We delved deeper into the NFO Automotive-Autocar Total Customer Satisfaction Study to find out what it really costs to run your car and which ones are easy on the pocket. In this exclusive 'Cost of Ownership' study we asked car owners what their total bill comes to every year and came up with some rather interesting revelations .

SEGMENT - WISE ANNUAL COST (in Rs)
SEGMENT	Total cost (Rs. per annum)
Economy	35,193
Premium Compact	44,481
Total industry	45,330
Diesel Small Car	45,517
Entry Mid-size Car	63,575
Diesel Mid-size Car	66,101
M U V	66,386
Premium Mid-size	72,948

You've been through this. You pull up to a traffic light in your shiny new set of wheels and the first thing that everybody wants to know is 'kya average hai'? Which only serves to highlight the fact that for us Indians the decision to purchase a car is an extremely rational one, taken after due consideration of cold, hard facts and much calculation of what our 'beauty' would cost to run and maintain in the long term.

Only after a car has passed this strict 'value' test will things like styling, performance and ride quality come into focus. As many a multi-national carmaker has found to their dismay, no matter how good your car is, it just won't sell in our country if it fails the value test.

The NFO Automotive-Autocar Total Customer Satisfaction Study asked actual customers what it costs to run and maintain their cars and came up with a ranking for Cost of Ownership (COO) based on these findings.

As expected, the little Maruti 800 came out on top - its extremely low total cost of ownership, Rs 34,233 per year is why it is the largest selling model in the country. However, given the disparity in fuel prices between petrol and diesel, the 800 only managed ninth place in 'Fuel Costs Per Km', with the top eight places all going to diesel-powered vehicles. Hardly surprising when you consider that diesel prices are 35 percent lower than petrol, giving diesel-owners the maximum bang for their buck. Besides, what clinches the argument is that diesels are less thirsty, and therefore very easy on your wallet.

The Indica Diesel tops in both 'Fuel Cost Per Km' and more importantly 'Total Cost Per Km', which also factors in things like maintenance, repairs costs and insurance. This explains why it has been setting the sales charts on fire.

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