The American Consumer Satisfaction Index released it's Q2 results today and the news isn't good for domestic car manufacturers. The folks at the ASCI say that customer satisfaction for the entire industry is at an all time high — but no American car companies are represented in the top four — and the bottom three in the industry are all American brands. “The problem for domestic companies is that they now lag further behind their foreign counterparts,” said Claes Fornell, head of the ACSI at the University of Michigan. “This is not going to be helpful as the Big Three will lose more pricing power and be forced to continue dependence on rebates and discounting in a market where consumer preferences keep shifting away from domestic cars.” The ACSI is a measure of overall satisfaction, (including customer service) and isn't necessarily indicative of the quality of the car. Ray Wert of our car-obsessed sister blog Jalopnik tells us what he thinks the results really mean: It's actually just that consumers aren't happy with American cars — and it mostly has to do with high gas prices, and American car companies having built so many trucks. He also notes that car manufacturers essentially have no control over the customer service that you experience at the dealership, because few (if any? Tesla?) dealerships are actually owned by the car company. Sigh. Here are the results: Top 5 Car Brands In Customer Satisfaction (starting with the be ...
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The American Consumer Satisfaction Index released it's Q2 results today and the news isn't good for domestic car manufacturers. The folks at the ASCI say that customer satisfaction for the entire industry is at an all time high — but no American car companies are represented in the top four — and the bottom three in the industry are all American brands. “The problem for domestic companies is that they now lag further behind their foreign counterparts,” said Claes Fornell, head of the ACSI at the University of Michigan. “This is not going to be helpful as the Big Three will lose more pricing power and be forced to continue dependence on rebates and discounting in a market where consumer preferences keep shifting away from domestic cars.” The ACSI is a measure of overall satisfaction, (including customer service) and isn't necessarily indicative of the quality of the car. Ray Wert of our car-obsessed sister blog Jalopnik tells us what he thinks the results really mean: It's actually just that consumers aren't happy with American cars — and it mostly has to do with high gas prices, and American car companies having built so many trucks. He also notes that car manufacturers essentially have no control over the customer service that you experience at the dealership, because few (if any? Tesla?) dealerships are actually owned by the car company. Sigh. Here are the results: Top 5 Car Brands In Customer Satisfaction (starting with the be ...