Jaguar ranks first among luxury brands and Mini topped all nonluxury brands in an annual survey of customer satisfaction with the dealership sales experience.
New-vehicle buyers are also more satisfied with the car buying experience if a salesperson uses a tablet during the sales process, the study released Thursday found.
According to J.D. Power and Associates' Sales Satisfaction Index, which rates the sales experience on a 1,000-point scale, salespeople using a tablet during the sales process scored 844, putting them 52 points ahead of those who use other sales methods with 792 points.
Salespeople use tablets to collect a shopper's personal information, demonstrate vehicle features and display financing information.
Only 10 percent of dealership salespeople utilize tablets during the sales process, up 3 percentage points from 2012, Power said.
"Although tablet usage has increased from a year ago, dealers are still missing an opportunity to improve their sales experience by providing shoppers with sales information on a single platform that allows them to easily browse options and features with immediate commentary from their salesperson," J.D. Power Senior Director Chris Sutton said in a statement.
Satisfaction is highest among buyers who were presented with payment options on a computer or tablet, with sales personnel adopting the practice scoring 833.
Overall, satisfaction with the dealership sales experience rose 9 points from last year, and improved to 673 for 2013.
Among luxury brands, Jaguar ranked No. 1 with a buyer satisfaction score of 740. Porsche placed second, followed by Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Land Rover, Acura and Lincoln.
Among luxury brands, Volvo improved the most, with a score that was 30 points higher than last year, and moved up the rankings to ninth in 2013 from 11th in 2012.
Mini extended its hold on the mass market crown, topping the consumer satisfaction rankings for the fourth straight year with a score of 718, up 6 points from last year. Buick, Chevrolet and GMC followed Mini with scores of 694, 686 and 686 respectively.
Four Chrysler Group brands -- Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram -- placed at the bottom among nonluxury brands.
Among mass market brands, Kia improved the most -- up 33 index points -- and ranked 11th, up from 16th in 2012.
J.D. Power's 2013 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index Study is based on surveys from 29,040 buyers who purchased or leased a new vehicle in April or May.
The study measure the new-vehicle purchase experience and analyses customer satisfaction, among buyers, with the selling dealer.
The survey also measures satisfaction with brands and dealerships that were shopped but ultimately rejected in favor of the selling brand and dealership -- what Power calls satisfaction among "rejecters" -- and was conducted between July and September 2013.
