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Consumers Choose Toyota in Michigan Study

Ford, Jeep and Kia Tied for Last Place

August 15, 2006
Toyota Motor Corp. holds first place in customer satisfaction for the second year in a row, according to the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index. Buick came in second.

Ford, Jeep and Kia are all tied for last place in the survey. The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a measure of consumer attitudes about businesses and the economy.

The index was relatively good news for General Motors Corp. indicating that GM is doing a better job of impressing customers.

On a 100-point scale, GM's Buick brand scored 86, up 2.4 percent from last year, to rank second behind the Toyota brand. GM's Chevrolet brand scored an 81, the industry average, a 3.8 percent improvement from Chevy's score last year.

"It remains a telling indicator that only the higher-end nameplates like Buick, Cadillac and Lincoln are competitive on customer satisfaction with the Toyota, Honda and Hyundai nameplates, while the more comparable U.S. counterparts, such as GM's Pontiac, DaimlerChrysler's Dodge and Ford remain well behind," said Claes Fornell, who heads the study as director of the National Quality Research Center at University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln and Mercury brands scored 83 keeping the brands two points above the industry average but in the same position recorded last year.

Toyota ranked first with an 87. Honda Motor scored 86 to tie for second with Buick.

Nissan Motor Co. brands scored 82, a 5.1 percent increase from last year. South Korean-based Hyundai Motor Co. improved its score by more than 20 percent in the past 10 years and held steady at 84, tied with Cadillac.

DaimlerChrysler remained below average in the index while the Jeep brand fell 1.3 percent.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index measures attitudes, asking people whether a product met their expectations and how close it is to their ideal product in that category.

Overall, the study found consumer satisfaction rose for the fifth consecutive quarter -- a good sign for the economy in general and U.S. carmakers specifically, whose gains, unlike last year, were not linked mainly to price.

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