Consulting firm, Engaged Marketing, has released results of their 2010 Benchmarking survey which outlines customer experiences for the automotive industry.

A major finding was that Subaru customers are far more likely to recommend Subarus to their friends and colleagues, than other car brand’s customers are to recommend their own car brand.

1,720 car owners were included in the survey and ranked according to their Net Promoter Score which measures the likelihood to recommend. Nine of the biggest car manufacturers in Australia were assessed including Honda, Holden, Subaru, Ford, Mazda, Hyundai, Nissan and Mitsubishi. Three of the nine achieved negative scores based on their customers’ experience.

“Our research shows that for every one negative comment made about a particular car, it takes around five positive referrals to negate that damage. In 2009 the ABS reported over 12 million registered passenger vehicles in Australia. This means there may be as many as 17 million negative comments being made by customers about their car manufacturer every year,” said Chris Roberts, founder and CEO of Engaged Marketing.

“Based on the scores achieved, it seems certain that some car companies in particular have huge potential to grow simply by focusing on improving their customer experiences and value propositions. In the highly competitive car sales industry, achieving a positive customer experience, first time, is more important than ever, concluded Roberts.