MUNICH – Volvo passed Mercedes-Benz to become only the second European automaker to take top honors in vehicle ownership satisfaction among consumers in Germany since 2002, according to a J.D. Power and Associates study.
Volvo ranked highest in vehicle owner satisfaction for 2-year-old cars with a score of 841 out of 1,000. The Swedish brand rose from a tie for seventh last year with 826 points because it scored particularly well among customers in vehicle appeal, J.D. Power said in a statement.
Each brand is rated on four measures: vehicle appeal, vehicle quality and reliability, ownership costs and service satisfaction.
Mercedes-Benz finished second with 839 points – which was one point higher than its winning score in 2010 when it became the first European automaker to rank No. 1 in the annual survey. (See table, bottom)
Either Toyota, Honda or Daihatsu finished No. 1 in the study between 2002 and 2009.
Rounding out the top five this year were Mazda (831), Mini (827) and Honda (824).