The results of the latest Ipsos Competitive Customer Experience survey in South Africa are out, with Audi and Volkswagen again finding themselves at the top of the pile.
Ipsos (and its predecessors) began surveying the local motor industry back in 1991. The latest version of the study covers the 2016 calendar year and involved the interviewing of more than 22 000 customers across the country.
According to the market analysis company, sales volume of the participating brands in the latest study represented more than three out of every four cars sold through retail channels during 2016.
So, who won what? Audi and Volkswagen both collected Gold Awards for the Passenger Car and Light Commercial Vehicle Purchasing Experience for the fifth consecutive year. In addition, Audi also collected Gold for Passenger Car Servicing (for the fifth time in a row), while Volkswagen grabbed Gold for the second year in succession for Passenger Car Servicing and Gold for the fourth time in the past five years for Light Commercial Vehicle servicing.
Ipsos says the two German brands also qualified for Gold in the Passenger Car Purchasing category, with Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Opel, Toyota and Volvo taking Silver, while Ford, Honda and Renault collected Bronze.
Four other brands, besides Volkswagen, qualified for Gold in the LCV Purchasing Experience category: Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan and Toyota. Ford was the sole recipient of Silver in this segment.
Nissan, meanwhile, collected Gold in the Servicing Experience (for passenger cars) category, alongside Audi and Volkswagen, with Chevrolet, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Opel and Toyota qualifying for Silver and Honda, Renault and Volvo collecting Bronze.
Volkswagen was joined by four other brands in the Gold category for LCV servicing: Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan and Toyota, while Ford collected Silver. There were no awards in the Bronze category.
“All the brands who won awards should be congratulated as they are all showing a consistent commitment to improvement over time in delivering good service to their customers when their customers are purchasing or servicing vehicles,” said Patrick Busschau, Ipsos Automotive director.
The purchasing aspect of the customer experience is measured with a telephonic interview 10-35 days after delivery of a new vehicle has been taken, while the customer’s experience with dealer servicing is evaluated in an interview, again 10-35 days after a service.
Ipsos says the biggest improvement over the past 10 years has been in servicing, with the average industry rating moving upwards by 8,2% for cars and 7,0% for LCVs. This has taken the industry average from just over 80% in 2006 to almost 90% in 2016.
Interestingly, passenger car buyers report a slightly better purchasing experience than LCV buyers, with an index score of 95,1%. However, in servicing the scores are very similar at 88,8% for car buyers and 88,9% for LCV customers.
The survey suggests the main area of improvement in the realm of car servicing has been a “willingness by the dealers to provide transport” to take the customer to his or her next destination, with an improvement of 1,1%.
Offering transport to LCV customers is top of the list in terms of improved attributes between 2015 and 2016, rising by 2,1% to 88,7%. Unfortunately, says Ipsos, there has been a negative trend in all the other aspects of servicing surveyed, with the lowest being an apparent unwillingness of dealership personnel to take ownership of queries or problems.
