Isuzu has retained its favoured position with buyers, followed by Honda and Toyota, and then Suzuki, in the latest annual sales satisfaction index.
The index is compiled by J D Power, which provides consulting services for the automotive, information technology and finance industries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Its 2016 Thailand Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study for the mass market segment, released on Friday, shows that overall satisfaction with the sales process has improved to 811 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2016 from 801 in 2015.
The proportion of delighted customers - those who rate their overall purchase experience 10 (on a 10-point scale) - has increased to 22% from 8% a year ago.
Isuzu ranks highest in sales satisfaction for a second year running, with a score of 822. Isuzu performs particularly well in the sales initiation, dealer facility, deal, salesperson and delivery process factors, according to the report. Honda and Toyota tie for second with 814 each, while Suzuki ranks fourth with 813.
Siros Satrabhaya, country manager at J D Power Thailand, said as the automotive industry in Thailand suffers its fourth consecutive year of declining sales, automotive dealers are working even harder as they compete for business from a smaller pool of buyers.
“Focusing on price cuts and giveaways to attract customers is not sustainable in the long run. Instead, dealers must work on developing personal connections with their customers so that when the market picks up, they will be better positioned to gain from customers’ repurchase and recommendation activities,” he said.
Now in its 17th year, the study examines six factors that contribute to overall customer satisfaction with their new-vehicle purchase experience in the mass market segment. In order of impact on overall sales satisfaction, those factors are delivery process (19%); dealer facility (19%); sales initiation (17%); deal (16%); delivery timing (15%); and salesperson (15%). Sales satisfaction performance is reported as an index score based on a 1,000-point scale, with a higher score indicating greater satisfaction with the new-vehicle sales and delivery processes.
The 2016 Thailand Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study is based on responses from 2,560 new-vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle from August 2015 through April 2016. The study was fielded from February through June 2016.
