The Lexus RX and Toyota's hybrid car, the Prius, are the first and second ranking models in the most recent J.D. Power and Associates/What Car? 2009 UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study (VOSS) SM. The Lexus RX earns a score of 853 on a 1,000-point scale, with owners reporting particularly high satisfaction with the model’s quality/reliability and appeal as well as servicing at the dealership. Second-highest-ranked model, the Toyota Prius, performs well on running costs and vehicle quality/reliability.

In the manufacturer rankings, Lexus ranks highest for a ninth consecutive year, receiving a customer satisfaction score of 833. Lexus performs particularly well in two of four key measures: service satisfaction and vehicle appeal. Rounding out the top five nameplates are Honda (817), Mercedes-Benz (808), Skoda and Toyota (805 each).

At model level, Toyota captured two awards, the Toyota Prius (upper medium car) and Aygo (city car) each rank highest in their respective segments. Also receiving segment-level awards are the Honda Jazz (small car), Skoda Octavia (lower medium car), Audi A6 (executive/luxury car), Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class (sports car), Citroen Grand C4 Picasso (MPV) and Lexus RX (SUV).

The study found that satisfaction levels and brand loyalty are strongly linked, with more than 59% of highly satisfied customers reporting they "definitely will" consider buying the same vehicle make in the future. Conversely, only 18% of customers who report having a less satisfying experience intend to do the same.

The redesigned 2009 UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study (VOSS) is the successor study to the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI). It is based on the evaluations of more than 15,700 online interviews from UK car owners after an average of two years of ownership. The study includes 29 brands and 101 models.

Owners provide detailed evaluations of their vehicles and dealers, which cover 67 attributes grouped in four measurements of satisfaction. In order of importance, they are: vehicle appeal (37%), which includes performance, design, comfort and features; vehicle quality and reliability (24%); ownership costs (22%), which includes fuel consumption, insurance and costs of service/repair; and dealer service satisfaction (17%).

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment