The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), the apex national body of automobile retail in India today informed it is initiating its Annual Dealer Satisfaction Study in association with PremonAsia, a consumer-insight-led consulting and advisory firm based out of Singapore.

The apex dealer body says the comprehensive study will serve the following objectives:

• To understand and quantify dealer expectations from OEMs
• To measure how OEMs perform in meeting or do they exceed dealer expectations
• To identify gaps that impact OEM-dealer partnership across all key business aspects
• To identify how dealers foresee the evolving automotive retail business
• To provide actionable insights that OEMs and dealers can work together in enhancing their business partnership

Commenting on the announcement of this study, Vinkesh Gulati, president, FADA said, “I am delighted to announce that FADA in partnership with PremonAsia has initiated the most in-depth study which we are going to take in next few months. With a sizable sample, FADA – DSS will provide adequate representation from every quarter and cutting across all categories of vehicles. The study will also have a good demographic mix coupled with urban and rural balance. We are excited to release the final report by end of June’21. I am confident that the survey will act as our report card to manufacturers and will enable to highlight best practices as well as close the gaps wherever possible!”

C S Vigneshwar, secretary, FADA who heads this project said, “This study comes at a crucial time when the industry is facing unprecedented headwinds. This is the first large scale study that is done for the dealers, by the dealers and from the dealers association to see how manufacturers are supporting their dealership networks. We intend to deep dive into every aspect of dealership management and to highlight the best practices followed by manufacturers in keeping a profitable and sustainable dealer network.”

Rajeev Lochan, founder and CEO, PremonAsia said, “We are excited to partner FADA in offering 2021 Dealer Satisfaction Study, first of many new initiatives designed to serve the business needs of the automotive sector. The industry is emerging from one of the most challenging times witnessed in the recent history. The idea of this study is not just to examine the drivers of a successful OEM-dealer business partnership, but to go deeper in exploring how the future of automotive retail business is likely to evolve in the new post-Covid world.”