07 March 2022

An uplift in retailer profitability thanks to demand exceeding supply has resulted in a seven-year high for the results of the latest NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey.

For the key question ‘How do you rate your manufacturer overall?’ retailers scored their brand partners an average of 6.6 out of 10, up 0.1 on the September 2021 results. The last time the score was this high was in 2014, however, scores have been improving for the past three years indicating a closer working relationship during the pandemic for the majority of brands.

Lexus, once again, topped the ranking with a score of 9.8 out of 10. Second placed Kia scored 9.2 and Toyota, in third scored 8.9.

Renault came last in the ranking with a score of 4.0 followed by DS (4.1) and sister brands Fiat and Alfa Romeo both scoring 4.5.

DS not only came second from last, but was the fastest faller in the survey with a drop of 2.2 points in six months. DS was the top rated Stellantis brand in the NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey six months ago, and speaking to Auto Retail Bulletin in January this year, DS boss Jules Tilstone said he expected the score this time to improve further: “We’d love to increase our standing in the survey next time and I’d be surprised if it doesn’t improve.”

Stellantis brands made up seven of the bottom 10 in the survey.

One notable improvement was Hyundai. While still ranked 27th out of the 31 brands assessed, it was the second most improved brand, up 1.5 to 4.6.

BMW was the most improved brand with a jump to fourth place (and a score of 8.3) from 14th six months ago.

“It is encouraging that despite the challenges affecting our industry, franchised dealers show high levels of satisfaction around a number of key business areas, particularly current profit, margins on used cars and manufacturers’ finance programmes,” said Sue Robinson, chief executive of the NFDA.

Tags: Alfa RomeoNFDA, BMW, DS, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, NFDA dealer attitude survey, Renault, Toyota