Hino Trucks, a Toyota Group Company, ranks highest in customer satisfaction among conventional cab medium-duty trucks in its second model year of producing the vehicles, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Medium-Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study.
The study, now in its 16th year, measures customer perceptions of 2006 model-year Class 5, 6, and 7 commercial vehicles, and provides manufacturers with a measure of customer satisfaction with the product, dealer service, and parts.
Within the conventional cab truck segment, four factors are measured to determine overall satisfaction. In order of importance, they are: vehicle performance, quality, warranty, and cost of ownership. The study also measures satisfaction with services received from authorized truck dealer service departments by examining six factors: dealer facility, service quality, service delivery, service initiation, service advisor, and price.
Hino improves notably from 2007 in each of the four factors and performs particularly well in the quality and warranty factors. Hino completely switched its model lineup from cabover to conventional-cab trucks starting with the 2005 model year. Peterbilt follows Hino in the rankings, while Chevrolet, Freightliner, GMC Trucks, Sterling, and Kenworth, respectively, also rank above the segment average.
Chevrolet ranks highest in customer satisfaction with dealer service for a third consecutive year, performing well in all six factors. Hino follows Chevrolet in the rankings, performing well in the service quality, service delivery, service initiation, and service advisor factors. Sterling and GMC Trucks, respectively, also rank above the industry average.
The study finds that customer intent to purchase or lease new medium-duty trucks within the next 12 months has reached its lowest level since 2002. Compared with the 2007 study, Class 6 and 7 owners in 2008 are much more likely to say they "probably will not" or "definitely will not" purchase or lease new trucks in the next 12 months. In particular, the percentage of owners who say they do not intend to purchase or lease has increased notably among Class 6 owners.
The study also finds the intent to purchase or lease a new truck among Class 5 owners has risen slightly in 2008, with 21 percent of owners indicating they "definitely will" purchase or lease a new truck within the next 12 months. Conversely, only 18 percent of owners in the 2007 study said the same.
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