Mainstream Japanese – not Korean – auto brands take out annual customer satisfaction awards
According to Australia’s biggest national customer satisfaction surveys, Subaru and Isuzu Ute have outperformed all other car brands when it comes to meeting – and sometimes exceeding – customer expectation.
The latest Roy Morgan and Canstar Blue customer satisfaction awards have been announced this week and in the automotive categories the winners didn’t include any luxury brands or Korean car-makers, nor even Toyota.
The research carried out by Roy Morgan crowned Subaru the Major Car Manufacturer of the Year in terms of customer satisfaction, and Isuzu Ute the Car Manufacturer of the Year.
Isuzu Ute went one further by also snagging the top Canstar Blue Customer Satisfaction Award for New Cars.
In fact, Isuzu Ute – which only sells two vehicles in Australia, the D-MAX ute and MU-X large off-road SUV – managed to snaffle a perfect score of five stars in every category, a feat never before achieved by an auto brand in Australia in the 10-year history of the awards.
“We have always put our customers first, and to be the first brand to receive a perfect survey score is proof of that,” said Isuzu Ute Australia’s head of service, parts and aftersales, Takeshi Yasui.
What are Subaru and Isuzu ute doing that other brands aren’t to keep their customers satisfied?
Customer satisfaction is rated across products, namely the vehicles and how they operate, and their reliability, but also the services the brands offer. In the automotive field, this means things like aftersales support, servicing and so on.
Both the Roy Morgan and Canstar Blue awards use customer surveys to choose the winners, with around 60,000 consumers across Australia surveyed as part of the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, and around 9000 Aussies for the Canstar Blue survey.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine pointed out that 2021 was the second year heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but observed that many companies went above and beyond to meet customer needs.
“Although the pandemic proved tough for many businesses there were also others that thrived and were rewarded with high levels of customer satisfaction,” said Levine, adding that businesses face more challenges in 2022 and beyond – chief among them rising inflation.
“The ABS inflation reading for the year to March 2022 showed inflation hitting an annual rate of 5.1 per cent – the highest for over 20 years – and the likelihood is that it will continue to increase in the months ahead. Rising prices will test the abilities of companies to keep their customers satisfied during the remainder of this year and into the future,” she said.
Join the conversation at our Facebook page
Or email us at [email protected]
Keyword: Subaru, Isuzu Ute customers more satisfied than any others