NEW YORK — U.S. car buyers are growing less satisfied with their purchases from domestic automakers while their Asian and European competitors continue to improve, according to a recent survey.
Consumer satisfaction with U.S. auto brands slipped as Lexus and BMW tied for first place, followed by Toyota and Honda, according to the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index released today.
General Motors Corp.’s Buick and Cadillac brands and Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln and Mercury lines fell from their No. 2 perch at a time when U.S. companies are struggling to outshine their competitors and reverse their shrinking sales and market share.
That’s an unsettling sign for domestic automakers, said Claes Fornell, a University of Michigan business professor who heads the annual survey. Traditionally, U.S. brands improve their customer-satisfaction scores each year, just not as much as their overseas counterparts. Now, the domestic companies’ ratings are declining while their competitors’ scores continue to climb.
“This is somewhat of a double whammy here,” Fornell said. “The struggling companies are getting an even tougher road in the near future. The question also is, Do they really have the resources, the cash here (to adapt)?”
Car rankings
The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a quarterly survey by the University of Michigan that measures satisfaction in various industries. How foreign and domestic car brands rate:
Make-brand Score
Toyota-Lexus 87
BMW 87
Toyota 86
Honda 86
GM-Buick 85
GM-Cadillac 85
GM-Saturn 85
Ford-Lincoln/Merc. 83
Hyundai 83
GM-GMC 83
Daimler-Mercedes 82
Nissan 82
Average 82
Volkswagen 81
GM-Pontiac 80
Ford 80
Chrysler 80
Mazda 80
Kia 80
GM-Chevrolet 79
Chrysler-Dodge 78
Chrysler-Jeep 76
