- Mercedes-Benz and Tesla rank highest for customer satisfaction in the luxury car segment.
- Toyota and Subaru are tied for first place in the mass-market segment.
- EVs rank below hybrids and gas cars irrespective of price segment due to concerns of high repair costs.
Drivers of hybrid vehicles are more satisfied with their purchases than owners of gasoline-powered and electric cars, according to this year’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Automobile Study. The results, which are based on replies from over 12,000 respondents, also show little to no change among big names, while smaller automakers saw big improvements.
In the luxury segment, satisfaction with Mercedes-Benz cars improved by 4%, leading the German automaker to the first spot in the rankings, tied with Tesla, which maintains its position from last year with no change in the number of points.
On a scale from zero to 100, Mercedes-Benz went from 80 points last year to 83 points this year, the same as Tesla. Cadillac is next with 82 points (unchanged), followed by Lexus with 83 points (down 1 point), Audi with 80 points (unchanged), BMW with 79 points (down 1 point), Lincoln with 79 points (no rating last year) and Acura with 77 points (down 2 points).
In the mass-market segment, Toyota is tied for first place with Subaru, both scoring 83 points. However, Toyota’s score went down by one point compared to last year, while Subaru’s went up by one point. Honda is next on the list with 82 points (up 1 point), followed by Mazda, Buick, Kia and Chevrolet.
Overall, customer satisfaction with automobiles went up just 1% since last year, with no change for the mass-market and luxury segments. Meanwhile, the so-called “all-others” category, which includes smaller automakers, saw a big jump, going from 76 points last year to 81 points this year–on par with luxury nameplates and 2 points higher than mass-market models.
When it comes to the different fuel sources, the ACSI study revealed that mass-market customers are more highly satisfied with hybrid models (81 points) than with gas-powered vehicles (80 points) and EVs (73 points), the latter of which lag because dependability was a major concern among respondents.
In the luxury segment, the score gaps between the different fuel sources are narrower, but hybrids still come up on top with a score of 84 points, followed by gas cars with 81 points and EVs with 80 points. Here, Tesla plays a major role–without it, luxury EVs would only have 77 points.
The main reason why hybrids scored higher than any other type of vehicle is the ease of fueling with gas when needed, the survey data showed. When it comes to the lower score of EVs, potentially expensive repairs and higher insurance rates were the main culprits.
The ACSI Automobile Study 2024 surveyed people over e-mail on topics such as driving performance, quality and reliability of a brand's mobile app, exterior, safety, comfort, dependability, technology, interior and gas mileage.
