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MUL ranks highest in J D Power survey

Maruti Udyog Ltd ranks highest in customer satisfaction for automotive dealer service, the latest J D Power Asia Pacific 2001 India customer satisfaction index study says.

As per the study, in its fifth year, MUL improved its performance across all factors examined including customer satisfaction, vehicle quality and dealer service in India at 12 to 18 months of ownership.

CSI performance factors include problems experienced, service advisor, service performance, service timing and facility appearance.

Following MUL in the rankings is Honda Siel, which tied for the top-ranking position with Maruti in the 2000 study.

Maruti leads the industry in service advisor, service performance and service timing- three factors contributing 60 per cent to CSI, the study which was released yesterday said.

While Honda Siel also improved on service advisor and service performance, Honda's performance falls short of its industry-leading benchmark in 1999.

''The Indian automotive industry has witnessed improvements in customer satisfaction since our inaugural study in 1997,'' said Rajeev Lochan, business manager, J D Power Asia Pacific.

''Maruti Udyog is the only manufacturer to have improved consistently since 1997 and has been a leading catalyst for driving up the overall CSI industry average. Maruti's industry-leading performance in 2001 is a result of strong performance on service-related factors,'' he said.

Ford, Hyundai and Telco also show important gains in CSI compared to 2000. Among these three, Hyundai is the only make to record an above industry average CSI score.

''Hyundai moves up the rank order and poses a serious challenge to both Maruti Udyog and Honda Siel,'' Lochan said.

''Hyundai's improvements in service timing and service performance are impressive considering the sharp increase in service volumes at their dealerships,'' he said.

The study finds service standards having a great impact on customer satisfaction. While individual dealership standards may vary in detail, J D Power Asia Pacific measures dealer execution of 15 core standards performed during the service process.

The study shows significant increases in the implementation rates for these activities.

''The improved implementation rates for service standards suggest that dealers are being pro-active in meeting and exceeding customer expectations,'' according to Lochan.

''Maruti has been able to leverage its strength in effective execution of these activities with industry-leading implementation rates on the majority of the 15 service standards,'' he said.

The 2001 CSI study results are based on evaluations from 3,067 personal-use owners who purchased their vehicles from January through September 2000.

UNI

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