Significant new customer category: More women in the driver’s seat, literally

NEW DELHI: As more women join the workforce and become financially empowered, car sales to women have nearly doubled over the past five years.

At Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, the share of women buyers has jumped to 12% from 7% five years back, while its rival Hyundai Motor has seen it growing fourfold to 12% since 2014.

The share of women buyers among those who purchase luxury cars such as Mercedes Benz and Audi is even higher, at 15-20% — growing faster in a declining market.

“Women buyers are going to be an important segment. We are trying to figure out how to make it easier for them, and make Maruti their choice,” said Shashank Srivastava, executive director (marketing and sales), Maruti Suzuki.

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Women account for 10-12% of sales in the 2.96 million passenger vehicle market in India, according to industry data. Executives, however, say the share of women car users is much higher, since many vehicles are still registered in the name of their male family members.

Car makers are now going all out and introducing features that appeal to women buyers.

“Women buyers prefer hatchbacks. We have a significant share of women buyers for the Grand i10, NIOS and Santro. We have also seen many women buyers opting for SUVs, like Creta, because of its functionality and safety features,” said Tarun Garg, director (sales and marketing) at Hyundai Motor India.

For Maruti Suzuki, its Celerio, Alto and DZire models are top draws for women buyers.

Along with the higher share of women car buyers, their age profile is getting younger, said Vivek Srivatsa, head (marketing), passenger vehicle business unit at Tata Motors.

For instance, the average age of a female car buyer has reduced to 31-34 years at Maruti Suzuki. Most of these are salaried professionals, with the company recording the highest sales to women buyers in Kerala, followed by Tamil Nadu.

“Inspired by the increasing number of our women customers, we have decided to hire more women sales staff across our dealerships and also curate brand experiential initiatives like ‘She’s Mercedes’ ,” said Martin Schwenk, managing director, Mercedes Benz India. The company has seen 50% growth in this category and their share triple over the last five years, with growth coming in faster in tier II-III cities.