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Lexus has taken down the European badge snobs in the latest annual customer satisfaction survey.
An annual survey conducted by Roy Morgan has found that 96 per cent of Lexus owners are happy with the brand, marking the third consecutive year the Japanese brand has topped the customer satisfaction survey.
The research is based on responses from more than 50,000 customers and 12,000 businesses.
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The top five was dominated by Japanese brands with Mazda and Subaru both equal second place with a total customer satisfaction rating of 95 per cent. They were followed by Toyota and Honda which both scored 94 per cent satisfaction.
The next best placed prestige brand was Mercedes-Benz which also scored 94 per cent satisfaction among its existing owners.
Volkswagen has still managed a rating of 90 per cent despite a string of recalls and scandals.
Both Ford and Holden failed to crack the 90th percentile with both registering 89 per cent satisfaction on the survey, which was well below the industry average of 92 per cent.
However, high satisfaction doesn't necessarily translate into sales.
Lexus' market share is significantly smaller than that of the brands mentioned. According to the latest new car sales figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), Lexus was outsold by Mercedes-Benz almost five-to-one for the year up until December. Lexus' parent company, Toyota, sells 23 vehicles for every Lexus in Australia.
While brands like Honda and Subaru are constantly outsold by the likes of Hyundai and Holden.
The survey also found that the auto industry had some of the highest satisfaction compared to other industries such as telecommunications and banking.
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9 Comments
Is a 1% difference statistically significant?
Just in case you missed the biased reporting, Volkswagen was almost as bad with satisfaction ratings as Ford/Holden, being 2% below the industry average. Ha ow about the rest of the VAG group, Drive? Why does one make that is below industry average get an implied good effort, when other makes equally as bad or worse get appropriately yardsticked. The jounalistic bias of Drive.com.au is worthy of referral to MEAA.
Hardly a surprise that two of the top three only make cars in Japan, while Mazda / Toyota / Honda make some of their range in Thailand. I am amazed Jeep are at 92%. Almost every owner I know says they won't buy another due to reliability or poor customer service after the sale.
@DJM a brief look at the data reveals relatively large sample size and normal distribution, however, skewed towards the high end, so in all probability, no.
Despite these satisfaction ratings you can bet your last dollar the motoring journos will still rave about the German brands generally ignoring theJapanese in any comparisons.. My wife and I have owned new 14 Lexus' since 1991 and along that journey we slipped in 3 Benz's. We have never experienced any problems with any Lexus even after warranty finished but that cannot be said of the3 Benz's, which all had minor but irritating issues that required a trip back to the dealers.
I see the Aussie Icons are rated lower than Jeep, Land Rover. No wonder they have left or are leaving Australia.
This is just garbage.... so Lexus - the maker of cars by people that don't like cars or driving - has a satisfaction rating of 96% - Top. At the bottom Jeep, BMW, Kia, Nissan 92%. So 4 % points means what. BTW. I agree about Jeep. Terrible, terrible.
@DJM61. Depends on what you are talking about. Ask Hilary Clinton whether she would have liked another 1%? It probably means little between Lexus and the likes of MB however at the cut throat end of the market it does. The fact that Holden (with the very good Commodore) and Ford with the very good Falcon) could not get within 5 points of Honda, Mazda, Subaru and Toyota does not auger well for both of them post Commodore and Falcon, especially Holden. Our nanna state laws have taken away much of the pleasure of driving (unless you have the time and means to go club racing). These laws have been a great leveller in that people who may have previously bought a performance orientated car are now placing greater value on other things.
I've owned a 2004 Lexus RX 330 for well over 12 years. The vehicle has never skipped a beat. I recently purchased a new Mercedes A250 after struggling with a BMW 323 for many years. Whilst I love the new Mercedes, I will reserve judgement on it's reliability until I've owned it for a couple of years. Why did I buy a new Merc when my experience with the Lexus was so positive? That's easy, when we bought the RX330 it was well ahead of the pack in terms of value, quality and refinement. It also looked better (something my wife loved). Now, Lexus is playing catch-up and Mercedes appears to have its mojo back. At the moment it's building vehicles that people want and they trust the brand. If they sour that trust then people will just find another brand. Am I satisfied with the Lexus? Hell yeah but it didn't sway my decision to buy a new one.