Happiness is a Lexus owner

Lexus tops J.D. Power owner satisfaction study for the eleventh consecutive year
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For the eleventh consecutive year Lexus has topped the J.D. Power owner satisfaction study.

The Japanese manufacturer has finished in first place every year since it was first eligible for consideration.

Scoring 845 points on a 1000 point scale, Toyota's luxury arm ranked 51 points higher than the industry average, and 12 points ahead of second place winner, Honda.

The results are tallied from online interviews with new car games owners, the average vehicle age being two years. This year's study surveyed the opinions of 16,840 participants.

At the model level, Honda took home two awards for the Accord (upper medium car) and Jazz (small car).

Other category winners include the BMW 5 Series which tied with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class in the executive luxury car division; Lexus IS (compact executive car); Skoda Octavia (lower medium car); Citroen C3 Picasso (MPV) and Toyota Aygo (city car).

Presented by UK automotive website What Car? the survey results show that despite recent economic pressure placed on vehicle manufacturers and consumers alike, vehicle ownership satisfaction has actually increased in the past 12 months, particularly in the MPV segment.

Measurable improvements were also noted in the areas of service satisfaction, ownership costs and vehicle appeal.

Locally, Lexus Australia's chief executive Tony Cramb said the results are reflective of the brand's commitment to customer service.

"At Lexus we have a mantra by which we operate. It's called the Lexus covenant and it states that Lexus will always treat every customer as though they were a guest in our own home," explained Cramb.

"The J.D. Power results recognise what many of our customers tell us the experience every day – an unparalleled ownership experience, teamed with the world's best vehicles."

The top ten list for 2011 saw a number of manufacturers tie for various positions in the manufacturers league table, with Skoda and Jaguar vying for third and Alfa Romeo, Toyota and Volkswagen in a three-way split for ninth position.

1) Lexus (845 pts)
2) Honda (833 pts)
3) Skoda & Jaguar (825 pts)
4) MINI (822 pts)
5) Mercedes-Benz (821 pts)
6) BMW (817 pts)
7) Audi (812 pts)
8) Volvo (811 pts)
9) Alfa Romeo, Toyota, Volkswagen (805 pts)
10) Nissan (802 pts)

Model-by-model, the top ten list reads as follows:

1) Lexus IS range (854 pts)
2) Honda Accord (852 pts)
3) Lexus RX range (843 pts)
4) Honda CR-V (842 pts)
5) Toyota Prius (839 pts)
6) Toyota RAV4 (834 pts)
7) BMW 5 Series range & Mercedes-Benz E-Class range (833 pts)
8) Honda Jazz (832 pts)
9) Citroen C3 Picasso, Mercedes-Benz C-Class range & Skoda Octavia (831 pts)
10) Honda Civic (827 pts)

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