American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) recently conducted a survey to find out how satisfied U.S. consumers are with their vehicles and which automotive brands deliver the best customer satisfaction. The survey confirms two facts that are more or less known to the public: that luxury brands offer the highest level of satisfaction, and that overall customer satisfaction with automobiles is declining.
Lexus Leads the Pack
Lexus earned the top spot in the 2015 ACSI Automobile Report, based on results from a survey of 4,294 drivers who bought a new car within the past three years, with an average score of 84. The luxury brand of Toyota managed to overcome last year’s highest rated brand, Mercedes-Benz, which was tied for second place with Acura and Lincoln, averaging 83 points each. The third place is shared by BMW, Toyota and Subaru, with each of them earning an average score of 82. The index ranked a total of 27 brands, 15 of which saw a drop in customer satisfaction, with only two nameplates improving their score over last year.
Fiat came in last in the 2015 ACSI Automobile Report, with a score of 73, with Chrysler and Jeep barely escaping the last spot, with an average score of 74 and 75, respectively. This is not very good news for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, given that it owns the three brands that were rated worst in this survey. Ford is the top rated American manufacturer in this year’s customer satisfaction index, with an average score of 81, while General Motors only earned a score of 79.
American Consumers Getting Less Satisfied with Automakers
Another important finding from this survey is that overall satisfaction with cars among American consumers is declining. The report states that customer satisfaction with automobiles has dropped to 79 points on the 100-point scale in 2015, which is 3.7 percent below the average score in 2014.
Safety Recalls a Huge Concern
This decline in customer satisfaction levels is largely attributed to the record number of recalls issued by several large automakers last year, raising concerns over vehicle safety among car buyers. “While it is true that all cars are now much better than they were 10 to 20 years ago, it is alarming that so many of them have quality problems,” says Claes Fornell, ACSI Chairman and founder. “The number of recalls is at an all-time high. This should not happen with modern manufacturing technology and has negative consequences for driver safety, costs and customer satisfaction.”
In 2014, a total of 64 million vehicles were recalled due to various safety issues, such as the ignition-switch defect detected in different GM models, defective airbag inflators and fuel heater leaks, as some of the most high-profile recalls. The drop in customer satisfaction levels shows that car buyers have taken note of the numerous safety recalls, which have clearly caused them to start doubting the level of quality that automakers provide nowadays.