Dealer concerns revealed in NFDA survey

Dealer relationships with manufacturers have declined, according to the NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey Summer 2019.

The survey attracted a record response, with 30 franchise networks asked and 2,077 responses received from dealers, equating to a record 50% response rate.

This NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey summer 2019 was conducted in July 2019 and asked franchised dealers 53 questions about their on-going relationship with their respective manufacturers.  The questions covered a range of business issues and the impact on dealers’ satisfaction levels with their manufacturers’ relationship.

Lexus had the highest average score of all questions of the survey with an overall average of 8.7 out of 10 points. After four consecutive surveys at the top, Kia was the second-best manufacturer with 8.6 points. Suzuki and Toyota followed with 8.1 points. Fiat (3.4), Alfa Romeo (3.0) and Abarth (2.9) were at the bottom of the table. On average, there was a slight decline of 0.1 points.

The all-important question, how would you rate your manufacturer overall? had an average score of 5.6 points, which was 0.2 points lower than six months ago and 0.1 points down from last year. Lexus and Kia (9.1) were joint top performers, followed by Suzuki (8.4) and Toyota (8.2). The manufacturers with the lowest ratings were BMW (3.3), Alfa Romeo and Abarth (2.6).

There was an overall average loss of -5.7 points across all questions of the survey. Honda (+57.7), Suzuki (+41.5) and Volvo (+38.7) had the largest improvements in score, Suzuki and Volvo continued the positive trend started six months ago. BMW (-67.2), Abarth (-78.4) and Hyundai (-86.3) experienced the biggest losses.

Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association, said, ‘This year’s record response rate shows the value that franchised dealers place on the survey. In turn, it is encouraging to see that manufacturers use the survey to understand the main issues affecting their dealer networks.

‘Despite a small decline, dealers remained fairly satisfied with their margins on used car sales demonstrating that this was a key area of focus during the first half of the year. Positively, average satisfaction levels with manufacturers’ alternative fuel vehicle offering continued to increase.

‘The survey outlined a number of dealers’ concerns, in particular, surrounding current profit return and return on capital for their dealerships. We urge manufacturers to continue to work closely with their dealer networks to address these issues and provide the basis for the automotive industry to thrive despite the external challenges.’