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As the second wave of the pandemic raged, search for cars in the first quarter of the current fiscal year has surged by 55% compared to the same period last year. A recent survey by CarDekho, a prominent auto-tech firm in the country reveals that across its digital platform, the company recorded 227 million visits in Q1, FY22, a jump of 55% compared to the same period in FY21 during the first run of the pandemic.

Electric vehicles

The biggest change is people are increasingly searching for electric vehicles. The consistent rise of petrol and diesel prices has impacted customer confidence toward traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Search for EVs on CarDekho platform witnessed a 224% growth in Q1, FY2022, when compared to a similar period in FY2021, the survey said.

“Post-Covid world witnessed a dynamic change in consumer patterns. The first Covid wave had nudged users towards personal mobility and the second wave accelerated the move,” the survey noted.

Tata Motors led the search trend in EV space, with Tata Nexon EV being the most searched car with approximately 32% of total traffic. The company’s other model Tata Tigor, along with Nexon and MG ZS EV contributed almost 50% of the total traffic in the EV segment.

Delhi was the key city for EV’s searches, followed by other metros and mini-metros. Surprisingly, many tier-II and III cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur and Patna witnessed a spike in electric vehicle search, marking their presence in the top ten cities in this segment.

Maruti and Hyundai

The newly introduced Hyundai Alcazar made a remarkable entry in the Indian markets as the most searched car in this period, the report said.

Maruti and Hyundai continue to dominate the searches with three products each in the top 10 most searched vehicles. Maruti dominated the search with Maruti Swift, WagonR and Baleno, whereas the premium and compact SUVs of Hyundai such as the newly-launched Hyundai Alcazar, Hyundai Creta and Venue featured in the top 10.

Love for SUVs

The Indian customer’s preference for SUVs and compact SUVs continues with over seven SUV models among the most searched.

Other SUVs that made the top 10 searched vehicles are Kia Seltos and Sonnet, from Korean manufacturer KIA Motors followed by Mahindra Thar and Tata Nexon.

Delhi and Pune

Tier II and III cities dominate the search with over 40% share, revealed the survey.

Delhi continues to be the leader in online car search on CarDekho. The second, third, ninth and tenth positions were taken by cities such as Pune, Lucknow, Patna and Jaipur, respectively.

Metros and mini-metros from the southern and eastern parts of the country also made a strong contribution, with Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai in fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth place, respectively.

The automatic transmission sector witnessed an average growth of over 3% with 48.5% share in Q1 as compared to 45.7% last year.

At this rate, automatic transmission cars might soon overtake manual transmission car searches. The difference between manual and automatic transmission models has narrowed from 8.3% in the Q1 2020 to 3% in Q1 2021.

45 years and above

The study witnessed a remarkable 247% growth in search by customers above the age of 65. Similar growth was witnessed among the 55-64 age group (148% rise) and the 45 -54 age group (210% rise).

While the overall average growth in the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups was 70% and 21%, respectively.

Hatchback and Sedan segments saw a continuous drop in online search share whereas SUVs which sustained a positive momentum after an initial drop in May and June 2020. The SUV segment now dominates the total searches and consumer interest in India, the study said.