The latest NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey Winter 2019/2020 has revealed an improvement in overall average dealers’ satisfaction levels with their manufacturers
The NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey winter 2019/2020 was conducted in January 2020 and asked franchised dealers 53 questions about the on-going relationship with their respective manufacturers. The questions covered a range of business issues and their impact on dealers’ satisfaction levels with their manufacturers’ relationship. Responses are scored from 1 (extremely dissatisfied) to 10 (extremely satisfied). NFDA surveyed 31 franchise networks and received a 39% response rate.
How would you rate your manufacturer overall?
The all-important question how would you rate your manufacturer overall? had an average score of 5.9 points, which was 0.3 points higher than six months ago and 0.1 points up from last year. Lexus retained its position at the top of the table with 9.4 points. It was followed by Mercedes (9.2), Toyota and Kia (8.9 each). The manufacturers with the lowest ratings were Abarth (3.8), Alfa Romeo (3.4) and Hyundai (3.2).
Movement in score
There was an overall average improvement of 12.0 points across all questions of the survey. Following two disappointing performances in the past two editions of the survey, BMW regained all the points it had previously lost with a total increase of +99.3 points. Suzuki had the biggest loss in points (-62.7).
Overall average score
Lexus remained at the top with the highest average score across all questions of the survey, 8.9 out of 10 points. It was followed by Toyota (8.5), Mercedes and Kia (8.3). Jeep, Fiat, Abarth (4.4), and Alfa Romeo (4.0) had the lowest scores. The overall average was 6.1, up by 0.3 points from six months ago.
It is encouraging to see that most manufacturers continue to take seriously their performance in the survey and work with dealers to address their networks’ concerns. A healthy relationship between dealers and manufacturers is instrumental to the success of our industry. Despite a number of concerns, particularly with regard to profit return and return on capital, franchised dealers were generally satisfied with the ability to do business with their manufacturers on a day to day basis. It is vital that manufacturers and dealers maintain an open channel of communication to discuss the main issues affecting businesses and continue to cooperate to allow the automotive sector to thrive through a period of changes and challenges.
For more information about the survey, please email nfda@rmif.co.uk or visit NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey
