ANALYSING CONSUMER PREFERENCES AND MOTIVATION TO PURCHASE IN THE COMPACT SUV SEGMENT MARKET IN INDIA

Abstract

This project addresses consumer preferences and motivation to purchase in India's compact SUV segment market. This project would investigate this shift of consumer preferences in the SUV segment of the struggling passenger vehicle market. Further, it analyses consumer preferences and motivation to purchase, in the compact SUV segment market. Compact SUV is defined as small cars with higher ground clearance A category that has not only documented positive sales growth and increasing number of bookings in the past few months. Although, the consumer confidence is at a six year low an interesting trend is has been identified where, sales of expensive SUVs are higher in a market. This along with OEMs that are struggling in the industry, this fact has a large implication in the competitive landscape of passenger vehicle market as well. Essentially, it is a significant signal of a shift in Indian customer behaviour that the industry must consider. The literature reviewed for the project has attempted to understand the consumer's perspective towards Sports Utility vehicles and tried to find reasons for its growth. In India, the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) market is one of the fastest-growing markets these days in the automobile sector. This can be attributed to changing customer perceptions towards purchasing four-wheelers. As the automotive industry faces a slowdown in India, the compact SUV segment is proving to be an exception. The automobile industry has been reporting diminishing growth in terms of compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the past few years, although the Sports Utility Vehicle category has registered positive growth throughout this period, while other segments have not. First-time buyers are increasingly choosing compact SUVs over sedans or hatchbacks. For this project, a survey was conducted to detect the different attributes which attract consumers to SUVs. Primary data is going to be used for the purpose of this research project.