The overall Dealer Satisfaction Index (DSI) in India rose 29 points year on year to 810 in the 2026 edition of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations’ (FADA) Dealer Satisfaction Study (DSS). The study, conducted with PremonAsia, received 2,045 valid dealer responses collected during July and August 2026.
JSW MG Motor led the 4W mass-market segment with 865 points, while Royal Enfield topped the two-wheeler segment with 878 points. Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles (Tata Motors CVD) led the commercial vehicle segment with 800 points. In the pure-electric categories, Ather Energy topped two-wheelers with 864 points, and VinFast Auto led electric four-wheelers with 858 points.
FADA president Sai Giridhar said the improvement in the overall index also highlighted unresolved issues around dealer economics. “The findings clearly underline the need for greater focus on dealer viability,” he said, pointing to sustainable margins, inventory and buyback policies, training cost-sharing and greater clarity in OEM policies.
Dealer satisfaction improves across key segments
Within the 4W mass-market segment, JSW MG remained at the top with 865 points, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra at 853 and Tata Motors at 836. Kia Motors scored 812, while Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Hyundai Motor India, Maruti Suzuki India and Renault India recorded 778, 766, 670 and 597 points, respectively.
Royal Enfield led the 2W segment at 878 points, followed by Hero MotoCorp at 873. TVS Motor Company scored 689, Suzuki Motorcycle India 666, HMSI 631 and Bajaj Auto 570.
In the luxury passenger vehicle segment, BMW India recorded 779 points against a segment average of 758. In the CV segment, Tata Motors CVD scored 800, followed by Ashok Leyland at 795 and VECV-Eicher Motors at 732.
Ather, VinFast lead electric categories
Ather Energy led the pure-electric two-wheeler category with 864 points, while VinFast Auto India topped the electric passenger vehicle category with 858 points.
The study also found that EV readiness is becoming more important for two-wheeler dealers, particularly in terms of infrastructure, manpower capability and service economics.
Dealer concerns shift towards business viability
While product remained the highest-scoring factor, after-sales had the highest factor importance. After-sales, sales and order planning, and business viability and policy together accounted for nearly 68% of dealer mind share.
However, Business Viability & Policy remained the lowest-scoring factor. Dealers identified buyback or write-off of unsold inventory, training cost-sharing, vehicle and spare-parts margins, parts availability and turnaround time as key concerns. Vehicle-on-road economics, network-expansion policies and long-term dealership viability were also highlighted.
PremonAsia director and COO Rahul Sharma said the changing weight of different factors showed that dealer priorities are shifting beyond the product itself. “Profitability, inventory, dealer rights and future readiness are now central to the OEM-dealer partnership,” he said.
In the 4W mass-market segment, dealers raised concerns around inventory and deadstock, stock carrying costs, parts availability and delivery turnaround times. They also sought greater predictability around investments required for OEM corporate identity standards, territory and channel discipline, and registration and RTO processes.
For commercial vehicle dealers, service economics emerged as a particular concern. Issues cited included vehicle-on-road margins, labour rates, warranty reimbursement, parts availability and turnaround time, deadstock, vehicle margins and long-term viability.
The study's “Voice of Dealer” findings also identified profitability and margins as the most frequently repeated improvement request, followed by product and EV transition, the OEM relationship, inventory and stock, and dealer rights and policy.
The DSS 2026 was based on around 60 attributes across six factors. Responses were indexed to a maximum of 1,000 points, with a higher score representing greater dealer satisfaction. FADA said the rankings were derived statistically from ratings provided by participating dealers.