As consumer needs and preferences rapidly change—both in terms of the types of vehicles they are buying as well as how they are researching them—auto manufacturers have struggled to keep up. The current difficulties among U.S. auto manufacturers notwithstanding, consumer satisfaction with automaker Web sites—both foreign and domestic—has also taken a turn for the worse in recent months.
Satisfaction Takes a Dip
According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Manufacturer Web Site Evaluation StudySM (MWES)—Wave 1, which measures the usefulness of auto manufacturer Web sites during the new-vehicle shopping process, overall satisfaction has declined significantly in recent months. In the first wave of the 2009 MWES, the industry average index score of 840 (based on a 1,000-point scale) was nine points below that of the previous study, released in June of 2008, just before gas prices topped out at over $4 a gallon in some areas and consumers were forced to change their buying and researching habits. This 9-point drop represents the largest wave-over-wave decrease since the study’s inception ten years ago. In all, 16 manufacturers experienced double-digit decreases.
One likely reason for the decline in satisfaction is that consumers, faced with rising gas prices compounded by a tough credit market, are prioritizing vehicle cost and fuel economy factors and needing to cross-shop multiple vehicles to find the best deal. “For new-vehicle shoppers, having the ability to go online to easily compare vehicles from various manufacturers, figure out monthly payments and find the best deal possible has always been important. However, in these tough financial times, these kinds of considerations have an even greater impact on the shopping process,” said Scott Kane, senior manager of marketing/media research at J.D. Power and Associates.
