Abstract:

Vehicle manufacturers, their dealers, who they should regard as their customers, and the individuals or organisations who buy vehicles (who should be regarded as the dealer's customers) have an inter-dependent relationship. The manufacturer needs dealers to sell his vehicles. The dealer requires a manufacturer to provide a long term viable business opportunity. Both need customers willing to buy vehicles and to have them maintained. There is therefore a need for three 'satisfaction indices'. The first, 'Customer Satisfaction Index' should measure the satisfaction of the end user with the vehicle provided by the manufacturer, and the way it was sold and maintained by the dealer. The second, a 'Dealer Satisfaction Index' should measure the satisfaction of the dealer with his or her vehicle manufacturer. This report deals with the way in which one such survey was launched by Sewells International, and the results of the first survey. One of the conclusions of the report was that the relationship between the manufacturer and the dealer should be assessed independently and not, as at present, complicate the survey which manufacturers carry out on 'customer satisfaction'.