11:05 am, July 6, 2022
Suzuki has been named as one of the best organisations for customer service in the UK.
The manufacturer was ranked joint fifth in the Institute of Customer Service’s latest index that measures customer satisfaction and top among the automotive brands that were included.
The national benchmark of customer satisfaction covers 13 sectors, including automotive, and is based on 45,000 customer responses.
The July 2022 UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) was 78.4 out of 100 – up one point versus a year ago but the same level as in January 2022.
The Japanese car manufacturer tied with Marks & Spencer from the non-food retail sector, scoring 85.9 – up 1.9 points from July 2021. However, it slipped from third place.
Automotive as a whole was among eight sectors that had an average level of customer satisfaction that was at least one point higher than in July 2021.
It scored 81.0 – an increase of 1.9 on last year. A total of 27 automotive brands comprised the sector for the survey.
Nobuo Suyama, managing director of Suzuki GB, said: ‘We are very proud of our achievement to once again be in first position in the automotive sector of UKCSI, 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 has again really paid off.
‘Without the support of our nationwide dealer network, and the hundreds of people that 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 another excellent achievement.’
The non-food retail sector was the highest-scoring among the eight, rising by 0.7 points from July 2021’s 81.2 to 81.9.
However, the rate of improvement among all eight sectors has slowed since January 2022, said the institute, with automotive rising by 0.3 points.
BMW came joint 22nd with Jet2holidays and Amazon on 83.7 – an increase of 4.1 points and 51 places for the marque on last July.
Honda was 31st on 83.4, rising by 5.6 points and 90 places. Kia was joint 39th with LV= and Superdrug on 82.8 – three points and 28 places up for the manufacturer.
Meanwhile, Nissan came joint 42nd on 82.7 with Booking.com, Iceland, Trivago and Subway. It rose by 0.9 points but dropped 13 places.
Mercedes-Benz and Audi tied on 49th place with Premier Inn and Co-op Energy at 82.4 points. Mercedes saw its points score increase by 4.9 as it went up 82 places, while Audi registered a rise of 3.5 points and 42 places.
When quizzed, 71.1 per cent said the automotive sector responded to their personal situation and needs, with 10.9 per cent saying it didn’t, 24.4 per cent saying no but they didn’t need it to, and 4.7 per cent not knowing.
The highest-rated organisations were UK Power Networks (utilities sector) at 86.5, Timpson (services) on 86.4 and John Lewis (non-food retail) at 86.3.
The institute revealed that customer service complaints overall had hit their highest level on record, costing British businesses more than £9bn a month in lost staff time.
Joanna Causon, chief executive of the institute, said businesses needed to understand ‘the trade-offs different customers are willing to consider in terms of price, quality, availability, sustainability and support’.
She added: ‘Organisations will need to ensure they maintain essential services and are transparent about the level of service they provide, depending on the product, services and price points customers choose.’
The July 2022 UKCSI is based on two sets of data, collected between September 13 and October 8, 2021 and between March 21 and April 14, 2022.
The automotive organisations included in the latest UKCSI were Audi, BMW, Citroen, Dacia, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Seat, Skoda UK, Suzuki, Tesla, Toyota, Vauxhall, Volkswagen and Volvo.
