More People Now Want Personal Cars As Preferred Mode Of Transport Post COVID-19 India: Survey

Online cabs and cab sharing services likely to suffer a drastic decline in popularity as per a new survey

• For those willing to spend between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 12 lakh on a new car, 70 per cent say personal car is their preferred means of transport.

• In the same segment, 0 per cent would opt for cab sharing and only 1 per cent would prefer online cabs post the pandemic. 

• Popularity of public transport like bus, metro and auto remains unchanged for this segment.

• For those willing to spend between Rs 13 lakh and Rs 30 lakh on a car, 93 per cent vote for a personal car as choice of transport.

• This segment with higher-spending capacity shows no interest in online cabs post COVID-19 events.

The realm of personal transport is experiencing a large scale shift in consumer behaviour during this global pandemic. A recent CarDekho survey aimed at measuring the change in preferences for different modes of transport revealed some interesting insights.

The respondents were divided into two segments based on how much they are willing to spend on a new car. The results are as follows:

Segment 1: Rs 5 lakh to Rs 12 lakh

Even before the COVID-19 crisis, online cabs and cab sharing was the least popular choice of transport at 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively. Now, only 1 per cent of respondents in this segment would use online cabs while it seems no one would be willing to share cabs. The use of public modes of transport like buses, metro and autos see no change, at 4 per cent.

The popularity of two-wheelers has shrunk from 30 per cent to 18 per cent after the COVID-19 situation. Personal cars have become even more popular in this segment as the preferred transport for 70 per cent of respondents, 10 per cent more after the events of the pandemic.

Also read: More Than 60 Per Cent Of New Car Buyers Rate Hygiene Highly In Post COVID-19 India: Survey

Segment 2: Rs 13 lakh to Rs 30 lakh

For people with a higher range of spending, it is expected that the personal car will be the dominant preference for transport as compared to other modes. It has gone up from 83 per cent to 91 per cent after the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the popularity of two-wheelers has fallen from 12 per cent to 7 per cent.

Only 2 per cent of respondents in this segment picked cab sharing as their preferred mode of transport before the COVID-19 crisis, another 2 per cent preferred online cabs, and 2 per cent opted for public transport. Following recent events, the popularity of sharing cabs and public transport in this segment halved while none of them seem interested in online cabs any more.