A business reputation- and customer-experience management company says car dealerships and auto brands that improve their online statures reap significant rewards, and fast.
Itself called Reputation, the California-headquartered company released its annual North American automotive industry report based on data on 5.5 billion car buyers and a consumer survey on purchasing preferences.
The company says the results shows that strong online reputation management brings increased customer satisfaction and revenue growth along with it. It said brands and dealerships with a 150-point boost in reputation scores see as much as 10% sales growth.
Company CEO Joe Burton said “a great reputation is a clear strategic imperative. Our data demonstrates that dealerships who run their businesses on Reputation Scores, allowing them to quickly analyze and act on customer feedback, can unlock significant business growth and customer engagement.”
Its 2024-25 report ranks auto brands, public and private auto groups and dealers by their online reputation scores as determined by an artificial intelligence-powered metric that scores on a scale of 100 to 1,000 based on sentiment, visibility and engagement.
Asian brands swept the ranking of nonluxury vehicles sold in the U.S., led by Subaru, which is followed by Honda and Nissan in second and third places.
Subaru of America said it achieved the distinction by engaging with customers. “Our reputation is not solely measured by sales volume but by the trust we cultivate through every customer interaction,” said Senior Vice President of Marketing Alan Bethke in a press release.
Reputation said businesses can improve their online presences and therefore their reputation scores by actively managing them “beyond traditional marketing” through soliciting consumer reviews and responding to all of them, along with keeping business listings up-to-date.
It also recommends that dealers personalize communications with consumers and take advantage of consumer data to keep improving their approaches.
The report’s luxury brand leaders are Lexus in the lead followed by Infiniti and Audi in second and third places.
Leading public auto groups are Penske, AutoNation and Group 1 Automotive, while private group leaders are Hendrick Automotive, Ken Galey Automotive Group, and Holman Automotive.
Leading individual dealerships are Stevenson–Hendrick Honda Wilmington, Porsche Southpoint, and Hendrick Lexus Northlake, all in North Carolina.
