7:18 am, January 26, 2023
Suzuki has been named the best car manufacturer for customer satisfaction in the UK once again – with Land Rover at the bottom of the league table.
The Japanese firm came top out of 27 car makers listed by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) in its latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index, which is published twice a year.
It was also first in the previous index, which came out in July 2022, and has now ranked top in the automotive sector six times since January 2019.
Posting the full automotive sector results on LinkedIn, Dale Wyatt, director of Suzuki in the UK and Ireland, who will be taking part in the forthcoming inaugural Car Dealer Live conference, said: ‘I am delighted that Suzuki has retained its crown as the number 1 automotive brand for customer satisfaction.’
Suzuki scored 84.6 points out of 100 – 0.6 points higher than a year ago – and came joint eighth with Marks & Spencer across all 13 measured sectors from 281 organisations and organisation types, climbing from 17th overall in last January’s index.
Kia was second with 82.3 points and Hyundai was third with 82.2.
Meanwhile, Audi was ranked fourth with 81.7 points, making all four the only car manufacturers to feature in the top 50 organisations in the January 2023 index.
With just 8.5 points separating top from bottom in the automotive sector, Land Rover came last, scoring 76.1 points – but that was a 0.7-point increase on last January.
The index, which began in 2008, is based on 45,000 unique responses from more than 10,000 customers, with 3,000 responses per sector apart from transport and utilities, which have 6,000 each.
Each score is based on how customers rate the organisation across 26 measures that are then summarised in five ‘dimensions’: experience, complaint handling, customer ethos, emotional connection and ethics.
The automotive industry as a whole came sixth out of the 13 sectors that were measured for customer satisfaction, with a score of 80.1 – down from the 80.7 it scored last January and the 81.0 it scored in July.
The ICS told Car Dealer that the main issue that companies across the automotive sector should be taking a close look at is making sure there are more helpful and friendly staff.
Seat, Fiat and Mitsubishi were the only three car brands to feature in the top 20 most-improved organisations – up 4.7, 3.7 and 2.7 points respectively to 81.5 (6th), 77.2 (12th) and 78.3 (20th). Although Mitsubishi has withdrawn from new car sales in the UK, it still has an aftersales presence.
ICS chief executive Jo Causon told Car Dealer: ‘The automotive sector’s overall score of 80.1 is 0.6 points down year on year but 2.4 points higher than the UK all-sector average.
‘The gap between the highest- and lowest-rated organisations in automotive is 8.5 points – smaller than in almost any other sector.’
She added: ‘The consumer landscape is becoming increasingly volatile as the economic environment grows more uncertain.
‘The challenge for car manufacturers – as for all organisations – is to perform consistently well across the five dimensions of customer satisfaction.
‘Across the automotive sector, the top issue companies should look to improve is providing more friendly and helpful staff.’
Nobuo Suyama, managing director of Suzuki GB, said: ‘We are immensely proud of our achievement to once again be in first position in the automotive sector, particularly in the challenging times we continue to face.
‘Consistent evolution of the Suzuki customer experience remains a core focus for us, and the ongoing efforts of our staff and dealers have again really paid off.
‘Without the support of our nationwide dealer network and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly for the brand to deliver exceptional standards for our customers, we could not have delivered such a fantastic result.
‘I would like to again congratulate everyone who has played a part to attain yet another excellent achievement in customer satisfaction.’
The manufacturers’ scores were as follows for January 2023, with their January 2022 score in brackets:
- Suzuki: 84.6 (84.0)
- Kia: 82.3 (81.7)
- Hyundai: 82.2 (81.8)
- Audi: 81.7 (80.5)
- Mercedes-Benz: 81.5 (79.9)
- Seat: 81.5 (76.8)
- BMW: 81.2 (83.9)
- Toyota: 81.1 (82.0)
- Honda: 81.0 (81.5)
- Lexus: 81.0 (79.7)
- Ford: 80.6 (81.6)
- Dacia: 80.3 (83.3)
- Volkswagen: 80.1 (79.5)
- Tesla: 80.0 (80.1)
- Volvo: 79.6 (77.8)
- Nissan: 79.2 (84.3)
- Skoda UK: 79.0 (85.2)
- Peugeot: 79.0 (78.6)
- Mazda: 78.8 (80.5)
- Jaguar: 78.5 (79.8)
- Mitsubishi: 78.3 (75.6)
- Mini: 78.3 (78.5)
- Fiat: 77.2 (73.5)
- Vauxhall: 77.0 (79.2)
- Renault: 76.8 (79.0)
- Citroen: 76.7 (76.7)
- Land Rover: 76.1 (75.4)
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Source: Institute of Customer Service members’ report
A total of 281 organisations and organisation types received a customer satisfaction index rating, with First Direct on top, scoring 86.2, and John Lewis second on 85.6.
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