Saturn 1st; Cadillac 2nd -- in J.D. Powers "Sales Satisfaction"
Survey
"Saturn tops J.D. Power sales satisfaction survey"
AGOURA HILLS, Calif., June 30 (Reuters) - For the fourth year in a
row, Saturn bested a long list of luxury car nameplates in providing a
pleasant buying experience as measured by J.D. Power and Associates'
sales satisfaction survey, released Tuesday.
Among the survey's top ten nameplates, Saturn, owned by General Motors
Corp., was followed, in order, by Cadillac, Lexus, Land Rover, Volvo,
BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes, Lincoln and Infiniti.
Cadillac made the biggest improvement in the survey rising from tenth
last year to second this year.
Other nameplates that finished above the industry average, in order of
score were: Mercury, Oldsmobile, Buick, Saab, Chevrolet, Audi, Ford,
Acura, Volkswagen, Chrysler, and Pontiac.
Finishing below industry average, in alphabetical order, were: Dodge,
GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Jeep, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan,
Plymouth, Subaru and Toyota. Eagle, Porsche and Suzuki were not ranked
due to insufficient sample size, J.D. Power said.
According to the study, the biggest reasons for disappointment with
the sales process were broken promises, complicated price negotiation
and an intimidating environment.
J.D. Power said broken promises occur when a greater number of
personnel are involved in the purchase transaction, resulting in
inconsistent communication. And consumers often find the price
negotiation stressful, poorly communicated and confusing, leading them
to feel that they are not getting a good deal.
When consumers feel pressured to buy, they rate their experience
lower, J.D. Power said, making it important for dealers to put
customers at ease.
The top scorers in the study performed well due to sales processes
designed to ensure consistent communication, a low-pressure
environment and in the case of Saturn only, no-haggle pricing.
''Manufacturers and dealers have focused sales satisfaction
improvement programs almost solely on salesperson training, which has
become a basic fundamental,'' commented Loretta Seymour, J.D. Power's
director of sales satisfaction at J.D. Power and Associates.
''It is critical for dealers to implement standardized transaction
processes that eliminate consumer turn offs in order for the industry
situation to change,'' Seymour said.
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