FADA Dealer Satisfaction Study 2026 Results
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) released the results of its sixth annual Dealer Satisfaction Study (DSS) 2026, conducted in association with PremonAsia. The study recorded 2,045 valid dealer responses across seven automotive segments, providing broad geographic representation across India. The Overall Dealer Satisfaction Index rose by 29 points to 810 compared to 2025, indicating improved dealer-OEM relationships.
Segment Performance and Rankings
In the 4-Wheeler Mass Market segment, JSW MG Motor India emerged as the top performer with an industry-leading score of 865 points, maintaining its leadership position. Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Kia Motors recorded the strongest year-on-year gains among ranked OEMs. The 4W Mass segment overall improved by 39 points to 810.
In the 2-Wheeler segment, Royal Enfield led with 878 index points, closely followed by Hero MotoCorp, with both registering substantial improvement over last year. The 2W segment overall improved by 35 points to 827.
In the Commercial Vehicle segment, Tata Motors CV emerged as the leader with 800 points, showing healthy gains over the previous year, followed closely by Ashok Leyland. VECV-Eicher recorded a strong improvement over 2025.
In the Pure Electric category, Ather Energy with 864 points and VinFast Auto with 858 points emerged as category leaders in the 2W and 4W electric segments respectively. BMW led the 4W Luxury Segment, while Mahindra and Mahindra (Swaraj Division) took the top position in the Tractor segment. The study expanded coverage to include Tractors (recording a satisfaction index of 784) and Wheeled Construction Equipment, while 4W Luxury recorded an index of 758.
Key Findings and Dealer Concerns
Product continues to score the highest among all factors, reflecting strong dealer confidence in product reliability, range, and frequency of updates. However, After-Sales carries the highest factor importance, and together with Sales & Order Planning and Business Viability & Policy, these three factors account for nearly 68% of dealer mind space.
Despite the overall improvement, Business Viability & Policy remains the lowest-scoring factor. Key concerns include buyback/write-off of unsold inventory, training cost-sharing, vehicle and spare-parts margins, parts availability and Turn-Around-Time (TAT), Vehicle-On-Road economics, network-expansion policies, and long-term dealership viability.
Segment-specific concerns emerged: 2W dealers seek better vehicle and spare-parts margins, clarity on multi-brand outlets and parallel dealer policy, and more disciplined sales incentives, with EV readiness becoming increasingly important. 4W Mass dealers face economic and operational pressures around inventory/deadstock, stock carrying cost, parts availability, and predictability around investments for OEM Corporate Identity standards. CV dealers highlighted sharper concerns about service economics, vehicle on road margins, labor rates, warranty reimbursement, and demand-based allocation. Tractor dealers expressed concerns about first right of refusal, trial-vehicle support, and parts delivery TAT.
Voice of Dealer and Economic Implications
The Voice of Dealer analysis revealed that profitability and margins are the most repeated improvement ask, followed by product/EV transition, OEM relationship, inventory/stock, and dealer rights/policy. Dealers increasingly seek fair dealer-agreement principles, viability safeguards, more predictable inventory and network policies, and stronger support for EV transition, skills, and regulatory simplification.
FADA President Mr. Sai Giridhar emphasized that strengthening dealer economics and ensuring a fair, collaborative, and sustainable OEM-dealer relationship will be critical for the industry's long-term growth, particularly during the transition towards new technologies. PremonAsia Director and COO Mr. Rahul Sharma noted that the study represents a clear mandate to build a more viable, fair, and future-ready dealer ecosystem.