Indians may have made their mark on the global business landscape, especially in the information technology space, but wealthy Indians continue to desire to own American and European brands such as BMW, Apple and Gucci, much like their counterparts in five other Asian countries.
Despite the significant strides made by many Asian companies in the gadgets and electronics space, only two brands – Samsung and Sony – vie with American and European brands in the minds of affluent Asians in India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, reveals a survey.
Japanese brand Uniqlo retained its third place on the overall list.
Germany dominates the automobile segment, with BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz sweeping the top three spots, followed by Italian brand Gucci in the luxury fashion category, according to the online survey conducted by Nikkei Research during October and November covering 300 consumers, half of them women.
The respondents were aged between 16 and 59 and the survey covered 104 brands in five different categories.
In India, Apple scores over Samsung, which occupies the fourth place.
"Around a year ago, Samsung products accounted for 70-80% of our smartphone sales, but now they make up only 50%," a sales clerk at a south Mumbai mobile shop said.
The dominance of German car brands is phenomenal. An Indonesian said he bought a BMW car after having driven Suzuki and Honda cars, because the brand "never goes out of style."
The BMW Group's sales in Asia were up 14% to 6.66 lakh units in 2014.
The fall of Japanese car brands in the minds of consumers in Southeast Asian markets is more worrisome, according to Asia Nekkei.
"What is particularly troubling for Japanese automakers is the downtrend in the popularity of their cars in Southeast Asia, where they boast market shares of 80-90%. In Indonesia, Honda Motor fell to second from first, while Toyota slid from second to fifth. In the Philippines, Toyota's plunged from third to ninth on the list," it said.
In the luxury category, the brands that were high on "want to buy" list of wealthy Asians of the six countries included Zara, Hemes, Louis Vuitton, Mango and H&M, according to the survey.
