisfied, with an average of 720 points out of 1,000. The 3-wheeler segment scored the lowest (610 / 1,000) among all segments.



Dealers of the 4-wheeler mass-market segment believe that OEMs haven't been receptive to their inputs. The study found that training cost-sharing arrangement by the OEMs was unsatisfactory and OEMs ability to fulfil vehicle orders in the correct specifications and quantity, coupled with non-flexibility to choose workshop equipment were the cause of major concerns.

Link to Team-BHP News

[Shreyas_H]

Not surprising at all.

Kia and MG make a great case study in new market entry! Bringing fresh products, focus on SUVs, great marketing, good bling and loaded features and reasonably good cars too at non-premium prices. No wonder their cars are flying off the shelves and dealers are happy.

Kia dealers have customers waiting months for their cars, they can force their own inflated insurance quotes, handling charges etc and most customers won't even complain.

Tata Dealers being happier than Hyundai dealers is a shock

I wonder why they didn't include Volkswagen in the survey?

[Bibendum90949]

In another related news, all Incheon Kia dealerships in Kerala has featured in the top ten list in Kia dealer excellence award announced by the company. They grabbed 4 out of the top 10 spots including first and third place. The group is a sister concern of Nippon Toyota, Kerala. I'm glad to say that I'm one of the happy customers of Incheon Kia, Kottayam who topped the chart.

[07CR]

Would be interesting to see on what parameters the happiness was measured?

1) Was it direct sales?
2) Profit for dealership per sale?
3) How much the OEM listened to dealerships and how they are being supported?
4) Does it also involve the work ethics?

Ideally, it should be on basis of combination of above and even more factors.

[Dhillon]

2-3 years back Royal Enfield dealers were in top 3 satisfied list because the motorcycles were on waiting. Now see where it has come. It shows that dealers are happy as long as they have money flowing in with minimum efforts. I wonder why Maruti dealers are more dissatisfied than Hyundai?

[Leoshashi]

Not hard to see Maruti Suzuki sliding down in this chart. The dealers and salesmen are desperately waiting for newer products and are tired of Maruti fleecing the same old engines and products in this day and age. No turbo petrols, no diesels, no SUVs to compete with Kia/Hyundai and no features update like models getting sunroof etc.

I've seen Maruti salesmen trying their best to retain sales while customers bombard them with slew of questions/comparison regarding competitor's cars. Never seen them so demotivated ever.

[AutoNoob]

More on this :

Source : AutoCar Professional

C S Vigneshwar, secretary and chairman DSS-21, FADA said, “I am thrilled to say that FADA took more than 2,000 samples, the highest ever number which has been used for such a study in India. The survey being filled entirely by the dealer principals, or their CEOs, is a testimony of its accuracy and coverage of all aspects of dealerships in detail. DSS 2021 also has an equal distribution of samples from all four zones, coupled with the right urban and rural mix.

at the overall industry level, dealers attached high importance of 27% on business viability, making it a highly critical aspect where OEMs need to exhibit greater sensitivity, particularly since the current satisfaction level on this factor is weak.

[CEF_Beasts]

Like Kia and MG are an entire case study in itself, there must be one for Honda India as well, as to how to end business! No new launches, dealers unhappy as well. At one time they were the best in their game in every segment they operated! It was the India specific launches that completely destroyed them, from a premium Accord, Civic and CR-V high profits, low sales market they entered the cut throat competition in the high sales and low profits market.

[Flanker99]

Hello all,

What's interesting to note that Ford dealers are happier compared to those of Honda. Given the talk about Ford "leaving" India; can the same be assumed for Honda? I do recall some press coverage pertaining to them shutting down one of their plants. Given their vehicle line-up; not difficult to imagine such a situation.

By contrast, Honda 2 wheeler dealers present a stark opposite picture.

The reason becomes very evident if we just compare their (Honda 4 wheeler vs 2 wheeler) respective market share (sorry, I don't have the exact numbers with me to back this up).

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Not hard to see Maruti Suzuki sliding down in this chart. The dealers and salesmen are desperately waiting for newer products and are tired of Maruti fleecing the same old engines and products in this day and age. No turbo petrols, no diesels, no SUVs to compete with Kia/Hyundai and no features update like models getting sunroof etc.

I've seen Maruti salesmen trying their best to retain sales while customers bombard them with slew of questions/comparison regarding competitor's cars. Never seen them so demotivated ever.

Plus the fact that there's in fighting between the plethora of Maruti dealers themselves.

So if a maruti salesman can convince a prospective buyer, 'yeh mileage zyaada deta hain and safety is a myth....sab bhagwaan ke hath mein!', he then has to ensure the customer does not go buy his WagonR from the multiple rival maruti dealers in the same city.

[gopalnt]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Not hard to see Maruti Suzuki sliding down in this chart. The dealers and salesmen are desperately waiting for newer products and are tired of Maruti fleecing the same old engines and products in this day and age. No turbo petrols, no diesels, no SUVs to compete with Kia/Hyundai and no features update like models getting sunroof etc.

I've seen Maruti salesmen trying their best to retain sales while customers bombard them with slew of questions/comparison regarding competitor's cars. Never seen them so demotivated ever.

It could also be because MS has strict customer satisfaction constraints on the dealers. I once escalated a complaint to MS. The dealer was fined for poor service and they were also asked to pay me a penalty of Rs.1500. The service centers have service targets as well. Even actions like these can make dealers unhappy isn't it?

[abhishek46]

I can think of 2 probable reasons why Honda dealers are 'supposedly' unhappy:
1. Absence of new products. Dwindling Sales.
2. Loss of revenue due to increased service intervals. (Honda increased it's service intervals on their cash cow City sometime back)

[akshye]

Originally Posted by TusharK

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) recently conducted a 'Dealer Satisfaction Study' and has now released its report.

VW twins are missing here. Skoda is being discussed so much on the forum recently, it would have given a good perspective on how serious Skoda actually is.

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

I can think of 2 probable reasons why Honda dealers are 'supposedly' unhappy:
1. Absence of new products. Dwindling Sales.
2. Loss of revenue due to increased service intervals. (Honda increased it's service intervals on their cash cow City sometime back)

Well atleast Honda is consistent globally. The dealership near to where we live in the UK, has now been turned into a used car dealership.

Honda has also shut down their UK production. Once upon a time the Jazz (city), Civic, CRV were among the top sellers in the UK, now Honda as a manufacturer is out of the UK top 20 list in 2021!

The demise of this once powerful Japanese auto giant is sad to see. They introduced diesel engines very late in India, by the time they developed and launched their Indian small car, it already looked dated. They are still to launch a viable small SUV to compete in this fast growing segment in India. They are soo far behind the race.

[Mat095]

It’s just a simple logic of how much their product sells, KIA now always being in the centre of Indian Automotive scene enjoys a lot of attention and the good line of products is a bonus. They always have prospective buyers either visiting a showroom or enquiring about the products through websites or calls keeping the sales staff always on their toes therefore no one’s unhappy either the showroom guys or the customers.

Honda on the other hand, haven’t had a new product since the new City last year, hence the dealerships don’t have as much activity as the Korean twins. Also, the dealerships are impacted if another branch of the same dealership closes down because of losses, KIA does not have that problem. Lack of advertising, no new marketing strategies by either the brand or the dealer are also contributors to this situation of Honda and Ford. The interesting part is that Ford dealers are happier than Honda despite the speculations of Ford leaving the Indian market.