The combination of potent products and robust aftersales service is a rare thing. Such a blend mainly comes in handy in times like these when the Indian automobile industry has been under stress for nearly a year. Hyundai Motor India, it seems, has found a mantra to deliver the same mixture year after year. In the latest India Customer Service Index Mass Market Study conducted by J.D. Power, it pipped all other mass-market players for the third consecutive year.

Let’s get some numbers into the mix. On a 1,000-point scale, Hyundai’s Indian arm scored 903, followed by Tata Motors at 870 and Mahindra at 863. All three brands scored considerably higher than the mass-market average of 826 points. Feedback from 7,177 new-vehicle owners, who purchased theirs between March 2016 and August 2018, form the basis of this year’s study. Here’s a graph that shows how other brands performed:

J.D. Power has been conducting this particular survey for more than two decades. To be precise, it was carried out for the 23^rd time this year. The study measures new-vehicle owner satisfaction with the aftersales service process by examining dealership performance in five areas: service quality (30 per cent); service initiation (18 per cent); service facility (18 per cent); service advisor (17 per cent); and vehicle pick-up (17 per cent). If you haven’t figured them out yet, those figures in brackets indicate the amount of importance they carry.

It is not just about the overall scores. The study also highlights some other interesting observations. They are:

• In 2019, the average amount spent on a service dropped by 10 per cent. Customers spent Rs 5,000 per service this year, as compared to Rs 5,600 in 2018. At 17 per cent, the decline is most significant among aftersales customers aged at least 39 years.
• Customers who rate their experience with at least 929 points out of the maximum 1,000, 89 per cent are more likely to come back for post-warranty services.
• Ninety per cent of customers in the same segment as above will recommend the service centre to a friend or relative.
• Eighty-one per cent of customers call a dealer to book a service. Their satisfaction score of 831 is way better than the 786 points of those 14 per cent customers who drive in a dealership for service without prior appointment. Those who used a manufacturer’s app to book a service accounted for 1 per cent of the sample size and rated the highest satisfaction score of 875. Those who used a dealer’s website to do the same make up 2 per cent of the lot, with a satisfaction score of 868.
• More than one-fifth (21 per cent) customers stayed at the service centre during their visit. Compared to last year, that is a decline of 10 percentage points.
• Satisfaction amongst customers who prefer to stay at the dealership during their visit is higher (837 points) than those who choose not to (821 points).