Not fuel efficiency, Indian car buyers more concerned for safety; willing to pay more: Survey

The survey finds that 3/4th of respondents preferred to explore four or five-star-rated safety vehicles for their future vehicle purchases, and were willing to extend their budget for safety, a significant shift in the buying behaviour.

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Indian automobile customers are becoming safety-conscious and are willing to stretch their budget to buy safer cars, according to a survey by Mobility Outlook. Nearly one-third of respondents said they will be willing to spend over Rs 30,000 on upgraded security features, as per the survey, which took responses from nearly 2.7 lakh customers across India by Mobility Outlook, a brand of CarTrade Tech.

"One of the survey's significant outcomes was that 3/4th of respondents preferred to explore four or five-star-rated safety vehicles for their future vehicle purchases, and were willing to extend their budget for safety," said the survey in which Frost & Sullivan acted as the validation partner.

While most of the respondents were also aware of the significance of higher safety ratings, in terms of more safety features on vehicles and better occupant protection, "the fact that 27 per cent of respondents were unaware of safety ratings is grounds for serious concern", it said.

Yet, the survey found that making safety features mandatory has had a positive impact on safety feature awareness, as most of the respondents were acquainted with vehicle safety features. ABS (anti-lock braking system), airbags, roll-over mitigation, and other safety features were familiar to the respondents, it added.

However, as many as 45 per cent of respondents felt new vehicles will be safer than used vehicles, regardless of safety ratings, highlighting the need for better communication, it added.

Commenting on the findings, CarTrade Tech CEO (Consumer Business) Banwari Lal Sharma said, "The automotive industry is experiencing an industry transformation, with new security and safety features being introduced and incorporated."

At the same time, he added, this may bring a significant amount of complexity to the customers' experiences. Hence, the automotive industry and its stakeholders need to understand how customers perceive such advancements.

The survey took responses from owners and intenders of four-wheelers and two-wheelers across metro and non-metro cities in India.