Honda Owners Vote Their Cars 'Top Of The Pops'

J.D. Power Study 2003 - Honda scoops 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th places!

• 1st - Honda Logo, the top rated individual model in the Study – and first in the Small Car segment
• 3rd – Civic and CR-V rated third in Lower Medium and Compact SUV segments respectively
• 4th – HR-V, rated fourth in the Compact SUV segment
• 5th – Honda, fifth placed brand overall in the Study – up from 12th last year

Honda has achieved a massive improvement in this year’s J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Study to rank 5th place overall, up from 12th last year. It is the second most improved brand in the study. This is partly because of the much better result achieved by the Civic, represented in significant numbers by the current Seventh Generation model this year.

The company achieved high places in many of the categories, with the Honda Logo emerging as the top rated individual model. The main strengths of the brand are seen as Service Satisfaction (3rd place) and Quality/Reliability (5th place), but significant improvements were also achieved in vehicle appeal and running costs.

This year’s J.D. Power results are based on a study of X and Y-registered vehicles (those sold between Sept 2000 and August 2001), following a questionnaire mailed to a random sample of 95,000 UK owners. The overall response was sufficient to achieve a (50+) sample from 138 individual car models and 32 brands.

The study asked owners to evaluate their experience on a series of questions. Each question carries a different weight based on its relationship with the respective satisfaction measure; each measure also carries a weight based on its relationship with overall satisfaction. Composition of the 2003 index, as in 2001 and 2002, included vehicle quality/reliability (40.6%), vehicle appeal (25.9%), ownership costs (17.7%) and service satisfaction (15.8%).

"We are greatly encouraged by our success in this year’s J.D. Power Study, especially since this takes into account all aspects of customer satisfaction including costs, dealer service and vehicle quality and reliability," said Honda (UK)’s Customer Analyst, Olivia Dunn. "But we will not rest until we have regained our rightful place at the top of the manufacturer’s league!

"Achieving high customer satisfaction is a top priority for Honda, and we are firmly committed to enhancing the customer experience. We want our customers to enjoy their cars, take pride in them, be safe in them – and to have no problems or inconveniences with them. Ultimately the success and future prosperity of the company will be judged by how happy our customers are," she added.

Full details of the Study appear in the June edition of What Car? magazine available from 22 April.