Lexus, Saturn Lead Dealer Service Survey
Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus luxury line once again topped the field and General Motors Corp.’s Saturn unit bounced back to capture second place--and the attendant bragging rights--in J.D. Power & Associates’ annual dealership service rankings, announced Wednesday.
The same survey found Ford Motor Co.’s nationwide dealer network to be below average. And though it is nothing to boast about, the poor showing, shared with 14 other brands, may give the auto maker an unexpected boost for its controversial Blue Oval dealer certification program.
Lexus, with a score of 811 out of a possible 1,000, led the survey of new-vehicle buyers for the ninth time in 10 years. The line was the nation’s second-most-popular luxury brand last year, trailing only DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz in sales. Toyota Motor’s mainstream Toyota dealer network joined Ford in the basement.
Saturn’s rebound from sixth place a year earlier was fueled by customers who said that repair charges seemed fair and that it was easy to make appointments, said John Harbicht, senior manager of service satisfaction research at Power. Germany’s BMW placed third, followed by South Korea’s Daewoo Motor Co., which began selling cars in the U.S. in 1998 and was helped by an all-inclusive warranty program that covers all parts and labor for the first three years.
Some Ford dealers have objected to the company’s Blue Oval program, which rewards those who improve their customer-satisfaction scores, spruce up their facilities and hew to other Ford guidelines. But the Power survey bolstered Ford’s claims that such a program is needed.
“We have known for a while, from last year’s study by J.D. Power and from the annual National Automobile Dealers Assn. survey, that we are below average in sales and service at our dealerships,” said George Murphy, general marketing manager for the Ford Division.
“This supports our position; it is one of the reasons we kicked off the Blue Oval program. It hits home for both of us [Ford and its dealers] that here Ford is the No. 1 new-car sales organization in the U.S. but we are below average in dealership satisfaction.”
Ford’s dealer network, which fell below Power’s industry average score of 692 points, trailed dealers for at least 22 other brands that bested the average--including those selling Lincolns, Mercurys, Jaguars and Volvos, all Ford-owned marques.
Other brands whose dealers fell below the line--Power doesn’t rank them or reveal their scores but merely lists them alphabetically--were Dodge, GMC, Hyundai, Isuzu, Jeep, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Plymouth, Subaru, Suzuki and Volkswagen.
Auto makers are focusing on dealer service as a way to keep customers. Agoura Hills-based J.D. Power’s study asked 52,000 new-vehicle owners to rate their experience with their dealership’s service department during the first three years of ownership, a period covered by most warranties.
Power’s survey of customer sales satisfaction, which rates shoppers’ experience while buying a new vehicle, comes out later this month.
