Mazda tops 2016 J.D. Power Philippines Customer Service Index Study

A new study from the research firm J.D. Power says that Mazda is the best automaker in the Philippines when when it comes to customer service satisfaction (CSI). This is the first time the Japanese marque received the highest CSI score since the study’s inception 16 years ago.

J.D. Power measures new-vehicle owner satisfaction by checking the performance of an authorized service center in 5 factors: service quality (29%), service initiation (26%), vehicle pick-up (17%), service facility (14%), and service advisor (14%). A 1000 point scale is then used to determine the brand’s performance in which a higher score indicates a better customer satisfaction.

Mazda which performed particularly well in all 5 CSI factors got a total score of 845, beating the 11 other mass market brands. They were followed closely behind by Honda with 831 points and Nissan with 827 points.

However, the study revealed that the overall service satisfaction dropped by 15 points year-over-year, from 837 points down to just 822. It showed that satisfaction with service facility was the main factor of the sudden dip.

Despite more service reminders being sent to customers for routine maintenance, customers are not reciprocating by making appointments for their service visit. We still see six in 10 walk-in customers and this exacerbates the capacity crunch at the dealerships. Dealerships have to be resolute to educate their customers to get into the habit of making appointments else it will be a formidable task for dealers to manage unscheduled workload and maximize throughput,” said Loïc Pean, senior manager at J.D. Power.

This latest study is based on 1,838 responses from new-vehicle owners who bought their vehicle between February 2014 and May 2015 and had their vehicle serviced at an authorized dealer between August 2015 and May 2016. The CSI was fielded between February and May 2016.

For more information about Mazda and their vehicles, visit the AutoDeal Car Guide.