Buick and Chevrolet Show Improved Customer Satisfaction

2015 Buick LaCrosse (Credit: © General Motors)

Recently, fewer and fewer new-car buyers are feeling satisfied with the purchase, according to the American Custom Satisfaction Index. For the past two years the percentage of satisfied new car owners has decreased. The survey was created by having 4,360 car buyers respond to various questions from April to May of 2014. The average vehicle received a satisfaction score of 82, which marks a 1.2 percent decrease versus 2013.

While Mercedes-Benz was the brand with the highest level of satisfaction with a score of 86, the brand scored 88 points for 2013. Subaru was second at 85 points, which was one point lower than before, and Lexus was third with 84 points.

The big news is that Buick and Chevrolet were the only car brands that bucked the industry norm and marked an increase in customer satisfaction for the year. Chevrolet came out with the industry average for satisfaction, while Buick landed one point higher.

Many in the automotive industry are left wondering how Chevrolet and Buick have improved in customer satisfaction, despite the fact that GM has been orchestrating quite a few vehicle recalls, including the highly publicized ignition recall.

Also noteworthy from the 2014 American Customer Satisfaction survey is the fact that Acura ended up dead last. The luxury brand picked up 77 points, which marked a drop of 7 percent and was the largest decrease a brand saw for the year.

Just how did Buick and Chevrolet wow consumers when all other brands slipped up and lost customer service points? That’s a topic of great debate right now, and likely will be for some time since there are some big, bruised egos in the industry.