General Motor's re-invigorated Chevrolet brand has been ranked highest in satisfying new vehicle buyers with the purchase experience, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2005 SA Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) released on Tuesday.

The inaugural study is a comprehensive measurement of the new vehicle sales and delivery process, and includes 32 attributes grouped into five factors of satisfaction.

Chevrolet scored 27% on delivery process, salesperson (23%), negotiated price (18%), paperwork/finance process (17%) and dealership facility (15%).

According to the index the importance weights are developed based on consumer survey responses, thus reflecting what is most important to SA's new vehicle buyers.

SSI performance is reported as an index score based on a 1,000 point scale.

A higher SSI score indicates a more satisfying purchase experience.

With an overall SSI score of 861, Chevrolet tops the sales satisfaction rankings, performing 16 index points higher than second-ranked Mercedes-Benz.

Rounding out the top five brands are Mitsubishi, Toyota and Honda, respectively.

Mitsubishi and Peugeot, on the other hand, lead the industry in dealership facilities, while Mercedes-Benz outperforms other nameplates in the new-vehicle delivery process.

"Our research around the world has shown that customers who are satisfied with the sales process are more likely to bring their new vehicle to the dealership service department for regular maintenance and repairs," said Brian Walters, senior director of automotive research at J.D. Power and Associates.

"The sales experience also plays an important role in influencing positive word of mouth from customers for both the dealership and the vehicle brand."

Among the five components of the index, dealership facility is the lowest-rated measure by consumers in SA.

Contributing to the low scores for the dealership facility are poor ratings for the size of the new vehicle inventory.
Other low-rated areas of the dealership facility are the comfort of area or office where the vehicle's price is negotiated and convenience of the dealership location and opening hours.

"The unprecedented boom in new-vehicle sales in SA often leads to frustration among customers regarding low inventory levels at dealerships," said Walters.

"While improvements in dealership facilities often require significant investments, there are numerous process-related improvements that could be implemented that are considerably less expensive, yet will lead to greater sales satisfaction. These include improvements in the negotiation of the vehicle's price, explanation of paperwork/documentation and explanation of the owner's manual. Also, special delivery activities such as setting up the customer's first scheduled service appointment and showing the customer how to check the engine oil level and preset the radio's memory, can yield greater satisfaction."

The SA SSI Study is conducted independently by J.D. Power and Associates to establish a benchmark of satisfaction with the new- vehicle purchase experience in the SA market.

The survey was carried out in co-operation with the Department of Transport (DOT), which facilitated the distribution of questionnaires.

The study includes data on virtually every manufacturer selling new vehicles in SA, including Citroen, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru and Tata and is based on responses from 9,573 new vehicle owners who purchased their vehicles between December 2004 and April 2005.