Honda stays No 1 in German CSI study

By James Franey
MUNICH -- Honda is the top automotive brand in Germany in customer satisfaction, according to consultancy J.D. Power and Associates.
 
The Japanese brand topped the firm's annual German Customer Satisfaction Index for the second consecutive year.
 
The Toyota Prius retained its position as the car with the best customer satisfaction score in the upper-medium segment and the car with the best overall score.
 
The other top-scoring models were: Toyota Aygo (basic car category); Honda Jazz (small); Honda Civic (lower-medium); BMW 5 series (executive/luxury), Toyota Corolla Verso (minivan) and BMW X3 (SUV).
 
The survey result was based on interviews with more than 16,000 car owners after two years of ownership.
 
The study used four measurements of satisfaction including include quality and reliability, vehicle appeal, dealer service satisfaction and ownership costs.
 
Honda received a customer satisfaction score of 849. BMW was second with 845 points. Toyota finished third with 844 points.
 
The best score an automaker can achieve is 1,000 points.
 
Nissan was the most improved nameplate in 2008. The Japanese brand increased by 23 points to 815 from 2007, ranking in tenth place.
 
The most improved German brand was Audi. The VW-owned automaker increased by 13 points from the previous year to 840, moving up to fourth overall.
 
Premium rival Mercedes-Benz dropped one place to seventh with a score of 828.
 
The industry average was 815 points.
 
"Overall satisfaction is at its highest level (in Germany) since the launch of the study in 2002, improving by 48 points from 2002 to 815 in 2008,"
 
Martin Volk, J.D. Power's senior research manager, said in a statement.
From: Automotive News Europe

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