For the first time, Honda ranks highest among automotive brands in satisfying new-car owners in the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Germany Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) StudySM released today in cooperation with auto motor und sport/AUTOStrassenverkehr.
The study, now in its sixth year, is based on evaluations of more than 20,000 vehicle owners in Germany after an average of two years of ownership. The study includes 27 brands and 112 models. Owners provide detailed evaluations of their vehicles and dealers, which cover 77 attributes grouped in four measurements of satisfaction. In order of importance, they are: quality and reliability (30%); vehicle appeal (25%), which includes performance, design, comfort and features; service satisfaction (23%); and ownership costs (22%), which includes fuel consumption, costs of service/repair and insurance.
In the nameplate rankings, Honda ranks highest for the first time, receiving a customer satisfaction score of 848 index points on a 1,000-point scale. Honda receives particularly high ratings in all four key measures. Following Honda in the rankings is Toyota with 847 points. Toyota performs particularly well in two measures: quality/reliability and ownership costs, while Subaru performs very well in service satisfaction. Subaru, BMW, Mazda, Volvo, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Škoda also perform above the industry average in overall customer satisfaction.
“Since the launch of the Germany CSI Study in 2002, Honda has steadily improved its performance, including a notable increase of 10 index points between the 2006 and 2007 studies,” said Martin Volk, senior research manager at J.D. Power and Associates in Europe. “However, even at the highest level, there is still room for improvement in delivering an exceptional customer experience.”
Highlighting the growing focus on environmentally friendly cars, the Toyota Prius ranks highest among all models in the study with an index score of 892. The Prius performs particularly well in the ownership costs and quality/reliability measures.
“For the first time, a hybrid car has come out on top of the model rankings,” said Volk. “It is particularly notable that the Toyota Prius also receives high ratings from its customers for day-to-day operating costs and build quality.”
Toyota captures three top model awards, while Honda earns two model awards and BMW captures one.
The awardees in each of the study’s six vehicle segments are:
* Toyota Yaris Verso (small car)
* Toyota Prius (lower medium)
* Honda Accord (upper medium)
* BMW 5 Series (executive/luxury)
* Toyota Corolla Verso (MPV), which earns an award for a second consecutive year
* Honda CR-V (SUV)
Volkswagen is the most improved nameplate in 2007, increasing 25 points from 2006. German premium brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi also show a strong performance, each improving by at least 10 index points.
“We notice a strong positive trend for the German brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen this year,” said David Lauth, managing director of J.D. Power and Associates in Munich, Germany. “All three brands have effectively addressed customer product quality concerns from previous years, and indeed, product quality is driving higher customer satisfaction, together with an improving dealer service network.”
J.D. Power and Associates conducts CSI studies around the world, including Europe (France, Germany, United Kingdom); North America (Canada, Mexico, United States); Asia Pacific (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand); and Africa (South Africa).
More comprehensive study results are published in the July 11, 2007 issue of AUTOStrassenverkehr. A summary overview on premium brands can be found in the July 4, 2007 edition of auto motor und sport.
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