For German businesses

Market research in India for Germany companies

German engineering and automotive firms commission B2B studies on Indian buyers and suppliers. We plan, field and analyse the work in India, and report it in English on your clock.

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Quick answer

Market Research India is an India-based research consultancy that works for clients in Germany. You contract with us directly — no Indian entity needed — and we run market entry, B2B and consumer studies across 50 Indian cities, invoiced in EUR, reported in English, with readouts at 10:00 am CET.

Proposal in 24 hours
Scoped, itemised and fixed-fee.
50 cities, 14 languages
Our own supervised field teams.
Senior-led, NDA-first
A research director on every project.

2,400+

Projects delivered

Cities with field teams

Industries covered

Indian languages

Why German companies research India first

German entries into India are usually B2B and usually technical: machinery, components, process equipment and the service model around them. The decision is rarely about whether Indian demand exists. It is about which buyers specify on total cost of ownership rather than price, how much of the German specification survives contact with an Indian budget, and whether a shortlisted supplier or JV partner is what it claims to be.

Engineering sold into Indian plants
Plant and procurement heads judge total cost of ownership, service response and local spares availability, not specification sheets. That is interview work, not desk research.
Decide what to engineer out
German products often arrive over-specified for Indian price points. Research settles which features buyers will pay for and which can go.
Supplier and JV due diligence
Before signing a Tier-1 supplier or joint-venture partner, independent channel interviews test capacity, quality systems and reputation in the trade.
Entering before you staff
Mittelstand firms typically research India before they put anyone here, so fieldwork, translation and local scheduling all have to be run from this end.

How a cross-border engagement runs

You are commissioning fieldwork in a market you cannot supervise in person, so the process is built around visibility: you see the instrument before it goes out, the progress while it is in field, and the assumptions behind every number that comes back.

1
Brief and mutual NDA
A 45-minute scoping call in your window — 9:00 am–1:30 pm CET is 1:30–6:00 pm in India, so a full working overlap exists every day. Readouts are usually booked at 10:00 am CET. We sign a mutual NDA before the brief is discussed in any detail, so nothing commercially sensitive travels unprotected.
2
Proposal and fixed costing
Within 24 hours you get a written proposal: objectives, method, sample plan by city, field timeline and a fixed fee in EUR. No Indian entity, agent or local partner is required on your side to commission it.
3
Instrument design and translation
We draft the questionnaire or discussion guide in English for your sign-off, then translate it into the languages of each fieldwork city and back-translate so you can see exactly what was asked.
4
Fieldwork across Pune, Chennai, Delhi NCR and Bangalore and beyond
Our own supervised teams collect the data, with GPS tagging, audio back-checks and independent validation of a share of every interviewer's work. You get a progress tracker, not silence.
5
Analysis, modelling and quality control
Weighting, cross-tabulation and — where the brief calls for it — a sizing or pricing model whose assumptions are all visible and all editable by you.
6
Readout on your clock
A live debrief at a time that suits you (10:00 am CET is the usual slot), an English report and deck, the clean dataset, and two weeks of follow-up questions included.

The commercial and legal basics, from Germany

These are the questions overseas buyers ask before a brief is even written, so we answer them up front rather than in the small print of a proposal.

Working with us from abroad

Contracting: You contract directly with our Indian entity from Germany. No subsidiary, local agent or joint venture is needed on your side to commission a study.
Invoicing: Quoted and invoiced in EUR; USD, EUR, GBP or INR are all available if your finance team prefers another. Payment stages are agreed in the proposal, not after the fact.
Confidentiality: A mutual NDA is signed before the brief is discussed in detail, and we never name a client or quote a finding publicly without written permission.
Data protection: GDPR-aligned handling, with data-processing terms in the contract and standard contractual clauses covering the transfer to India.
IP and ownership: Instruments, transcripts, the clean dataset and the report are yours. We keep no right to resell commissioned findings to anyone else.
Language: English end to end for you. Instruments are translated for fieldwork in Indian languages and back-translated so the record shows exactly what respondents were asked.
Observing fieldwork: Focus groups stream live from viewing facilities with simultaneous English translation, and interview recordings and transcripts are shared as fieldwork progresses.
Calls and readouts: 9:00 am–1:30 pm CET is 1:30–6:00 pm in India, so a full working overlap exists every day. Readouts are usually booked at 10:00 am CET.
Typical programme: 8–12 weeks from signed brief to readout for a multi-city entry study; shorter for a single-city or online-only read.

Where your data sits

Your brief, instruments and findings are handled on GDPR-aligned terms: data-processing language written into the contract, a documented lawful basis for contacting respondents, standard contractual clauses covering the transfer of personal data to India, named-access-only storage, and deletion of raw files on your instruction. Delivered datasets are pseudonymised unless you specifically need identifiers for follow-up.

Scope of work

Studies that fit an India entry plan

These six carry most German entry programmes, roughly in the order they are commissioned: size the opportunity, test whether it is reachable, then price and position against the incumbents.

Sector focus

Where German capital goes in India

Automotive leads the corridor, but most programmes touch two or three of these. Each sector page sets out the audiences we recruit and the questions that category usually needs answered.

Sequencing

Where to start in India

Start with 4 metros — Pune, Chennai, Delhi NCR and Bangalore — which between them carry most of the demand German entrants are chasing. Once the proposition holds there, extend the same instrument to Gurugram, Coimbatore, Vadodara and Rajkot to see whether it scales past the metros, where it usually costs less to grow.

Before you brief us

Frequently asked questions

How do German companies commission research in India without an entity here?

You contract directly with our Indian entity from Germany. Send a brief by email or take a scoping call, we sign a mutual NDA, and a written proposal with a fixed fee follows within 24 hours. Everything after that — recruitment, translation, fieldwork, supervision and analysis — is run by our own teams on the ground.

Which currency do you invoice in, and how do payments work?

We quote and invoice in EUR, and can switch to USD, EUR, GBP or INR if your finance team prefers. Payment stages are set out in the proposal before you sign, and we bill by international bank transfer against a standard invoice your accounts team can process.

How is our data protected once it leaves our side?

Who owns the data, the instruments and the report?

You do. The questionnaire or discussion guide, the recordings and transcripts, the clean dataset and the final report are all yours on completion. We retain no right to resell commissioned findings, and we do not fold your data into a syndicated product.

Can our team in Germany observe the fieldwork?

Yes. Focus groups are streamed live from our viewing facilities with simultaneous English translation, so you can watch from Germany and send questions to the moderator in real time. Depth interviews are recorded and transcribed, and some clients fly in for a field visit during the first wave.

What does a multi-city India study cost, and how long does it take?

Cost depends on sample size, audience difficulty and how many cities you cover; a senior B2B study of 40 interviews prices very differently from a 2,000-respondent consumer survey. A typical multi-city entry programme runs 8–12 weeks from signed brief to readout, usually starting with Pune, Chennai, Delhi NCR and Bangalore. Share a brief and you get a fixed quote within 24 hours.

Engagement facts

Time difference: CET overlap through the Indian afternoon
Usual readout slot: 10:00 am CET
Invoiced in: EUR or INR
Reporting language: English
Before any brief: Mutual NDA
Field coverage: 50 Indian cities

See how projects run

Keep exploring

Build your India programme from Germany

Cities, studies and sectors that matter to a German entry, grouped so you can scope the brief before you send it. Typical programme: 8–12 weeks, with readouts at 10:00 am CET.

India's metros

Every entry programme starts with some combination of these eight cities.

Tier 2 cities worth adding

Ranked by how closely each city's industrial base matches what German companies invest in here.

Show 10 more

Sectors German companies research

Each sector page covers the audiences, questions and methods we work with most there.

Sector and city deep dives

Where Automotive and Manufacturing & Industrial meet a specific Indian market.

Show 4 more

Other countries we work with

The same cross-border model, run for buyers in eleven other markets.

Show 3 more

Next step

From Germany to India, with evidence behind every step.