What car comes with the best customer service? The annual Synovate Quality Awards for Sales and Service Satisfaction in the automotive industry provide the answer.

These awards recognise service excellence and are acknowledged as the highest accolade for customer service in the South African motor industry.

This year's awards are based on interviews with customers who purchased or serviced a vehicle between January and December of 2008 as part of the largest survey of South African vehicle owners.

Recognition is given to the outstanding achievers in four categories, with Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toyota performing particularly well — all received Gold Awards in each category.

But let's take a closer look at which companies excelled.

Customer Satisfaction when purchasing a Passenger Vehicle
Gold: BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Audi, Volvo, Volkswagen, MINI, Land Rover, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi
Silver: Opel, Renault, Mazda, Ford, Fiat
Bronze: Peugeot, Chrysler / Jeep / Dodge

Customer Satisfaction when servicing a Passenger Vehicle
Gold: Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toyota
Silver: Audi, Chevrolet, BMW, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Volkswagen, Opel
Bronze: Ford, Land Rover, Chrysler / Jeep / Dodge, Mini, Renault

Customer Satisfaction when purchasing a Light Commercial Vehicle
Gold: Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Opel
Silver: Mazda, Ford, Fiat

Customer Satisfaction when servicing a Light Commercial Vehicle
Gold: Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Isuzu
Silver: Mazda, Opel, Ford
Bronze: Fiat

The category of Customer Satisfaction when purchasing a Passenger Vehicle consists of 11 Gold Award winners this year. BMW tops the ranking with a score of 93.0 percent, compared to last year’s winning score of 93.9 percent. BMW is followed by Mercedes-Benz (92.7 percent), Nissan (92.6 percent) and Toyota (92.2 percent).

The average score for this category in 2008 is 91.4 percent.

“Manufacturers are perfecting the sales process,” says Roger Gibbs newly appointed Head of Motoresearch Clients Services in South Africa.

“Especially in times of decreased sales, manufacturers are doing everything they can to ensure customers are happy when buying a car from their dealerships and this is definitely one of the ways of securing repeat business and loyalty to their brand. Scores are very competitive and there are shifts in the rankings each year.”

The industry average for Customer Satisfaction when purchasing a Light Commercial Vehicle has stabilised at over 90 percent — this year at 90.2 percent. Top spot goes to Nissan for the second year running with a high average score of 91.7 percent. Toyota and Mitsubishi follow with 91.4 percent and 90.5 percent respectively. Isuzu gets the fourth Gold Award in this category with 90.3 percent followed by Opel with 89.8 percent.

The top achiever in Customer Satisfaction when servicing a Passenger Vehicle is Nissan with 85.5 percent. Mitsubishi and Toyota also earn Gold Awards with 84.6 percent and 83.8 percent respectively.

“The service process is a relatively complex one and is generally a grudge purchase for consumers,” states Gibbs “and this is why we find lower scores in these categories.

Regarding satisfaction with the service, respondents are asked about their experience with arriving at the dealership, being booked in on time, being kept in the loop about progress on their vehicle and having their vehicle fixed right the first time, amongst a host of many other aspects.

Nevertheless, the industry average for servicing has increased over the years. This year, the industry score for servicing passenger vehicles stands at 80.3 percent — maintaining the record high average it reached last year.

The average satisfaction score for servicing a Light Commercial Vehicle has reached a record high at 82.2 percent this year. Typically Light Commercial Vehicle servicing yields a higher satisfaction score than Passenger Vehicles due to the fact that with less electrically operated items, these are easier to service.

First place in this category goes to Toyota for a second consecutive year with a score of 84.2 percent. Hot on its heels is Mitsubishi with 83.8 percent followed by Nissan with 83.8% and Isuzu with 82.2 percent.

“There is no question that manufacturers are working extra hard to ensure the customers they have are happy and are building reputations for themselves as being customer-focussed and eager to please. Whilst this ranking is based on sales and services processes that happened last year, we can expect these scores to increase in the next reading due to the competitive market that 2009 has brought” concludes Gibbs.