Lexus leads nameplate rankings for an eighth consecutive year

Toyota’s hybrid car, the Prius, is the highest-ranking model in the latest J.D. Power and Associates/What Car? 2008 UK Car Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) StudySM.

The Prius earns a score of 901 on a 1,000-point scale, with owners reporting particularly high satisfaction with the model’s quality and reliability.

“The Prius already has iconic status because of its green credentials; now it’s demonstrating that it’s also the watchword for reliability and satisfaction,” said Steve Fowler, editor of What Car? “It delivers on many of the points that matter most to car buyers today: it’s environmentally friendly and reasonably frugal, yet it’s also reliable and a great car to own.”

In the nameplate rankings, luxury Japanese brand Lexus ranks highest for an eighth consecutive year, receiving a customer satisfaction score of 866. Lexus continues to perform particularly well in three of four key measures: quality/reliability, service satisfaction and vehicle appeal. Rounding out the top five manufacturers are Škoda (846), Honda (844), Toyota (836) and Jaguar (833).

Honda receives three model segment awards for the Jazz (small car), FR-V (MPV) and CR-V (SUV). Two Toyota models rank highest in their respective vehicle segments: the Prius (upper medium car) and the Aygo (basic car). Other models receiving awards are the Škoda Octavia (lower medium car) and Jaguar S-Type (executive/luxury car).

“Honda distinguishes itself by garnering the greatest number of segment awards in the 2008 study and also by placing among the top three nameplates,” said Martin Volk, senior research manager at J.D. Power and Associates. “While Lexus maintains its position as the top-ranked nameplate, two non-premium nameplates, Škoda and Honda, also place among the top three, which is a testament to the continued efforts of these car makers to provide an excellent vehicle ownership experience.”

The 2008 UK Car Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Study is based on the evaluations of more than 16,000 UK car owners after an average of two years of ownership. The study includes 28 brands and 100 models. Owners provide detailed evaluations of their vehicles and dealers, which covers 77 attributes grouped in four measurements of satisfaction. In order of importance, they are: quality and reliability (30%); vehicle appeal (28%), which includes performance, design, comfort and features; dealer service satisfaction (22%); and ownership costs (19%), which includes fuel consumption, insurance and costs of service/repair.