Lexus Again Tops Auto Satisfaction Survey; Buick, Cadillac Fall

By Alan Ohnsman

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus remained the top auto brand in a customer satisfaction survey, joined by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's BMW, while General Motors Corp.'s Buick and Cadillac and Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln-Mercury fell.

Lexus again scored 87 of 100 points in the study released today by the University of Michigan's National Quality Research Center. BMW's 1-point gain from a year ago tied it with Toyota's luxury division. Toyota's main brand and Honda Motor Co.'s Honda were next, as both rose 2 points to 86 in the survey of buyers who've owned their vehicles between 6 months and 3 years.

``For GM, Ford and Chrysler the uphill struggle becomes more uphill,'' said Claes Fornell, who oversees the American Customer Satisfaction Index for the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based university. The slip for U.S. brands was partly the result of higher gasoline prices, he said in an interview yesterday.

U.S.-based automakers have touted steady gains in vehicle quality relative to Asian and European brands in studies by J.D. Power & Associates the past few years. J.D. Power's study of vehicle dependability released Aug. 7 also ranked Lexus as the top brand, followed by Ford's Mercury.

Buick, Cadillac and Lincoln-Mercury all tied BMW a year ago in the U-M survey. GM's Saturn line was the most improved brand, rising by 4 points to 85, ranking it along with Buick and Cadillac. Lincoln-Mercury fell 3 points from a year earlier, while Buick and Cadillac each dropped 1 point.

Chrysler LLC's Dodge and Jeep brands scored lowest, with 78 points and 76 points, respectively.

Vehicle satisfaction on average was unchanged from a year earlier at 82 and remains at the highest level since the index was created in 1994, Fornell said.

The survey targets consumers who have purchased their vehicle between six months and three years ago.