Car dealer survey first
November 16th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
CAR Dealer Magazine has full results from the 2009 Motor Trade Insider Main Dealer franchise Survey.
This, says the firm, is the first such independent test of its kind.
And it’s no surprise to discover that, yes, Lexus tops the listings!
Based on the same CSI methodology that franchised main dealers have to follow, it flags up ‘what customers really think’. This has been done by posing 16 questions, of which each were answered on a 5-point scale.
This fed back Lexus’ survey-topping dealer presentation, staff professionalism and technical knowledge.
There was bad news within that, though. Some customers cancelled new car orders due to lengthy delivery times, while others griped of one-month lead times for services.
This helped 2nd place Skoda edge admirably close to the premium maker – a fine result. MINI, Toyota and Porsche also did well. Certainly better than bottom-ranked Volvo.
The Swedish maker came out in 21st place, with customers moaning about ‘OTT labour rates, and poor sales and service departments.
‘Most wouldn’t go back to their local dealer, and wouldn’t recommend them as most have gone elsewhere to service their cars.’
The wider theme of the entire survey was that it’s the service side letting things down. This plays a major part in determining customer loyalty.
Furthermore, ‘its only been in the last month or so where we’ve seen the dealers do something about the economic climate, with sales and service incentives and promotions more commonplace.’
They survey, says Motor Trade Insider, shows customers think the motor trade is still years behind other industries for customer service. And that some car makers are much better at it than others…
We’ve listed the results in full below. What are your thoughts on them?
Main Dealer Survey 2009 results
1 Lexus – 68 points
2 Skoda – 64 points
3 Mini – 62 points
4 Toyota – 61 points
5 Porsche – 59 points
6 Volkswagen – 57 points
7 SEAT – 56 points
8 Land Rover and Mazda – 54 points
9 Honda- 53 points
10 Hyundai and Suzuki – 52 points
11 Chevrolet and Mitsubishi – 51
12 Nissan – 50 points
13 Jaguar, Subaru and Saab – 49
14 Alfa Romeo – 48
15 Renault – 47 points
16 Mercedes Benz – 46 points
17 Fiat and Vauxhall – 44 points
18 Citroen – 41 points
19 Ford – 37 points
20 Peugeot – 36 points
21 Volvo – 31 points
Tags: aftersales, complaint, csi, customer, motor trade insider, survey