Brian Joss – Toyota and Hino South Africa both achieved gold awards at the 2018 National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) Dealer Satisfaction Index (DSI) awards while Lexus walked away with silver.
Now in its 23rd year, the awards measure dealers’ satisfaction with the various automotive brands. In 2018 a total of 33 independently researched brands formed part of the survey. A total of 1005 responses were received, and 840 of these were received from Passenger and Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) dealerships.
According to the NADA report: “Toyota has seen an improvement in their dealer scores in 2018 compared to 2017. In 2017 there looked to be two groups of dealers, the larger group of fairly satisfied dealers with scores in the 70 to 90 region and a smaller group of very satisfied dealers with scores above 95. In 2018 we still see that there are two groups of dealers, but now the two groups are of similar sizes, with the more satisfied group of dealers, increasing in number.”
The industry overall average improved from 72.9% in 2017 to 74.5% in 2018.
The other good news for the local motoring industry is that out of the 33 brands that took part in the survey, a total of 19 scored above 65%. Eight assenger / LCV brands achieved Gold status (75% and above).
“We couldn’t be happier with these results at Toyota. We see these awards as a culmination of the remarkable relationship we have built with our dealers.
We believe that if our dealers are well supported, in terms of systems and processes as well as training, they will in turn be brand ambassadors to our business and their business will grow,” says Calvyn Hamman, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors.
Hamman added that it is also in the spirit of Toyota to keep improving, and that Toyota will continue to keep the customer in mind throughout its endeavours to be the best vehicle brand in South Africa.
CAPTION: Toyoya Hilux: improvement in dealer scores. Picture: Motorpress