In the 2024 rendition of the J.D. Power Canada Customer Service Index – Long-Term Study, it was found that GM dealerships ranked quite well in regard to a customer’s satisfaction with servicing their respective vehicle.
According to the J.D. Power 2024 Canada CSI-LT study, GM dealerships were given a score of 810 out of a possible 1,000 points. This places the Detroit-based automaker third overall, slotting between Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, which each earned a score of 818 and 808 points, respectively.
It’s worth noting that The General was ranked sixth overall in the 2023 edition of this study.
“With inflation pushing auto repair costs upward and interest rates making larger-ticket items like mortgage payments and new-vehicle purchases more expensive, owners are being hit with a ‘double whammy’ and have to make different decisions in order to balance their budgets,” J.D. Power Canada Automotive Practice Lead J.D. Ney remarked in a prepared statement. “As more owners opt to fix their vehicle instead of buying a new one, auto repair shops have an opportunity to attract more lucrative business in this $13 billion market by excelling in the service factors that drive customer satisfaction, mainly saving time and convenience.”
Interestingly, it was found that the average cost of a visit to the dealership has risen from $432 a year ago to $465, while a similar trip to an independent shop has increased from $262 to $273 in the same time period.
In addition, there were three key findings in this study, including:
- Currency of convenience: time savings and convenience are the main factors affecting customer satisfaction. Completing the service within 90 minutes and speedy send-off (paperwork and key pick-up) are the two key performance indicators (KPIs) that have increased the most on a year-over-year basis, in terms of their importance in measuring overall satisfaction.
- Market share status quo: dealerships continue to hold almost half (48 percent) of the auto service and repair service occasion market share, while independent shops and quick lube locations capture 27 percent and 11 percent, respectively. These market shares remain almost unchanged from 2023.
- Dealerships take bigger share of revenue: with an average of $465 per visit, dealerships account for 61 percent of the auto service market’s total revenue, with the aftermarket segment capturing the remaining 39 percent.
Comment
My local dealerships are so bad it actually factored into not purchasing a gm vehicle when I ditched a cruze with a bad trans still under warranty. One shop is straight up incompetent and the other became apathetic over the course of a change in ownership. I’ll never purchase another new car of any brand after the cruze debacle and these dealership service departments are part of that choice. gm warranty is painful to recover. I find the survey results very surprising. Glad someone somewhere has a good dealer.