The latest Proactive Insight Competitive Customer Satisfaction Survey reflects “significant improvements in performance” by manufacturers. Click here to see how the manufacturers rate in terms of purchasing and service satisfaction.
:: To view graphs that show the standings in the Proactive Insight Competitive Customer Satisfaction Survey, click here ::
The latest Proactive Insight Competitive Customer Satisfaction Survey reflects “significant improvements in performance” by manufacturers.
Naamsa says the report demonstrates that the motoring public’s satisfaction with their purchasing experience advanced strongly between 2001 and 2002.
In the passenger car sector, the industry average broke through the 90 per cent barrier for the first time. Chrysler/Jeep emerged as the leader of the rankings with a score of 92 per cent with Toyota in a close second position. They were followed by Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mazda and Ford – all of which also topped the 90 per cent mark.
In the Light Commercial Vehicle market, Ford topped the rankings for the first time. While the average scores in the light commercial vehicle market are not as high as those in the passenger car market, it was expected that the 90 per cent mark would soon be reached and exceeded, a Naamsa spokesman said.
”The improvements that have been evident in this market over the last two years would support this contention,” he added.
Customer satisfaction with the purchasing experience is measured over a 12-month period and the scores reflect each brand’s performance between January and December of 2002. New vehicle owners were interviewed shortly after they have taken delivery of their vehicle and asked questions about their purchasing experience. Every aspect of the sales transaction was measured using a questionnaire derived from customers themselves.
Servicing Experience
As with the purchasing experience, customers are reporting improved levels of satisfaction with servicing, Naamsa said.
In the passenger car market Renault, a new entrant, emerged at the top of the ranking. BMW and Toyota are the only other two brands above the 80 per cent mark, followed by Mazda and VW.
The LCV ranking is headed by Toyota, with Ford and Isuzu sharing second place.
The measurement is conducted over a 12-month period and customers who have recently serviced their vehicles at a franchised outlet are interviewed. “As with the purchasing research, the questionnaire is based on actual customer expectations and focuses on those aspects that are most critical to the customer,” a spokesman for Proactive said.
Although the average level of customer satisfaction in terms of the levels of service had improved, it has been at a lesser rate than in the sales environment.
According to Naamsa, this was largely due to the complex nature of the servicing transaction and the fact that the customer sees the transaction quite differently from the purchasing experience.
“While additional effort will be required to reach the levels that have been achieved in the purchasing environment, it is encouraging to see that steady progress has been made,” a Naamsa spokesman was quoted as saying.
:: To view graphs that show the standings in the Proactive Insight Competitive Customer Satisfaction Survey, click here ::
