For a start - some statistics. Nearly 43, 000 readers of the magazine “Driving”, having carefully read the April issue of the magazine, spent at least an hour and a half more and, with some effort, compared four vehicles in seven of each of the six categories proposed by the competition criteria.
Thus, they distributed 10 836 000 points between 24 cars. Agree, such numbers can impress anyone.
Based on international experience, the results of such studies can be considered as early indicators of further development. Simply put, on the basis of their analysis, with a high degree of certainty, to suggest how the automobile market of Russia will develop. The information obtained after processing the questionnaires turned out to be very important both for the magazine “Behind the Wheel”, and for the leaders of domestic auto production, and for representatives of foreign companies. In any case, all the leaders of the Russian automobile industry and the car market arrived at the solemn ceremony of presenting the Grand Prix “Behind the Wheel” -2005 (for information on this, see ZR, 2005, No. 10). Not only in order to get the coveted figurines from the hands of the editor-in-chief - it was also necessary to quickly familiarize ourselves with the results of the study of ZR. In this issue, we will talk in detail about the results that have been reached together with the readers of the magazine.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Even at the first assessment of readers' opinions, three important points are striking.
The Russian car is alive! Domestic car has every chance to stay on the market if manufacturers can catch the mood of society and come closer to modern automotive standards. An example of this is Lada Kalina. By the beginning of our survey, it had not yet gone on sale, and was familiar to readers of the ZR only by publications in the journal. Nevertheless, she took in her class a prestigious second place with 28.5% of the vote.
Our congratulations to the Renault company - "people's car" were received in Russia! Readers cast 27.13% of the vote in Renault Logan and awarded him second place in the compact class. Like Kalina, by the beginning of our action Logan was familiar to readers of ZR mostly in absentia, but they voted for a budgetary approach to creating a simple and high-quality foreign car. We also note that the joint venture Avtoframos received the Grand Prix “At the Wheel” -2005 in the “Breakthrough of the Year” nomination for organizing full-scale production of this “world car” in Moscow.
Heart versus mind. Rational criteria such as “Comfort on long trips”, “Good for the city”, “Suitability for Russian road conditions” or “Value for money” are still crucial when buying a car. Nevertheless, if he fails to win the heart of motorists (there is no so-called emotional component), then in Russia he will hardly have any chances of success.
| Distribution of votes between owners of domestic and imported cars We carefully analyzed the information on which cars the participants of our survey drive. As it turned out, 59% of them own Lada cars. On average, in the Russian fleet of these cars 49%. About 40% of voters drive foreign cars (an average of 20% in Russia). Based on this, we decided to show in comparison how the owners of VAZs and foreign cars voted. |
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RUSSIAN-ASIAN DUEL IN SMALL CLASS
Alas, the “popular” Oka, the most affordable and massive car in this class in Russia, received a frighteningly low rating. Only by the criterion “Value for money” she managed to earn points. As a result, with 8% of the vote, it became the worst car in its class. But “Kalina” has interesting results. Her overall second place was made up of good grades in the categories “Suitable for Russian conditions” and “Comfort on long trips”, as well as second place according to the “Design” criterion. But in terms of price / quality ratio, this machine is no longer satisfied with Russian consumers. The winner in the Hyundai Getz group attracts with its modern design, wins thanks to the Progressive Technologies and the high Prestige Brands.
“PURE RUSSIAN” COLLECTIVE GATHERED IN THE COMPACT CLASS
All cars presented here are assembled in Russia! Ford Focus from the Leningrad Region confidently beat its rivals by a margin of 14% and won in all comparisons. So it can rightfully be considered the most popular car in Russia.
“ASIAN SOLO” IN THE MIDDLE CLASS
The sales leader in this class - Hyundai Elantra - in the eyes of our readers, lost and could only take fourth place. In the Korean car, they were not satisfied with either “Comfort on long trips”, “Design”, or “Advanced technologies” (apparently, their absence). The "prestige of the brand" "Hyundai" in this class for the Russian consumer was no longer high enough in contrast to the small class.
“RUSSIAN AGAINST THE OTHER WORLD” IN THE BUSINESS CLASS
“Volga”, despite its solid size and affordable price, has no future as a modern car. With its rivals - BMW 5 Series and others, it is able to compete only in the criteria of "Adaptation to Russian conditions" and "Value for money". In general, Volga collected only 10% of the points and took the last, fourth place in the group. Readers gave the BMW mark the first place in the criteria “Design”, “Advanced Technologies” and “Prestige Brands”.
THREE “GERMANS” AGAINST ONE “JAPANESE” IN THE LUXURY CLASS
The results of voting in this class turned out to be extremely interesting! Readers at the wheel cast 28.09% of their votes in Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars. And just a few days after the Grand Prix ceremony in Moscow, the last car of this generation got off the assembly line in Stuttgart. Premiere of the new
The S-Class was held at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and it is already being delivered to customers. Only 4.9% of the winner is separated from Lexus, which has taken the fourth place - the smallest spread during the whole voting. No wonder - here the competition is the most intense.
“INTERNATIONAL QUARTET” IN THE SUV CLASS
The winner - Toyota-RAV4 - won with a minimum margin of 1.17% of the vote. The second place went to the Volkswagen Tuareg. Here we pay attention to the fact that the winner was the first by the criterion of “Fit for the city” (a curious choice for an all-terrain vehicle!), As well as the decision of the members of the national jury, who, in direct comparison between Toyota and Volkswagen, preferred a car from Wolfsburg. These and other extremely interesting nuances of voting will be discussed in more detail in the following issues.
Altogether, 45 thousand readers of ZR showed themselves to be competent and at the same time strict, demanding members of the jury. We sincerely thank them both from our entire editorial staff, and from experts in research in the car market, who are already familiar with the findings. Three of the members of the national jury, as we have already written, received the keys to three brand new foreign cars at the Grand Prix “Driving“-2005”solemn ceremony and wind up kilometers with might and main on the roads of Russia. And next year, everything will start again - in March …
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