In the past decade, Indian cars have moved from being highly unreliable to having one of the most reliable cars in the world. In a recently released JD power auto reliability survey, the present Indian car owners are happier with their cars as they have become more reliable.
However, they continues to be tormented by the reports of squeaking doors, rattling windows and outside noises that continue to affect driving comforts in India. But they are throwing up lesser problems now than ever before.
The JD power study measures the reliability of three year old vehicles in terms of problems reported per 100 vehicles (PP100). The survey awarded ranks to vehicles from ten different segments. The study was based on the statistics of 150 problematic symptoms found across nine categories including engineering, encountered by owners with their used vehicles.
The JD Power India dependability survey drew its findings based on the feedback given by 5,105 owners who had purchased new cars between July 2005 and October 2006, across 20 cities in India.
The problems brought under the focus were vehicle exterior, driving experience, features, controls and displays, audio and entertainment, seats, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, interiors, engine and transmission. A low score awarded in the survey suggest high reliability ranking.
One an average, cars across all segments considered for the survey revealed 290 problems per 100 vehicles. This figure remains significantly higher than PP 100 scores of international cars, but is 41 percent lesser than last years figures.
Ford ranks highest in the entry level,
mid size category and SUV segment. Toyota range of cars is ranked the highest in the premium mid sized and MUV/MPV segments, as per the survey. Ford Ikon leads in the midsize segment and the Endeavour leads in the SUV segment.
Toyota models such as Corolla leads in the premium midsize segment and the Innova ranks the highest in the MUV/MPV segment. Maruti Suzuki Zen leads in the compact segment and Honda City is ranked high in the mid-size segment.
Those who have lost out in the survey rankings have been Honda CR-V to the SUV segment and Honda Civic which lost the top spot to Toyota Corolla.
As per the survey,
Honda performs particularly well at the name plate level receive a mere 159 complaints. Honda leads in the industry for its highly reliable and durable cars. It reported fewer problems in the areas of vehicle exterior, driving experience and engine.
Among the key problems experienced by the owners, the most frequent reported problems are squeaking doors, and abnormal noise. Over and above all these, fuel consumption remains the top 10 problems across all vehicle segments.
The study also found that at least 50 percent of all luxury- car owners are covered under an extended warranty or maintenance servicing contract, compared to 2008. In comparison, only 28 percent of small car owners and 31 percent of mid-size car owners are covered under an extended scheme.
Although the improvement is evident across most categories, the improvement has been mainly noticed in the driving experience and engine performance.
