Audi on Friday took top honours in the 2013 Ipsos passenger car (PC) purchase and service experience awards, with Isuzu in pole position in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) purchase category.

The top LCV service experience award went to Volkswagen.

The awards were given based on a survey that included brands such as Toyota, Renault, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz. Brands not present were BMW, Suzuki, Hyundai, Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Honda, for example.

Participation was open to everyone, but came at a fee.

The Ipsos survey represents around 83% of all new vehicles sold and serviced in the South African passenger car market in 2012, and 98% of all LCVs.

Business unit director at the Ipsos research house, Patrick Busschau, said the awards were based on interviews with between 12 000 and 14 000 new-vehicle owners, or vehicle owners who had just had their cars serviced.

The survey used around 20 indicators each in the service and purchase experience awards, asking, for example, if the dealer had followed up regarding customer satisfaction once a new vehicle had left the showroom floor, or if transport had been provided after a vehicle was dropped off for a service.

In terms of demographics, the Ipsos survey showed that customers between the ages of 25 and 34 were the most difficult of all age groups to please when servicing and buying a vehicle, with no real difference recorded between men and women.

Coloured respondents were least pleased of all race groups with the purchasing experience, and Indians with the service experience.

Busschau noted that buying and servicing a vehicle often tended to be a more emotional than rational experience.

“The importance of human interaction cannot be underplayed and, in many instances, is the differentiating factor between brands and the choice consumers make. The manufacturers and dealerships are increasingly focusing on the interpersonal and emotional elements of the customer experience.

“It’s become a matter of providing customers with what they want and need from a product perspective, [and] in order to do so, really spending time understanding the customer.”