First Customer Satisfaction Study on German Automotive Market - Guess Who Wins?

October 22, 2002 Frankfurt-Toyota Motor Corporation vehicle models, which include Lexus, top the rankings in six out of seven segment award categories, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2002 Germany Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) StudySM released today. The study is the first industry-wide automotive study conducted in Germany by J.D. Power and Associates and published in cooperation with mot Die Autozeitschrift published by Motor Presse Stuttgart. J.D. Power and Associates also conducts CSI studies in seven countries around the world. The study is designed to provide the automotive industry with global benchmarks for measuring and tracking customer satisfaction. Results for Germany are based on responses from more than 15,000 owners of 2- to 3-year-old vehicles who rated their experiences with the vehicle, the dealer, and the cost of vehicle ownership. The study covers 32 vehicle brands and 132 different models divided into seven award segments. The top-ranked model in each segment is: Small Car Toyota Yaris Lower Medium Car Toyota Corolla Upper Medium Car Lexus IS 200 Executive/Luxury Car Nissan Maxima Sports Car Toyota Celica SUV Toyota RAV4 MPV (Compact Van) Toyota Picnic

The complete study will be published on October 23 in the new edition of the German automotive trade magazine mot Die Autozeitschrift. "It is clear from this study that a wide gap exists between the vehicles that give high levels of satisfaction to their owners and those that do not, which implies that there is room for significant industry improvement," said Dave Sargent, director of European operations at J.D. Power and Associates. "The study also shows that it is not necessary to buy an expensive car to have a satisfying ownership experience." The Customer Satisfaction Index score measures how well customer expectations are met by the ownership experience. The challenge for manufacturers is to understand customer expectations and exceed them. Vehicle quality/reliability is the most important factor, accounting for 30 percent of the overall score. Vehicle appeal (how much the owner likes the vehicle's performance, design, comfort and features) accounts for 25 percent. Owners also rate their satisfaction with dealership service (23 percent of the total score) and with their vehicle's ownership costs (22 percent). The leading brand in each of the four main areas of overall satisfaction is: Vehicle Quality/Reliability (30 percent) Toyota Vehicle Appeal (25 percent) BMW Dealer Service Satisfaction (23 percent) Toyota Ownership Costs (22 percent) Daihatsu

Brand Rankings The study also includes customer satisfaction rankings at the brand level, which is designed to help manufacturers track the performance of their family of vehicles over time. Toyota is the top-ranked brand overall, followed by Mazda, BMW, Honda and Porsche. On average, Japanese brands rank higher than European brands, although a number of the leading European brands are well above average in the study. Consumer Benefit Commenting on the results, Hermann Reil, editor of mot Die Autozeitschrift said, "The study provides very interesting and in many ways surprising results. This is the first time such detailed information on the satisfaction of German car owners is available to the public. With the results of this study new car buyers can make better decisions." "We provide the detailed results to the car manufacturers to assist them in their efforts to further improve the satisfaction of their customers," said Sargent. "Through our alliance with Motor Presse Stuttgart, we also provide a summary of the results to consumers to help them in their future car purchasing decisions."