Porsche was the highest-scoring luxury brand in the 2021 study. The German sports car maker rose five spots from a year earlier.
Among mass-market brands, GMC ranked highest in satisfaction, displacing Mini from the top spot.
Brands showing the greatest improvement in year-over-year satisfaction scores were Jeep, with a gain of 24 points on the survey’s 1,000-point scale, Chevrolet (up 17 points), Dodge (up 17) and Ram (up 14).
J.D. Power calculates the 1,000-point scale by factoring in what customers say about the delivery process of their purchase, dealer personnel, the negotiation of the deal, paperwork completion, perceptions of the dealership facility and their satisfaction with the dealership’s website.
The study surveyed 35,387 buyers who purchased or leased a new vehicle from July through September 2021.
Among premium brands, Infiniti ranked second, followed by Lexus and Cadillac. Satisfaction with luxury brands on average dropped by 9 points year-over-year to 807.
Tesla’s score rose 11 points from a year ago. But “the automaker is not officially ranked among other brands in the study because it doesn’t meet ranking criteria,” the study said.
Tesla doesn’t grant J.D. Power permission to survey its owners in 15 states that are required for the analysis. Tesla’s score was calculated based on a sample of surveys from owners in the other states.
