Peterbilt ranked highest in customer satisfaction among conventional cab medium-duty trucks, while Chevrolet ranked highest in medium-duty truck dealer service satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Medium-Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study.
The study, now in its 14th year, analyzed customer satisfaction across a number of important areas, including vehicle performance, product quality, dealer service, dealer parts and manufacturer image. It was based on responses from more than 1,447 primary maintainers of two-year-old Class 5-7 trucks.
Within the conventional truck segment, four factors were used to determine overall satisfaction: vehicle performance, quality, cost of ownership and warranty. Peterbilt received the highest ratings from customers in vehicle performance and cost of ownership; Kenworth, GMC Truck, Freightliner, Sterling and Chevrolet followed in the conventional segment rankings, respectively.
Chevrolet ranked highest in the dealer service segment for the first time, and its counterpart GMC followed in second place; International and Kenworth were next in line. The study found that customers were particularly dissatisfied with the price they pay for service, specifically the cost of labor and parts; it also found that loyalty among medium-duty truck owners declined for a second consecutive year.
