Impact of CX Debt is rising: Havas CX report

Tata Motors has emerged as the Number 1 brand in the latest X Index India Report for the second year in a row in Havas CX India’s proprietary customer experience (CX) barometer. Interestingly, two more prominent brands from the Tata Group including Tata Cliq Luxury and Taj Hotels, also feature in the top 10.

The study is presented by Havas CX India, the specialised customer experience vertical of Havas India. The report underscores a critical inflection point for brands: the growing gap between the promises they communicate and the everyday experiences they deliver, leading to a rising impact of ‘CX Debt’.

Indian consumers today demonstrate a sharper, more discerning approach to brand choice. Loyalty is increasingly shifting toward brands that carry the least CX Debt, the accumulated cost of small but repeated experience failures, rather than those that remain unaware of this widening divide. The X Index India report explores this shift in depth, revealing how trust is now built, tested, and sustained in real time.

The 2025 edition surveyed 59,000 consumers across 8 global markets—the US, UK, France, Mexico, India, Germany, and Spain, evaluating the CX performance of 580 brands.

This year, the index assessed brands across 19 metrics spanning 4 key dimensions: Functional, Emotional, Personal, and Collective. It examined experiences across bricks-and-clicks brands as well as digital-first players, and included a comprehensive scorecard evaluating touchpoints across the customer journey—from social media interactions to after-sales service.

In India, the 2025 report covers 47 brands across 8 categories, with deep-dive CX insights into Banking, Fashion & Luxury, Automobile, Insurance, Financial Services, E-Retail, Hospitality, and Technology.

Top 10 brands are as follows:

1. Tata Motors
2. Tata CLiQ Luxury
3. OnePlus
4. Taj
5. Mahindra
6. Zerodha
7. Apple
8. JBL
9. Hyatt
10. HDFC

David Shulman, Global CEO, Havas CX Network, said, “From a global perspective, the 2025 X Index confirms a universal truth: customer experience is no longer shaped by what brands say, but by what they consistently do. Across markets, we see trust being earned, or lost, through everyday interactions. Brands that align their promise with genuine customer needs reduce experience debt and build durable, long-term value.”

Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas India, South-East Asia & North Asia (Japan & South Korea), said, “India is moving at extraordinary speed, and consumer expectations are evolving just as fast. Indian consumers are increasingly demanding consistency and looking out for brands that simplify their experience. The X Index 2025 clearly shows that experience is now a strategic differentiator, one that directly impacts relevance, preference, and growth in this market.”

Manas Lahiri, Chief Growth Officer, Havas India added, “For brands looking to scale in India, growth today is inseparable from experience. What this report highlights is that sustainable growth comes from closing the CX gap, by creating seamless customer lifecycle value management across touchpoints, and proving value at every interaction. Brands that do this well will be the closest to the consumers and lead the next phase of growth.”