Buying Behaviour of Passenger Cars: A Study in South West Haryana

Indian Automobile sector is high on growth trajectory. According to auto industry experts Indian Automobile sales will grow at a CAGR of 9.5% to 13008 million by 2010. From 2006 through 2011, India will be the fastest-growing auto manufacturer among the world's top 20 car-making countries. The present study is conducted in South West Haryana which consists of Bhiwani and Mahendragarh districts. The study endeavor is to investigate empirically customer's preference towards passenger car brand. Pre-purchase and post-purchase behaviour of the customers is evaluated and factors influencing the customers are determined by Perceptual mapping obtained from Multi-dimensional scaling. Overall results indicate that in south west Haryana region customers are more influences by friends and relatives than dealer and salespersons. Maruti dominates the market with three of its brands namely Maruti 800, Alto and Wagon-R. Brand name, fuel efficiency and price were found to be primary determinant for buying car in this region.