Interestingly, Lexus achieved its gains without any change to its overall index score for 2015. The Japanese luxury brand was tied for third place last year alongside Volkswagen, behind Mercedes-Benz and Subaru.
Acura now shares the second position for 2015, achieving the same score as Lincoln and Mercedes-Benz. Reflecting the index’s volatility and narrow margins between many automakers, Honda’s luxury division was ranked at the bottom of the list in 2014. BMW, Subaru and Toyota are now tied for third for the latest survey.
Acura and BMW were the only two brands to receive higher scores between 2014 and 2015. The ACSI analysts blame the downward industry trend on an explosion in recall campaigns and rising prices.
“Despite the downturn for the industry overall, Japanese and Korean automakers outperform their United States and European counterparts,” the report notes. “Meanwhile, the domestic car industry reaches a five-year ACSI low, although the gap to European imports narrows.
The latest report also marks another sore spot for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Jeep, Chrysler and Fiat held the bottom three spots in the 2015 survey, with Chrysler posting the biggest decline in score.
Leave a Reply