Lexus tops luxury brand customer satisfaction ranking

Lexus customers are the happiest luxury car owners in Australia, according to this year’s JDPower customer service survey, in which the Japanese brand fought off stiff competition from Mercedes and Audi.

Assessed in five areas of aftersales customer satisfaction, Lexus scored 869 points out of a possible 1000, beating second-place maker Mercedes-Benz and its score of 852. The Lexus result earned it five JDPower ‘circles’ for being “among the best” while Mercedes’ four circles was ranked “better than most”.

In third place, Audi scored 840 points - which is just beneath the luxury segment average of 842 and was earned the four-ringed brand three circles. German rival BMW lagged in fourth place with 835 points.

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While the ‘big three’ failed to catch Lexus, a consistent top-scorer in customer satisfaction, the runners-up should still give themselves a pat on the back with their general customer satisfaction standard increasing for the fourth consecutive year. Overall, 2017 resulted in an 18-point rise across all rated brands.

The luxury marques also earned another feather in their caps for achieving a higher satisfaction score than mainstream manufacturers. Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover can also share the praise, with the smaller premium carmakers also coming under the microscope. However, their customer sample size was too small to be included in the ranking, according to JDPower.

The brands were judged over a number of key criteria, while customers were asked to rate their experiences with service advisors, vehicle pick-up, service quality, facilities and service initiation.

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From their responses, customers ranked cost transparency, having problems resolved in one visit and the availability of alternative transport with the highest importance.

Now in its fourth year, the Australian Customer Service Index Study is based on a study of 547 luxury car owners who bought their cars between 2012 and September 2017.

JDPower is an independent marketing information organisation that assesses a number of industries including automotive for product quality and buyer behaviour.