J.D. Power Asia Pacific, a company that surveys customer satisfaction to provide transparent and true insight in the consumer industry, has found from the findings that customers have ranked the Volkswagen Polo highest in the premium compact segment through the Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study. With an index score of 872 points on a scale of 1000, the Volkswagen Polo is the highest ranked in this segment. The Polo has improved 17 points over the last year’s survey to gain the top spot. The Volkswagen Vento was ranked 3rd in the same study in the mid-size sedan segment with 862 points, an improvement of 3 points over the last year.
The 2014 India APEAL survey, now in its 16th year, serves as the industry benchmark for new-vehicle appeal. The Study was based on responses from 8,422 owners who purchased a new vehicle between November 2013 and July 2014 and participated in the survey between May 2014 and September 2014 in 30 cities across India gauging customer satisfaction. The study measures satisfaction across 10 performance categories: vehicle exterior, vehicle interior, storage and space, audio/entertainment/navigation, seats, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), driving dynamics, engine/ transmission, visibility and driving safety, and fuel economy.
Initial Quality Study (IQS) shows top results for Volkswagen Polo and Vento:
The Volkswagen Polo and the Volkswagen Vento both ranked 2nd in the 2014 India Initial Quality Study SM (IQS) in the premium compact segment and in the mid-size sedan category respectively. The Polo registered 85 PP100 (problems per 100 vehicles) which was an improvement of 7 PPM over the last year while the Vento registered 68 PP100 which was an improvement of 5 PPM over the previous year.
The 2014 J.D. Power India Initial Quality StudySM (IQS) does an annual assessment of the problems owners experience with their new vehicles during first 2 to 6 months of ownership. The study measures more than 200 problem symptoms covering eight categories and is based on evaluations from 8,429 owners who purchased a new vehicle between November 2013 and July 2014. The study was fielded from May to September 2014.
On achieving the J.D. Power honours, Mr. Ruediger Kasparek, Head of Quality Assurance Volkswagen Group India, commented, “Volkswagen is synonymous with German engineering and quality. Our success registered through the J.D. Power APEAL and the J.D. Power IQS studies, emphasizes how each and every aspect of the engineering of our cars translates into the highest level of customer satisfaction and quality that we aim to deliver.” He further added, “We are constantly taking feedback from our customers and implementing them in our products to make sure that they get nothing but the best.”