Lexus automobile owners apparently are a happy bunch, at least according to a major customer satisfaction survey released Tuesday.
Lexus, part of the Toyota Motor Corp., edged out Buick, BMW and Cadillac for top marks in the American Customer Satisfaction Index put together by the University of Michigan^s National Quality Research Center.
The index reviews customers^ takes on a range of service-sector industries, and applies a rating system to rank the businesses. Researchers said a higher ranking often is an indicator of consumer spending in a sector.
Along with automobiles, the survey covered personal computers, major appliances, and Internet portals and search engines.
"Customer satisfaction is pretty flat, and consumer spending is slowing down," said Professor Claes Fornell, head of the survey index. "Still, with low unemployment, healthy corporate profits, and income and wage growth, consumers continue to spend. But the slumping housing market and increased debt load may contribute to weakening spending growth."
Fornell said the survey indicated Detroit automobile manufacturers made some gains on their foreign counterparts in the survey, but they still have considerable work to do to catch up.
Lexus improved its customer
satisfaction score to 87 from the previous year^s score of 86. The category average was 82.
"I think a Lexus^ initial quality has something do with it," saidDon Shrewsbury, general sales manager at Toyota-Lexus of Melbourne. Shrewsbury said the cars that start at $30,000 for some models and can cost more than $70,000 for the higher-end vehicles.
"You have to drive the car to appreciate," Shewsbury said. "It^s a driving experience. It^s not just a way to get to work."
Diane Wilson, a Satellite Beach-based Realtor, has been driving a Lexus sport utility vehicle for the lpast two years.
There^s not too much to criticize, Wilson said, except maybe a "tad more" get-up-and-go when she^s entering Interstate 95.
"Short of that, it a very comfortable drive," she said. "And the Lexus dealership is very accommodating."
Buick, Cadillac and Lincoln-Mercury came in tied for second in the survey, with scores of 86.
Toyota and Honda slipped 3 points and 2 points, respectively, to 84.
Domestic nameplates improved. Ford rose 4 points to 80; Chevrolet gained 1 point to 82; and Dodge increased 3 points to 80.
"American automakers are narrowing the gap with Asian manufacturers, but they^re still coming in last," Fornell said. "Though foreign nameplates just passed domestic cars for monthly sales, Detroit^s Big Three might have an opportunity to take advantage of Toyota^s difficulties in maintaining quality as it increases production. When you make more cars, chances are quality is going to slip."
