The Jaguar brand earned German motoring magazine Auto Zeitung's top quality award. The Jaguar XK has earned "Car of the Year" and "Luxury Car of the Year" honors at the 2006 UK TV People Awards, the title of "Scottish Car of the Year" by The Association of Scottish Motoring Writers, and the Recommended 2007 Award in the Premium Sporty/Performance Car category by Consumer Guide. Now comes word that J.D. Power and Associates just found Jaguar at the top of the heap in Sales Satisfaction for a 3rd consecutive year. That's a lot of accolades for a relatively small manufacturer, and it illustrates perfectly how awards and high sales don't always go hand in hand. But let's take a look at this newest award. The J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study is the one that focuses on the purchase experience. Jaguar ranked highest again, besting Cadillac by 21 points. In the process, Jaguar received the highest score ever recorded in the study. Well, at least since it was redesigned five years ago. Although the whole industry showed improvement this year, the study found that buyers are more likely than ever to walk when they receive bad service. So even if the product is good, dealers need to be on their best behavior. There's a chart that shows where every brand landed after the jump.
[Source: J.D. Power]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
WRC05 @ Nov 16th 2006 6:36PM
Mistubishi dead last? wtf! Well I still love my 2G Spyder and looking forward to the next Lancer/Evo, I don't care what anyone says!
JON C @ Nov 16th 2006 6:55PM
Japanese brands scoring below average.Perceptions officially shattered.Sha-oo-be shattered.
Michael Karesh @ Nov 16th 2006 6:58PM
But did you enjoy the sales experience?
Aside from those at the very top and the very bottom, these scores are packed so close together that the differences aren't meaningful. All but the top two and the bottom one are within 5 percent of the average.
The real shocker to me, year after year, is that the average is so high. Are people really this satisfied with the process of buying a car?
My general take on J.D. Power:
http://www.truedelta.com/jdpower.php
LakeVeret @ Nov 16th 2006 7:04PM
Toyota's sucking a little wind there, they might need to stop trying to make the most cars and start cleaning the bottoms of their feet. Their kind of getting nasty bad, go head on Tiyodi.
Michael Karesh @ Nov 16th 2006 7:04PM
Error in that link. Got to stop forgetting the directory! The actual link:
http://www.truedelta.com/pieces/jdpower.php
Michael Karesh @ Nov 16th 2006 7:06PM
Toyota has scored below average in this survey for as long as I can remember. Doesn't seem to matter.
Mike @ Nov 16th 2006 7:10PM
Of course brands like jaguar and hummer are going to offer a better sales experience.
Heck, they have to offer a blowjob just to get most people to take a test drive in those pieces of crap. Hondas and Toyotas fly off the lots at high speed. It's no surprise that their salesmen can afford to be a little rude, because the next customer is already lined up.
Mitsubishi's placement confuses me, though. Maybe just everything about their automotive arm is awful these days?
Mike @ Nov 16th 2006 7:13PM
Hey, Karesh, bugger off already.
We all know about your bogus little web site by now. Any poster here who hasn't visited it yet probably doesn't care to do so, and certainly NOT because they haven't seen one of your round-the-clock advertisements.
Quit trolling for traffic before someone bans you.
dave @ Nov 16th 2006 7:39PM
#1, mitsubishi (the manufacturer of the ww2 fighters that were annialated because of poor quality)is in it's rightful place, dead last. now all american brands rate better than toyota,nissan, etc. imagine that. we beat the japs, and democrats won the congress. yes, there is a God.
RJ @ Nov 16th 2006 7:46PM
All you Japanese brand haters need to open your eyes. This is sales sattisfaction and has solely to do with "Purchase experience" Of course the majority of the top brands in this survey are consistently the same brands who offer the highest incentives and rebates. Who wouldn't be happy after getting a $6,000.00 rebate on a Lincoln. The imports rely less on rebates and their sales staff don't generally need to "haggle" with customers because if they don't accept one customers offer someone else will come along and purchase said vehicle. I worked at an Acura dealership where salesman would literally laugh at any customer offering less than MSRP on a TSX.
I could scribble jibberish on a paper and post it on the internet and it would mean more than this survey.
Talis @ Nov 16th 2006 8:04PM
so um did anyone else see Cadillac and Lincoln coming in at 2 and 3? where as where as lexus is 5 and BMW is 12. So much for the big 2 not listening to the people. HA!
On a side note I cannot wait to test drive the MKZ
Edmunds.com link:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=117549?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..2.*
Michael Karesh @ Nov 16th 2006 8:12PM
I don't think the rankings in this survey have changed much over the last 20 years or so. Cadillac and Lincoln have always done well in it. Which might help them retain old customers, but it doesn't seem to help win new ones.
Hundreds of people visit my site each month based on my comments here, and often give me positive feedback on it. Just the facts. For which I am grateful.
dave @ Nov 16th 2006 8:23PM
oh rj, how simple minded you are. if only the rest of the world could live in the fantasy you live. paul harvey quoted jd powers by saying "toyota now has the dubious distintion of being the first auto maker to recall every car they make. here in the midwest, you have to look very hard to find a three year or older accord or civic that the rear quarter panels haven't rusted out. my neighbor loves nissan's, he owns a trans shop. face it. american brands are now better, so your reputation as a toyota salesman is now about as worthy as rush limbaugh. time to celebrate. i'm going to buy a new AMERICAN flag and hoist it.
Robert @ Nov 16th 2006 8:27PM
Let's look at who's buying the top three cars...mostly the elderly drivers who will give you a high satisfaction score if you give them a donut and a free cup of coffee when they come in!
John @ Nov 16th 2006 9:31PM
I made the mistake of actually wanting to buy a Dodge. I know why their sales are in the crapper - because after this experience I will *NEVER* buy a car from them even if it turns out to be the best option available for me at the time. I'll gladly settle for a lesser car simply to avoid getting a sour taste in my mouth. DCX is nicely bunched up there in the bottom... I hope their execs realize that their dealer network is not provided with any sort of incentive to treat customers well.
RJ @ Nov 16th 2006 10:24PM
Dave, last time I looked into the phrase "simple minded" I came under the impression it meant someone who thinks they can make assumptions about people they don't know. I admit I don't know you but are you seriously that ignorant to think this survey has anything to do with VEHICLE QUALITY? Seems like you may fit the "simple minded" bill a little better.
Seriously, automotive quality generalizations aside, if you think this survey has anything to do with vehicle quality, say so. Then I'll know to just ignore anything else you write regarding it.
The last vehicle I bought was Japanese and after 14 years of living in New England the quarter panels all look new thanks. I would comment on whether or not American vehicles "are now better" but I wouldn't know. I haven't had to test drive anything thanks to my excellent and reliable Toyota.
Ha
Talis @ Nov 16th 2006 10:26PM
Ok, well enough of the “my brand is better than your brand” BS. John (#15) makes a good point in his shopping experience with DCX. I test drove a Magnum a year or so ago (whenever it was they came out) and I still remember the salesman following me to my car AFTER I SAID NO, GOODBYE. The car was nice enough, and I would look at it again now that gas is not $3.00 a gallon, but I would HAVE to get the R/T and that just costs too much for what it is.
The point here is salesmen will do ANYTHING to get a deal. I paid for my college education by working as a cell phone salesman in my local mall and I pulled just about every play in the book to get my sales commission. The key is to talk fast and to no let your customer get a word in edge wise. The more you talk the less likely he/she is to walk away because they do not want to be rude, and the more likely they are to buy because you make the product sound so nice... the whole "HOW DID I LIVE WITH OUT THIS???" line.
At car dealerships this is the rule; the salesman (who knows less then the people who read autoblog and the mags) will just assume the customer is a moron, and will try to make a sale by not letting the customer think about any problems with the vehicle. Notice how the first thing they do is turn on the radio and turn up the vol. That is one reason why there is a lot of buyers remorse just after a 20, 30, 40 50+ thousand dollar sale--people really dont test drive the car they are talked into buying the car.
I am actually surprised Saturn is not (or hasn't been) at the top of this list. They are the only brand that I know of that has a no haggle sales process. But there are more than just sales price that actually makes a sale so I guess that is why Saturn is lower than I would expect. they are after all the best "economy-car" brand according to the list so...
Mike @ Nov 16th 2006 11:18PM
#12 Karesh -
There's a nice "Advertise" link under "Resources" in the second column. If you want to troll autoblog for traffic then you should pay for it. Period.
Just the facts.
Andy @ Nov 16th 2006 11:53PM
I have no doubt the XK is an excellent touring coupe. It just doesn't have the looks to back that up. Those looks would ruin my buying experience.
John @ Nov 17th 2006 8:20AM
Hmmm, I see a metaphor between flying your fuel-laden zero into a aircraft carrier and offering budget-busting incentives in a desparate attempt to move stale and competitvely disadvantaged inventory. Fun stuff.