A recent survey by prominent American consumer media outlet Consumer Reports reveals that Hyundai Motor and Kia’s US maintenance service satisfaction ranks low among local drivers. While some believe this is a temporary phenomenon due to increased sales, there are calls for rapid enhancement of maintenance service capabilities.
According to industry sources on the 26th, Consumer Reports recently conducted a satisfaction survey on maintenance services for various brands among 10,973 local drivers. The survey items were specifically defined to increase reliability, including transparency, price, quality, time taken, communication, accuracy, benefits, proximity, and warranty.
The drivers who responded to the survey completed 11,670 maintenance tasks, excluding simple parts replacement, at the official after-service (A/S) centers of 36 brands and independent repair shops.
The majority of drivers preferred independent repair shops over official brand A/S centers. This is due to these shops’ significantly lower prices for paid repairs.
Among the car brands, Japanese brands such as Acura, Lexus, Mazda, and Volvo scored high overall satisfaction. On the other hand, Hyundai, Kia, and Jeep recorded low scores. While Hyundai avoided the bottom ranks, Kia and Jeep showed below-average satisfaction.
Hyundai and Kia see this as a temporary phenomenon due to a recent increase in sales. A Kia America (KA) official told Consumer Reports, “The rapid increase in sales in the US has led to a saturation of local repair network services,” and added, “We are focusing on increasing our repair capacity in collaboration with our local repair network partners.”
Hyundai and Kia achieved record sales in the US automotive market last year. Hyundai showed an 11% double-digit growth compared to the previous year (724,265 units), selling 801,195 units, marking 17 consecutive months of sales increase. They also achieved a 1% growth in retail sales, setting a new retail sales record for the third consecutive year. Monthly sales records were also broken. In December last year, they achieved the highest December sales by selling 76,164 units, a 4% increase from the previous year (72,058 units). Powered by December sales, they also achieved a record high in the fourth quarter of last year, selling 206,048 units, a 5% increase compared to the previous year (195,967 units). Fourth quarter eco-friendly car retail sales also showed a double-digit growth of 37% compared to the previous year.
As for Kia, they sold a total of 782,451 units in the US market the same year. This is a double-digit growth of 13% compared to the previous year and their highest annual sales ever. This is seen as a result of their focus on the local SUV market. In the third quarter of last year, Kia achieved their highest third-quarter sales ever, recording 210,341 units, a double-digit growth of 13.8% compared to the previous year, thanks to their SUV sales performance.
An industry insider said, “As the car ownership period gets longer considering the warranty period, the preference for independent repair shops intensifies,” and added, “If they can maximize the advantages of official brand A/S centers, such as clean spaces, manualized customer management, and use of genuine parts, and secure these demands, profitability will also greatly improve.”
Meanwhile, Consumer Reports, a monthly consumer goods specialized magazine published by the non-profit organization Consumers Union in the US, serves as a reference for local drivers. Every month, they provide consumers with comparisons of performance and prices for all consumer goods, including cars and home appliances.
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