U.S. automakers score better on satisfaction index

ByABC News
August 18, 2009, 1:34 AM

DETROIT -- A quarterly study by the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that Detroit automakers are doing a much better job pleasing customers. Their biggest gains in years have put them on a par with the Asian automakers.

They also led a rise in overall customer satisfaction with automobiles, up 2% to an all-time high of 84 on the survey's 100-point scale. The quarterly economic indicator is based on customer evaluations of product quality.

Ford rose the most among U.S. brands, jumping 3.8% to 83. Volkswagen rose most overall: 6% to 86. Cadillac and Lexus tied at the top with scores of 89. Buick, Lincoln/Mercury and Honda followed at 88, with Honda's 2% gain the only one among Asian makers. Toyota's 86 was flat with last quarter.

Claes Fornell, University of Michigan business professor and head of the index, says it's remarkable that domestic automakers' scores rose given their financial troubles of the last year.

"I don't think we've ever seen such an increase in customer satisfaction for Detroit," he says. "If the satisfaction scores had really dropped, the game would be over. It would be very, very difficult to recover from that."

After struggling on the edge for months, Chrysler and General Motors went through government-financed bankruptcy filings and now are much smaller companies with much less debt. Ford is the one automaker that avoided bankruptcy court.

Fornell says the industry's smaller size sales are down 32% through the end of July actually helps the satisfaction numbers go up. The customers sticking with brands are likely loyal customers, he says, and easier to please.

Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, says developments of the past year have raised awareness for the entire domestic auto industry.

"I think in our case, the consumers are seeing new products, they're seeing information from third parties on our quality, and it's all raising awareness," he says. "All of this highlighting in the media every day is helpful to us, given that we have the evidence to back up our claims."