Toyota has been recognised as the highest-ranking automotive brand in the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index from the Institute of Customer Service.

The Japanese car maker places 19th overall and is one of only three car brands to feature in the top 50 ranking.

Fellow Japanese brand Nissan ranked 31st, while Ford was the only other car maker to be recognised, placing 47th.

Toyota has risen 20 places since the July 2019 customer service index.

Its successful performance includes the highest scores in four out of the five index sections:

• Experience (including range and quality of products and services, communications, clarity, staff helpfulness and competence)
• Customer Ethos (how a business cares for its customers, keeps its promises and designs its experiences around the customer)
• Emotional Connection (customers trust the business and feel reassured)
• Ethics (business reputation, openness and transparency and good business practice for employees and society)

Robin Giles, Toyota (GB) customer services director, said: “The latest index results are a great reward for the huge efforts invested by everyone at Toyota, particularly by the teams working across our national network. Achieving complete customer satisfaction is central to what we do as a business, but it isn’t a fixed target. Instead, we have to constantly improve and adapt the way we work to make sure we keep perfectly aligned with customer preferences and expectations.”

Through its Best Retailer in Town initiative, Toyota has made significant investment in skills, technical capabilities and customer handling across its UK network. The required standards for new dealers now include customer handling and the way in which retailers will take ownership of issues to resolve any problems promptly and to the customer’s satisfaction. To expedite issues with minimum delay, retailers have also been given scope to self-authorise goodwill to customers.

Toyota’s latest success follows a string of awards for its sister brand Lexus, which include the Auto Express Driver Power Survey and WhatCar? Awards.

Customer satisfaction scores for the automotive sector as a whole fell by 0.1, which is in line with the overall UK customer service index.

John Lewis was the top-ranking brand in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index.