Safety rating essential for 90% car buyers in India: Survey

New Delhi, June 29 (KNN) Safety feature is the top most preferential feature that buyers look for when it comes to choosing a personal car, as per a latest study.

The survey was commissioned by Skoda Auto India and conducted by NIQ BASES which revealed a heavy inclination among customers towards the safety features of the car with 9 out of 10 customers who thought all cars in India should have a safety rating.

Crash-ratings and number of airbags were the top two features driving the consumer car purchase decision as derived from the survey results. Fuel-efficiency, one of the popular features, occupied third place.

About 67% of the respondents consisted of current car owners who owned a car above Rs 5 lakh. Some 33% did not own a car, but intended to purchase one above Rs 5 lakh within a year.

The survey was conducted on individuals between 18 and 54 years of age in the SEC A and B bracket, with 80% respondents being male, and 20% female.

The car's crash rating was the top driver of customer car purchase decision with an importance score of 22.3% followed by number of airbags with an importance score of 21.6%. Fuel efficiency emerged as the third most important driver with importance score of 15.0% when purchasing a car.

While the awareness about existence of 2 sets of 5-star safety ratings on crash tests is high at about 76%, only about 30% of all customers in India identify child/rear occupants safety rating as being one of those two sets.

With a major focus on safety from the Government of India and other regulators, the study was conducted to gauge the perception of safety in cars among consumers. 

The survey went about tracking the features which were the most discriminating in driving consumer choice. And the position of safety in this list of features.   (KNN Bureau)