J.D. Power releases results of 2011 Sales Satisfaction Index study
The ninth edition of J.D. Power Asia Pacific’s Malaysia Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) study has just been published, with Honda leading the way in an overall improvement of the industry’s average score from 781 in 2010 to 799 this year measured in a 1,000-point scale.
Fielded from March to June 2011, the study drew feedback from 2,478 new vehicle owners who purchased their vehicles from between September 2010 and April 2011. Car makers are then ranked against each other based on their performances on the following seven areas (in order of importance) – delivery process, delivery timing, paperwork, dealer facility, salesperson, deal, and sales initiation.
 |
Based on their data, J.D. Power concludes that the overall improvement in sales satisfaction is driven by shortened delivery times and increased after-sales follow-up contacts. Mohit Arora, executive director at J.D. Power Asia Pacific, Singapore, noted that “Despite the increase in new-vehicle sales in the Malaysia market during the past year, manufacturers and dealers in Malaysia have done a great job in managing the delivery time for new-vehicle owners.”
Average new-vehicle delivery time has decreased to 16.3 days in 2011, down by nearly four days from 2010, and approximately 38% of customers indicate that they received their vehicle within one week or less. Among these owners, satisfaction with the delivery timing factor averages 24 points higher than the industry average. Proportion of owners who indicate that vehicle delivery took more than one month has declined to 7 percent in 2011 from 13 percent in 2010. Tellingly, satisfaction of these owners average 100 points lower than the industry average.
Top performing brand of this year’s Malaysian SSI is Honda, with a score of 815, closely followed by Nissan at 813. Honda’s dealerships excelled in sales initiation, dealer facility, salesperson and delivery process; whilst Nissan, the most improved brand with a 29-point jump, is said to have performed extremely well in paperwork and delivery timing factors. Third-placed Suzuki (806) performed extremely well in the aspect of deals and paperwork.
 |
According to the study, there are more dealerships adopting the practice of giving their customers follow-up calls after delivery of vehicles. Some 70% of customers reported receiving follow-up calls, and amongst these customers, average satisfaction is at a high 812, 13 points above industry average.
Of this practice, Arora said, “This effort not only allows sales dealers to maintain contact with owners, which helps build loyalty, but also allows dealers to take immediate action when problems or complaints about the sales process are reported.”
