Over the past couple of years, Ford dealers south of the border have posted some very different results in the J.D. Power Mexico Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, ranking just above the industry average in 2022 with a score of 838 out of 1,000 possible points, after which those same dealers slid all the way down to last place in 2023 with a score of 851 as the overall market improved substantially. Now, the 2024 J.D. Power Mexico Customer Service Index Study has been released, and it contains some good news for Mexico-based Ford dealers.
This year, Ford dealers in Mexico ranked above the industry average of 871 points with a score of 876, which ties them for seventh place with Chevrolet, behind Nissan, Honda, Jeep, Toyota, Mazda, and Kia. It’s also an even more positive development given the fact that Ford dealers in the U.S. ranked below the industry average in J.D. power’s U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, and the automaker’s joint-venture – Changan Ford – also came in below the mean in the organization’s China CSI Study, too.
J.D. Power’s Mexico Customer Service Index (CSI) Study aims to analyze the service experience among the owners of one- to three-year-old vehicles and evaluates customer satisfaction with their authorized dealer by examining five key measures – service quality, service facility, service initiation, service advisor, and vehicle pick-up. This year’s results are based on the evaluations of 5,286 new-vehicle owners of 2021, 2022, or 2023 model-year vehicles who took their vehicle for service to an authorized dealer facility in the past 12 months. Overall, service satisfaction among mass market brands declined by one point to 871, while premium brands were down five points to 894 versus 2023. Much of that drop can be attributed to the growing number of new brands entering the market, mainly Chinese brands, according to J.D. Power.
“Due to warranties and maintenance packages, owners of Chinese-brand vehicles spend the least amount of money at dealers compared with brands from other countries,” said Gerardo Gomez, senior director and country manager at J.D. Power de Mexico. “What’s interesting, though, is that spending less at dealers does not necessarily translate to higher satisfaction. Moreover, 16 percent of customers who own a Chinese-branded vehicle say they will not return to the dealer for paid service – the highest proportion across all brand origins – despite spending significantly less money for service. It is imperative that dealers perform service work correctly the first time around to avoid additional visits and headaches for customers.”
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