When Hitoshi Kono first approached me in 2008 to establish Northstar Isuzu Ute for Brisbane North he said to me: Bob San – “We build very good vehicles”. ” If you take this brand, you will make money and have very satisfied customers who will come back and buy more D-Max from you”.
Isuzu Ute has forged a reputation the envy of most other car companies
And so that was the case – from very humble beginnings, Isuzu Ute has become the most satisfied brand for the Australian market. And MU-X (7 seater SUV) has done the same. Isuzu Ute won the Best of the Best Award for 2018 at the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards held in Melbourne recently. And yes the incumbent management should be very proud of the award but should remember the groundwork that Kono San and Takahashi San put into the brand over 10 years ago.
Customer Satisfaction is driving the Isuzu Ute D-MAX and MU-X
- Isuzu UTE wins the ‘Best of the Best’ Award for 2018, achieving the highest customer satisfaction of all 32 winners at the 2018 Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards held last night in Melbourne.
- IUA wins 2018 Car Manufacturer of the Year at the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.
- IUA ranked 1st or 2nd in 11 of the 12 months across the year with 6 (consecutive) monthly wins (July-December).
- Customer Satisfaction score of 96.1% over the 12 months of 2018.
The latest research from Roy Morgan has further validated Isuzu UTE Australia’s continual drive for excellence for our customers, with IUA taking out the “Best of the Best” at the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards for 2018. The ‘Best of the Best’ award goes to the company that achieved the highest customer satisfaction of all 32 winners at the 2018 Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.
Michele Levine, Chief Executive Officer, Roy Morgan says Isuzu UTE Australia has continued the dominance of Car Manufacturers with a second consecutive victory in the prestigious ‘Best of the Best’ category for the Car Manufacturer of the Year following Lexus’ triumph a year ago:
“Isuzu UTE has satisfied customers on an unprecedented level in 2018 with the vehicle manufacturer achieving an average customer satisfaction rating of 96.1% during 2018 to ‘streak the field’ as Roy Morgan’s ‘Best of the Best’ at the Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.” commented Michele.
IUA also took out the Automotive segment of the awards with 6 consecutive monthly wins (July – December). In fact, IUA also achieved 2nd place from January 2018 through to May so overall IUA ranked 1st or 2nd in 11 of the 12 months across the year.
Roy Morgan, Australia’s largest independent research company and one of the most respected in the world, has over 75 years’ experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers. They conduct Australia’s largest continuous nationwide single source survey, conducting approximately 50,000 face-to-face interviews with consumers across Australia every year.
This data is then used to determine the monthly and annual winners of the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards across a number of different categories. The winner for the full calendar year is the organisation that achieves the most months with a number one ranking in their category. This is made all the more satisfying as businesses cannot ‘enter themselves’ in the awards, and there is no fee to pay – simply put, if enough customers tell Roy Morgan they’re satisfied, then that brand will be in the running.
“We are delighted that our attention to customer satisfaction continues to be recognised,” stated IUA Managing Director, Mr Hiro Kuramoto.
“I believe that if we can continue to respond to customer feedback and deliver on our promises, our brand will continue to grow from strength to strength.” Mr Kuramoto confirmed. “It was certainly key to our success in 2018, and of course our current retail offer of 6 Year Warranty, 6 Years Roadside Assistance & the extension of the first 2 Years’ Free Scheduled Servicing Offer for 18MY Eligible Vehicles is giving customers even more reason to trust the reliability of our offerings.”
As Roy Morgan states, “In this new age of Social Networking, it is all the more critical for Australian businesses to understand, track and respond to their Customer Satisfaction. Only a few years ago, ‘Word of Mouth’ was likely to mean shared over a few drinks or a barbecue with friends. Today Facebook and Twitter could mean that your customers’ opinions are shared with thousands of prospective customers, virtually immediately.”
Following IUA’s 10th anniversary of operation in Australia in October last year, and having achieved 10 years of continuous growth year-on-year, the on-going success of the brand is testament to its customer-centric culture, as well as its reputation for reliable and locally relevant product since the company’s inception which together has resulted in this strong indicator of ongoing customer commitment.
Labelled as the ‘year of the ute’, 2018 played witness to the highest sales performance for the Isuzu D-MAX, achieving 18,550 sales within the 1-tonne Ute segment — a 4.7% lift YOY. December alone netted a strong 2,184 units for 3rd in segment and 13.0% market share — an increase of 6.3% on the previous year. D-MAX reconfirmed itself as one of Australia’s favourite Utes — climbing the ladder from 5th into 4th position to outsell the Holden Colorado (18,301), Nissan Navara (16,469) and Volkswagen Amarok (9,290).
Similarly, in 2018, the 7-seat Isuzu MU-X also broke the previous sales record set in 2017, achieving 9,090 sales in 2018 — a solid 12.4% lift YOY. MU-X achieved its highest monthly sales total with 1,060 sold in December for 3rd in segment and 11.6% market share — posting a stellar 20.0% increase over the December 2017 result. With approximately thirty models within the hotly contested SUV-Large<$70K segment, MU-X has performed exceptionally — leap-frogging Hyundai Santa Fe (7,523) and Mazda CX-9 (8,094) from 6th in 2017, into 4th nationally for 2018.
Currently, IUA is the 13th largest sales brand in Australia (ahead of well-established brands such as BMW, Audi and Suzuki) and with such satisfied customers, the growth can only continue.
Isuzu UTE – I was there when it started
Isuzu D-Max Review – Why Should You Buy?
Isuzu Ute – 10 Years and Going Strong
Isuzu MU-X Review – Why Should You Buy?
