Cadillac rated best customer experience by luxury owners
Cadillac bested Lexus and Acura for first place in customer experience by the New York-based Luxury Institute. Only those earning more than $150,000 per year can take the Luxury Institutes survey, which gages brand tastes of the wealthiest Americans. Among the reasons Cadillac came out on top was the overall dealership experience, looks, and performance. Audi, BMW, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mercedes, and Volvo were also eligible for the award. If you've never heard of the Luxury Institute, you're not alone. We didn't want to take their survey anyway.
Thanks for the tip, CTGentleman!
View the press release after the jump
[Source: Luxury Institute]
Luxury Institute Survey: Wealthy Consumers Rate Cadillac, Lexus and Acura the Luxury Auto Brands That Deliver the Best Customer Experience in 2007
NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 05, 2007 -- Luxury automobile owners rated Cadillac a solid first place as the brand that delivers the best customer experience in the 2007 Luxury Customer Experience Index (LCEI) survey of Automobiles from the independent New York-based Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com). Lexus and Acura placed second and third, respectively.
Here is what wealthy owners had to say about why they recommend Cadillac:
-- "Vehicle's looks, comfort, service, performance, and reliability, as well as great
people at the dealers."
-- "Beautiful car, excellent value and friendly service."
-- "My dealer experience was excellent. Cadillac is the best of everything."
"It is significant to see American icon Cadillac rise solidly to achieve the number one rating with highly discerning wealthy owners in our impartial surveys," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. Brands rated, in alphabetical order, included: Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes, and Volvo.
The proprietary Luxury Customer Experience Index (LCEI) survey is the only measure of the customer experience of leading brands to wealthy Americans. A national sample of wealthy American consumers, with a minimum household income of $150,000, was surveyed online. Survey results are weighted to match demographic and net worth profiles of the same audience according to the latest Survey of Consumer Finances from The Federal Reserve.
About the Luxury Institute
The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and impartial ratings and research institution that is the trusted and respected voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications and research that guides and educates high net-worth individuals and the companies that cater to them on leading edge trends, high net-worth consumer rankings and ratings of luxury brands, and best practices. Publications include the monthly Wealth Report, the Luxury Brand Status Index surveys, the Luxury Best Practices surveys, the Luxury Consumer Experience Index surveys and the Luxury Website Effectiveness Index surveys.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Avinash machado 8:17AM (2/06/2007)
Do automotive awards have any credibility nowadays?
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jim 8:33AM (2/06/2007)
....from a 'self-described' independent institute. More likely a PR firm GM hired. Maybe even same firm that plants 'success' stories about Iraq in newspapers.
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Gardiner Westbound 8:54AM (2/06/2007)
Though car awards have little credibility, if this is remotely true Cadillac is closer to establishing itself as a good car.
Friends with recent Cadillacs tell me reliability is still an issue. The Northstar engine may be an engineering marvel but its not durable and very expensive to repair.
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P to the C 9:57AM (2/06/2007)
Cadillac has the 4th highest rated long term dependability (only one import brand, Lexus, bests it) so I'm sure that goes a long way towards making ownership a positive experience. Everyone I've ever talked to that owned a modern Cadillac was incredibly satisfied not only with the dealership experience but the car itself. Having owned both a Cadillac and a Lexus LS400 I can say that the cars and the dealership experience were basically identical so I personally couldn't say one was better than the other. Apparently others can though.
Observation: When a survey comes out saying domestics suck and imports rock, everyone quotes it as scripture, yet when the opposite happens it's all "survey's don't have any credibility" or "my friends brothers aunt says her 1983 Cadillac is in the shop all the time" or "it's a GM conspiracy."
Don't be so quick to hate the Americans as nowadays they're making cars as good and in many case far superior to your beloved foreigners. I know, I used to be like you, but I have since seen the light. Decide for yourself before giving in to the groupthink that says it's not hip to like domestic automobiles.
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carnut 12:23PM (2/06/2007)
". Cadillac has the 4th highest rated long term dependability (only one import brand, Lexus, bests it) "
Who are #'s 1-3. IIRC Infiniti was #2 or 3, which is a division of Nissan.
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Ian 12:13PM (2/06/2007)
Is GM saying they are only interested in the opinions of buyers, who earn more than $150K? If that gets out ALL the other buyers of Cadillacs may feel snubbed and vote with their check books on another brand next time.
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Infinihertz 12:47PM (2/06/2007)
#5, Please learn to read. "Only those earning more than $150,000 per year can take the Luxury Institutes [sic] survey." That means that the Luxury Institute only surveyed those people. The article (or the press release if you follow the link) doesn't imply GM had anything to do with it. So why would you infer that because Cadillac was ranked highest in the survey that "GM ... are only interested in the opinions of buyers, who earn more than $150K?" I've never heard of the "Luxury Institute," and don't care much about what they have to say, but *come on*.
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PJ 5:07PM (2/06/2007)
Best customer experience? *Really*?
I'm a fan of most of Cadillac's current lineup, but in my experience, most Cadillac dealers also sell Buicks, Pontiacs, GMCs, Hummers, Saabs, or some combination thereof. So the folks buying Caddys are often treated in the same manner as those buying bargain pre-owned Grand Ams: not well.
A quick Google search turned up nothing to suggest that the "Luxury Institute" is some phoney-baloney marketing outfit, but I do wonder if the sample group is representative. After all, are people with an average net worth of $3.1 million (LI's self-proclaimed survey base) buying Caddy's $30K-$50K bread-and-butter products?
Cadillac would do well to sell through its own exclusive dealerships, a la Lexus, and focus on slavish customer service. Not a realistic proposal (anytime soon), but it'd help.
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Phil 1:30PM (2/06/2007)
Ian is really dumb.
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BOB 2:40PM (2/06/2007)
OF COURSE CADILLAC BUYERS LIKE THE EXPERIENCE!!
_________________________________________________
THE DEALERS KEEP A SUPPLY OF "DEPENDS" ON HAND FOR THE BUYERS, WHILE THEY WAIT FOR THE VINYL ROOF AND GOLD BADGES TO BE INSTALLED!
(ok, sorry, cheap shot, but earned)
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jt 2:52PM (2/06/2007)
Bob you are an afterbirth stain on a rug....Idiot
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Howie 5:52PM (2/06/2007)
Cadillac is on top of customer satisfaction. And as for Lexus....they make there customer's fill out the survey at the dealership at delivery! Who isn't on a high at the moment you get your new car! GM contacts people 4-6 weeks later. The excitment has come down and there could be a hole diferent feeling than at the moment you get those shiny keys! Is anyo0ne aware that Toyota has recalled over 1 MILLION cars last year? Nice media...but we all hear about Ford's trouble's or GM has to many SUV's this week.
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Howie 7:29PM (2/06/2007)
Cadillac is on top of customer satisfaction. And as for Lexus....they make there customer's fill out the survey at the dealership at delivery! Who isn't on a high at the moment you get your new car! GM contacts people 4-6 weeks later. The excitment has come down and there could be a hole diferent feeling than at the moment you get those shiny keys! Is anyo0ne aware that Toyota has recalled over 1 MILLION cars last year? Nice media...but we all hear about Ford's trouble's or GM has to many SUV's this week.
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Ilzo 12:00AM (2/07/2007)
PJ -
Yes. people worth $3.1 million and above are buying $30-50k products.
Case in point. A relative of mine is worth over $10 million and drives 3 cars. A 2006 PT Cruiser, a 2006 GMC Sierra, and a 2004 Lexus ES330.
The Lexus is only mildly optioned, and came out to be less than $37K.
Howie and P to the C. Thank you for your comments, and for posting information that is not widely known. :)
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PJ 1:11AM (2/07/2007)
Interesting. Guess I shouldn't be too surprised, as I understand Bill Gates drives (rarely) a late '90s Lincoln Continental, and the CEO of IKEA tootles around in a Volvo 240.
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Atomicbri 9:38AM (2/07/2007)
I agree with poster #4. If it said the Luxury Inst. vote Lexus best, everyone would be singing praises, saying what a great Institute this is....BUT since Cadillac won it, it's regarded as bogus, GM financed, etc. Come on folks, Cadillac has been doing well over the past years, gaining ground on the imports in terms of quality and style. I normally do not like American cars, usually too boring for me, however for the first time the other day I sat in a Cadillac SRX and a STS...and I was quite suprised. Felt solid, looked nice, and was luxurious. If the dealerships are good with their customers, and what I was able to sample, I have no doubt Cadillac is just as good as Lexus.
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PuffyC 10:46AM (2/07/2007)
Just for the record, and since somebody asked, Infinity is 10 and Nissan is way below industry average, below Chevy, Pontiac, Ford, Buick, Oldsmobile, Lincoln, Chrysler, etc. etc. Nissan has never really been known for making dependable automobiles.
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The Dearborn Observer 11:01AM (2/19/2007)
Cadillac's improved status is a direct function of the $5 billion it spent on product development and proves American manufacturers can compete if they have the right leadership. When my buddy Jac Nassar hired Wolfgang Retizle to run the Ford PAG, he proposed similar levels of investment would be required for Lincoln. Since "investment in product development" was not part of Jac's "brand management" lexicon, Retizle was subsequently canned. Where would Lincoln be today if Ford management would have taken his advise?
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