http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/10198Volvo & Renault Drivers are the most satisfied of all European brands
15/07/2011
There are currently an estimated 14.9 million drivers on Australian roads today. Approximately 1 million of these drivers are in European cars, an increase of 45% over the last 5 years. With so many more people driving European owned makes it is interesting to see that Volvo and Renault drivers are the most satisfied with their current vehicles; according to the March Roy Morgan Automotive Currency report.
For the 12 months to March 2011, 94% of Volvo drivers said they were satisfied* with their current vehicle. This is 4% points above the European average and moves them from equal fourth place 5 years ago to the top of the group.
Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:
"With only three European brand making gains over the last 5 years; this is an excellent result for Volvo who has also decreased their total driver dissatisfaction figure over the same timeframe. Also doing well is niche importer Renault, moving from equal 2nd overall in 2006 to now sit equal with Volvo in top spot.
"With almost two thirds of all European cars on Australian roads coming from German owned companies, it is interesting to note that only Mercedes-Benz have made gains over the last 5 years. Of the remaining German brands, Audi has experienced the strongest percentage point drop, moving from the top of the overall list 5 years ago to currently sit equal 5th. BMW is also down, falling marginally under the 90% mark, with both brands total dissatisfaction figures also increasing over this same time frame.
"At the other end of the scale, Citroen and Saab round out the list, with both brands experiencing large declines in driver satisfaction over the last 5 years. This is a concerning result for Saab who are currently launching a range of new models into the Australian marketplace. Included in this launch is the new flagship Saab 9-5, which will be going head to head with the already well established Mercedes-Benz E-Class and new BMW 5-Series, with both models returning driver satisfaction figures of over 90%.
"With vehicle satisfaction being one of the key drivers of brand loyalty, this is a very important measure for manufacturers to be aware of."
The Roy Morgan Automotive provides information on automotive intentions for the different vehicle types, including intentions to purchase new vehicles, future intentions and recent sales, loyalty and satisfaction, brand health, automotive attitudes, car servicing and use of the internet for vehicle related content.
This report looks at the Australian automotive industry, providing vital trended information on key market metrics, delivering a cost effective tool for measurement and evaluation of marketing effectiveness, brand performance and competitor performance.
Purchase from an extensive range of Roy Morgan profiles of Automotive Attitudes, Automotive Intention to Purchase, and Vehicle Servicing.
For more details contact:
info@roymorganonlinestore.com
About Roy Morgan Research
Roy Morgan Research is Australia’s best known and longest established market research and public opinion survey company. Roy Morgan Single Source is thorough, accurate, and provides comprehensive, directly applicable information about current and future customers. It is unique in that it directs all the questions to each individual from a base survey sample of around 55,000 interviews in Australia and 15,000 interviews in New Zealand annually - the largest Single Source databases in the world. The questions asked relate to lifestyle and attitudes, media consumption habits (including TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, cinema, catalogues, pay TV and the Internet), brand and product usage, purchase intentions, retail visitations, service provider preferences, financial information and recreation and leisure activities. This lead product is supported by a nationally networked, consultancy-orientated market research capability.
This post has been edited by R19/16v: 18 Jul 2011, 13:19 
18 Jul 2011, 13:12
