28 October 2024

• Overall total-brand average unchanged
• Lexus drops out of top 10
• Mercedes retailers now loving agency
• Kia top again
• Jaguar is fastest climber
• Citroen is fastest faller and last

Several car brands have seen surprise changes to their traditional results in the latest NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey.

Lexus, which has not been outside of the top five since 2015 and has not been outside the top three since 2019, saw one of the largest drops to 10^th place in the all-important ‘How do you rate your manufacturer overall?’ category.

Lexus dropped 1.8 points to score 7.2 out of 10. Six months ago Lexus was the third most highly rated brand.

Interestingly, sister brand Toyota improved its score with retailers awarding it 7.9, putting it in fourth place jumping up from 11^th.

Nissan also saw a shock drop to 16^th after several surveys firmly inside the top 10.

On a more positive note, Jaguar, which has cut back almost the entirety of its new car range and will stop producing cars for a period next year, saw the biggest point increase of any manufacturer up from 2.9 out of 10 six months ago to 5.2 today. However, despite the increase, Jaguar remains in 26^th place out of the 32 brands assessed.

Agency is clearly going down well with Mercedes retailers after an initial period of disruption. The premium brand briefly dropped to 13^th place a year ago after years of consistently placing in the top three. Mercedes is now back in second spot with a score of 9.1.

Overall scores

The average score for the question ‘How do you rate your manufacturer overall?’ was unchanged at 6.4, a figure that remains relatively high and shows the overall positive nature of retailer-manufacturer relations.

Kia retained its top place with a 9.3 score, the fourth time in a row it’s come first.

With Mercedes second, the top three was completed by Suzuki.

Also performing well were MG, Seat, Cupra and Mazda all with scores increasing at least 1.0 points.

Citroen was the not only the largest faller with a drop of 2.0 points to 3.4 out of 10, but it also took last, and 32^nd, place in the ranking. Sister brands DS and Fiat were 31^st and 30^th respectively.

Aside from Citroen and Lexus, Ford and Hyundai also performed poorly both with drops of 1.6 points.

* Read our full analysis of the latest NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey in the November issue of Auto Retail Bulletin out next week. Sign up for a free trial subscription here.

Tags: Eurig Druce, Maria Grazia Davino, Stellantis