Lexus Ranked Most Valuable Auto Brand by Dealers
The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) recently completed a survey on dealer attitudes to study dealer sentiment, with the goal of encouraging automakers to regularly engage in constructive and beneficial exchanges with their dealers. No surprise that Toyota and Lexus stole the top two spots, Lexus being number one!
Dealers rank Toyota’s Lexus and Toyota franchises as the most valuable and say the Japanese company is the most responsive to their needs, according to a report published by the National Automobile Dealers Association. The group, which represents and lobbies on behalf of about 16,500 dealers, based its findings on responses from roughly 9,000 dealers to a survey about their views on franchise value, auto maker policies and the field staff that car companies employ.
Lexus has retained the top overall spot for the past three years (six survey cycles), and has scored in the top five throughout the last six years. Toyota was second, followed by Subaru, Honda, Porsche, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Jeep, and Audi.
So how does that translate to consumer satisfaction? According to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index Lexus also scored first there.
In conjunction with the survey, NADA hosted more than two dozen meetings between individual automakers, members of NADA’s Industry Relations Committee, and Dealer Council representatives to review the survey findings and discuss successes, concerns, and areas for improvement. Hundreds of individuals – from the CEOs and other top executives of the major manufacturers on down – participated in these discussions and review sessions.
“Facilitating open, honest and productive discussions between auto manufacturers and their franchised dealers is one of the most important functions of NADA,” NADA President Peter Welch said in a statement. “Our members rely on the dealer attitude survey to present a comprehensive assessment of dealer sentiment to their manufacturers, and the automakers rely on it as a vital tool for improving their business practices.”
The survey measures such areas as dealers’ satisfaction with brand franchise policies, competitiveness of products, value of the franchise, satisfaction with management and whether dealers think the value of the franchise will increase in the next year.
Another report card will come out later in June when J.D. Power unveils its annual Initial Quality Study. The IQS has long been viewed as an important litmus test on which automakers make the best new vehicles. Lexus, Toyota and Honda Motor Co. once dominated the field, but are now closely rivaled by Ford, GM’s Chevrolet brand and Lincoln.
But we’re not sweating: we’re confident Lexus will come out on top, just as always.
Since dealers are so satisfied with the brand, why not check out some new Lexus models?
