NS US customer satisfaction index reported that overall satisfaction scores for automakers were flat between 2020 and 2021. That’s good news, but a look at the past five years suggests that customer satisfaction in new car not as high as before. Back in 2017, the average score was 82 on a 100-point scale; for 2021, the average is 78.
Let’s get to the numbers, broken down by mainstream and premium brands:
US Customer Satisfaction Index: Mass Market Name Table
- Honda’s motobike (82)
- Subaru (81)
- Ram (80)
- Hyundai (79)
- Mazda (79)
- Toyota (79)
- Avoid (78)
- Ford (78)
- GMC (78)
- Nissan (78)
- Buick (77)
- Kia (77)
- Volkswagen (77)
- Chevrolet (76)
- Jeep (76)
- Mitsubishi (71)
- Chrysler (70)
American Customer Satisfaction Index: Luxury Signage
- BMW (81)
- Lexus (81)
- Audi (80)
- Tesla (80)
- Mercedes-Benz (78)
- Cadillac (77)
- Volvo (77)
- Acura (76)
- Lincoln (76)
- Infiniti (75)
With an overall score of 82 (up 4% from last year), Honda leads all automakers regardless of what segment they compete in. Subaru, BMW (up 4%) and Lexus (down first%) all scored 81, followed by Ram (which had the highest score last year), Audi and Tesla at 80. The lowest scores from the Chrysler brand all fell to 70 (down 4%) and only less than Mitsubishi with a score of 71 (a catastrophic 8% decrease compared to last year). On the luxury side, the Infiniti’s 75 score is just below the Acura and Lincoln’s 76.
“Over the past few years, luxury automakers’ satisfaction has been slowly eroding. That gap is almost non-existent,” said David VanAmburg, chief executive officer at ACSI. “In terms of style and fun factor, luxury car there may still be edges, but if you remove all bells and whistles, the two are more similar than not. “
Not surprisingly, vehicle owners who received recall notices in 2021 reported lower satisfaction scores (76) than those who did not (80). European brands have the highest average score of 79, followed by Japanese and Korean brands at 78 and American brands at 77.
Breaking down even further, mass-market brand owners score the highest in categories like Safety, Reliability, Driving Performance, Exterior, Comfort and Interior while falling behind other categories. Warranty, Gasoline and Technology. In terms of luxury cars, owners are most satisfied with Comfort, Interior, Safe Driving Performance and Exterior. The category with the lowest score is Gas Mileage.
The ACSI score is calculate based on interviews with 4,888 randomly selected customers.
Looking for more information on customer satisfaction scores? Payment procedures these car manufacturer rankings from Consumer Reports.
