64% OF INDIA’S GEN Z QUESTIONS NEED TO OWN A CAR: DELOITTE GLOBAL SURVEY

About 64 per cent of India’s Gen Z/GENY, who already have a vehicle, are now questioning the need to own a vehicle as opposed to 51 per cent in 2019, according to Deloitte’s 2020 Global Automotive Consumer Study.

The respondents (all of them vehicle owners) cited an increase in the cost of owning a personal vehicle, emergence of Bharat Stage-vi emission standards, coupled with higher penetration of ride-hailing services, as the reason for the same.

According to the report, the number of people occasionally using ride-hailing services has also increased in the past few years, as riders (consumers) see multiple benefits. In percentage terms, it has gone up to 57 in 2019, from 38 in 2017. The firm sampled close to 35,000 respondents from 20 global markets. Of this, 3,000 were in India. The findings of the study come at a time when India’s passenger vehicle market has been battling one of the worst slowdowns in two decades.

The study also dwells on consumer preference with regard to data privacy and the money Indian buyers are willing to spend on connected vehicles.

Close to 65 per cent of those surveyed in India very clearly articulated that they are willing to pay up to ~60,000 for connected vehicles, a third of them also showed willingness to pay more — up to ~1 lakh. Half of them said that they would rather pay for the features upfront instead of enrolling in a monthly subscription plan.

The results show that buyers are willing to pay for connected features, presenting an opportunity to vehicle makers to monetise them,” says Rajeev Singh, partner and automotive leader, Deloitte India.

Meanwhile, 40 per cent of the respondents in India agreed to the idea of sharing data related to the vehicles’ performance with the manufacturers as long as it’s not biometric data. The respondents expressed reservation regarding sharing any kind of data with financial services, insurance, telecom firms, and government agencies.

Consumers in India and across geographies continue to question the safety of autonomous vehicles (AVS) and the ability of traditional automakers to bring fully autonomous technology into the market. A strong majority of consumers — as high as 80 per cent India, 77 per cent in China, and 74 per cent in the Republic of Korea — said it would feel more comfortable to ride in an AV if it is government certified.