The differences between car companies is, like the differences between American presidential candidates, becoming harder and harder to discern. Companies come out with subcompact models that parallel other subcompact models from other companies, making the disparity between Ford, Toyota, Honda, and other companies all the harder to spot. It’s a lot like choosing between Clinton or McCain.
The average consumer is now basing his or her car purchase on different factors, eliminating the need for car companies to do most of their work in production. What matters most to consumers of cars now is what happens to the car when it leaves the lot and, yes, how the car makes the driver feel. Does the car instil confidence in the driver? Does it make the driver feel proud to drive it? Those are the factors that are proving to be most influential in the business of car shopping.
Now the questions about the car have more to do with whether or not the car offers general satisfaction to the driver and less to do with how good the tires are. Of course, all of the minute factors of the car come together to formulate consumer satisfaction in a roundabout way, but most consumers are more concerned with cars that have fewer problems and more special features.
A San Diego-based firm highlighted this shift with its Total Quality Index. The TQI is a ranking of 19 vehicle segments based around overall customer satisfaction. The firm surveyed around 20,655 owners on both problems and on how delighted (or not) they were with things like vehicle amenities, interior design, ergonomics, controls, entertainment systems, and standard features.
As far as the car companies that made the top of the list most often, Ford and Toyota were almost inherently locked together for the lead. Cars with the most customer satisfaction over longer periods of time included Toyota’s Scion xB and the Yaris, as well as Ford’s Edge crossover and Mustang convertible.
It seems that smaller, more economical cars like the Scion and the Yaris from Toyota are proving to be more satisfactory for consumers in the long run, which means good things for environmentally-friendly models built with a similar design. Small cars may soon replace the top echelon of the car business and may transform the field, as customer demand suggests that the tide is changing in what people want from their cars and, more importantly, from their car companies.
