Team-BHP - The "JD Power Study" Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 2949242)

This is a customer satisfaction study with the product and does not reflect the after sales. Basically they survey new owners of cars and ask them what they feel about the car.

Humm, confused, Went to the link posted, of whatever i could make out, i think it says otherwise.

The study, now in its 16th year, measures satisfaction among vehicle owners who visit an authorised dealership service centre for maintenance or repair work between the first 12 to 24 months of vehicle ownership. The study measures overall satisfaction in five factors (listed in order of importance): service quality; vehicle pick-up; service advisor; service facility; and service initiation. Overall customer satisfaction is measured on a 1,000-point scale, with a higher score indicating higher satisfaction.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806 (Post 2949255)

Thanks for pointing it out. I think what I meant was for the sales satisfaction and not for the after sales customer satisfaction. My uncle was surveyed on sales satisfaction of a new car.

Looking at the dependability numbers, the older and the hence stable the car is, the scores are better. But even there Tata/Mahindra buck the trend. Looks like they have a long way to go.

If you look at Maruti, they prove that its just about making good cars. Its the total deal including sales/after sales, spares availability etc that makes a company that people can trust.

Would have loved to see one metric 'trust' somewhere :)

:thumbs up noticed that as well and glad to see it featured there because the car deserves it. However at the same time to notice that VW is lagging behind Skoda in the Customer Service Index (chart 1) , i thought it would definitely be the other way around.

Maruti of-course is no surprise!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mempheS.D (Post 2949278)

But, I am glad to find a Skoda Fabia topping the Dependability index in the premium compact segment.

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Not sure how much of an emotional bias is present in the ratings of Fiat in CSI. Fiat owners (yours truly being one) are known to be overtly passionate/enthusiastic about their cars. Thus, the ratings they give might have significant emotional bias. Moreover, I used to think that there should be correlation between dealer satisfaction and customer satisfaction (A happy dealer will ensure customers are happy). Is dealer commission part of "support from manufacturer"? It might have been interesting had that been a separate parameter.

Friends, I have a small observation to make in this regard. We own a Maruti swift. Although the ownership has been flawless, I never really understood why there was so much hype over Maruti's service quality. It looked strictly ordinary to me and I really couldn't understand how a modern company could probably provide service that is below what Maruti is providing. That was until I owned a Bike.

Now I recently bought an avenger. The experience at bajaj service center is way below what I experience at Maruti for my swift. Now why I m bringing this into the topic is because, majority of cars that Maruti sells are budget segment, almost 20% being alto. Mainly first time car buyers, who have graduated from two wheelers may be. Now they expect a better experience than their two wheelers, which they infact get.

However as we rise up the segments the expectations also rise. People are no longer sattisfied by what they used to get. May be the reason why Maruti has not cracked the 10+ lac segment. A person buying a 10 Lac sedan may not be satisfied by the service that a hatchback owner is getting.
Companies like Honda, Toyota, VW etc have a larger proportion of vehicles in the higher price brackets which also means they have to sattisfy higher expectations.

A person buying Honda city, VW Vento or Skoda Rapid may not be satisfied by the level of attention he was getting with his swift.

What I mean to say is that even with similar levels of service standards, it is very much possible that certain companies may fall below certain others just because they have to deal with higher expectations as well. The main reason why I always take these surveys with a Pinch of salt.

Of course there may be many other reasons too and that I dont deny. Just put forth a viewpoint that ''these'' survey figures may not infact present the ''true'' picture.

Somehow the top and bottom of the list names don't surprise much but the relatively low difference in the top and bottom scores does feel odd. It has always been this way each year but have not been able to figure out why for example there is only a 20% difference between say Maruti at the Top and VW at the bottom. See a similar relatively low difference in other specific categories as well. The leaders do not surprise but their lead feels smaller than perceived.

Well, there is no stopping the Maruti-Suzuki juggernaut in India, isn't it? They not only sell most number of cars in India, but also has the most number of models, caters to the widest range of customers, deals with the maximum number of dealers and still end up on top on every survey that is done. Kudos to them for maintaining their 'numero uno' position in all departments.

Apart from the leader, it's good to see Hyundai and Honda consistently outperforming others across all parameters. There is something that these two companies are doing that is striking the chord with the masses. Having experienced the service of both the brands, I can quite understand why customers are happy to own these brands. Tata and Mahindra are definitely making great strides in their overall dealership experience and it reflects in the study.

Will Volkswagen and Skoda ever learn to treat customers with respect? Who will explain them that Fiat is what it is in India right now due to their abysmal service and it won't take too long for these brands to end up like Fiat?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biraj (Post 2951411)

Emotioal bias, if true, is a double edged sword for any manufacturer. They may get better then deserving ranking's but if they fail their passionate customer's then their rankings will plummet like the stock market post the Harshad Mehta scam.

Moreover, this is a CSI survey which measures satisfaction with the product within the first year of ownership. Do a survey for vehicles owned for 3 years or more and Fiat's ranking's may be much lower.