Car-buyer satisfaction is on the rebound after a dip past year, when consumers were hit with a record number of recalls and rising prices, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, an independent benchmark of consumer experiences of products and services sold in the U.S. Still, while satisfaction is up overall, a few automakers suffered from lower customer ratings in the ACSI’s 2016 report. All domestic American automakers improve their customer satisfaction scores this year, with Ford’s Lincoln jumping 5% to become the highest scoring vehicle at 87. Honda claims second place with an 8-percent gain to 86, while Toyota and BMW each advance 4 percent, placing these luxury and mass-market brands in a tie for third place at 85. BMW came in at number three with just two points away from the leader, and tied with Toyota.
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VW dropped three percent this year and VanAmburg believes the emissions-cheating scandal had a lot to do with that.
The report also reveals that industry-wide customer satisfaction for automobiles and light vehicles rose 3.8%, following a year where satisfaction was down due in large part to innumerable recalls.
“The combination of fines and fallen stock price are a big hit to Volkswagen’s finances, but it may prove even harder to recover from the reputational hit the company will take for deceiving customers and the general public”, says David VanAmburg, ACSI director, in a release. Customer satisfaction with automobiles is up 3.8 percent to 82 on ACSI’s 100-point scale.
Luxury cars have dominated the driver satisfaction rankings, ACSI said, but now the top tier is evenly split between mass-market and luxury vehicles.
ACSI’s 2016 Automobile Report polled 3,776 auto customers, asking them to evaluate their experiences with a wide range of vehicle brands, using a scale of 0 (not at all satisfied) to 100 (over the moon).
In the widely respected ACSI annual Auto Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey, Ford Motor Company’s (NYSE: F) small Lincoln division ranked first and Acura last.
Claes Fornell, ACSI chairman and founder, said the figures show the gap in consumer perception may be closing between mass-market and luxury brands. Audi (up 6 percent) and Chevrolet (up 5 percent) follow close behind at 83.
Of course, prestige remains an important element in why some consumers choose to purchase a luxury auto over a mass-market vehicle.
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“Year-to-date sales are looking pretty flat, and demand for cars may slacken some”, says VanAmburg. And we think its stock price has almost unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ford. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors.
