For the second consecutive year, J.D. Power and Associates’ 2007 Medium-Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study ranks Peterbilt highest in conventional cab medium-duty customer satisfaction while Chevrolet tops medium-duty truck dealer service satisfaction.
Four factors determined the overall satisfaction ranking for the conventional truck award. They are (in order of importance) vehicle performance, quality, warranty, and cost of ownership. Peterbilt scored highest, followed by Kenworth, GMC Truck, Hino, Freightliner, and Chevrolet.
“There were several new conventional models launched in the 2005 model year, with Hino—a historically strong performer in the cab-over segment—completely changing over their model lineup, and Peterbilt launching the 335,” said Brian Etchells, senior research manager in the commercial vehicle group at J.D. Power and Associates.
“The average number of engine problems experienced by owners had been steadily increasing between 2003 and 2006, but we see a reversal of this trend in 2007,” said Etchells. “It appears that truck and engine manufacturers are working out the issues they experienced while meeting the new emission standards introduced in 2003, which is good news for manufacturers and customers.”
Overall satisfaction for the dealer service segment is determined through six factors. They are (in order of importance) dealer facility, service quality, service delivery, service initiation, service advisor, and price. Chevrolet was followed by Peterbilt, GMC Truck, Hino, and Kenworth in the rankings.
The study is now in its 15th year. It measured customer perceptions of 2005 model-year Class 5, 6, and 7 commercial vehicles, and was determined from responses of more than 1,541 primary maintainers.
