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Audi races ahead in customer care

Johannesburg - Audi customers last year were most likely to be satisfied by their purchases, according to the 2011 Synovate Quality Awards, released on Monday.

Global research house Synovate interviews customers who bought or serviced a vehicle in the past financial year. Eighteen vehicle manufacturers participate in the survery although there are some notable exceptions including BMW, Hyundai, Kia and Honda.

The survey found that Mitsubishi, Lexus and Chevrolet offered their clients the best experience relating to car services.

"The service experience is typically a more difficult area for manufacturers as it is not as exciting for the consumer as the initial sales process," said Richard Rice, sales and marketing director at Synovate South Africa.

"Customers are therefore harder to please and scores are usually lower for service than they are for sales."

Rice said is it crucial to keep customers loyal after the initial emotional experience when buying a vehicle but that local dealers tend to lack in this regard.

The top honours for best purchasing experience for light commercial vehicles was jointly held by Isuzu, Toyota and Chevrolet, which has taken over Opel's production of the Corsa Light bakkie. 

Bakkie drivers reported the best service experience at Mitsubishi, Toyota, Chevrolet, Isuzu and Nissan. 

The car manufacturers that ranked low in the survey are described as offering a service that is "simply not good enough" by Rice.

These are Nissan, Volvo and the Chrysler Jeep and Dodge group for purchases. 

For services, Peugot fared the worst while other non-performers were Ford, Fiat and Volvo. 

Rice said that some car manufcaturers are likely to be uncomfortable with their ranking in the latest survey.

The most notable of these is Mercedes-Benz - which is a premium brand yet ranks 7 out of 14 in the car section on the purchasing experience and fifth in the service rankings. 

- Fin24.com

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