Majority of the car buyers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have put BMW and Toyota cars at their hot favourites followed by Mercedes and Lexus close behind, said a new study by YouGov Siraj.

The respondents termed safety, comfort, performance and reasonable maintenance costs, as the major attractions for their pick, the study stated.

Two other brands scoring significantly above 100 were Audi and Honda, said the study, which also covered dealer ratings on different aspects.

According to the study, the trend of car ownership seemed to be moving towards SUVs, large and medium. The current ownership pattern for the main car is 15 per cent mid-sized SUV and 10 per cent large SUV, the study pointed out.

Going by future intent of consumers, this is likely to rise to 22 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, a gain of between 40 and 50 per cent for each of the car segments, it added.

"Interestingly, while there is high satisfaction with the car brand, there is not strong approval of the dealership. Additionally, only 55 per cent of car owners in bothe the countries regularly service their car at the authorized dealer’s workshop – the remaining do it at other workshops/garages and a few also use petrol pumps," Vivek Wagle, research director at YouGov Siraj, said.

“Such a study is probably being conducted for the first time in the region at such a level. Clients look for simplicity and actionability in research and we aim to provide just that," he noted.

"With the help of purchase drivers and a single number, car brands can measure their perceptions vis-à-vis competition and gain insights for improving their ranking. Every brand can also gauge the role of their dealership and understand how the entire brand-consumer-dealer relationship can be improved,"Wagle added.

The study was conducted online using YouGov Siraj research panels in the UAE and Saudi and covered a sample of 754 and 681 respondents each.-TradeArabia News Service