Mercedes-Benz is once again the highest scoring franchise in the NFDA’s Winter Dealer Attitude Survey with a score of 9.6 against a survey average of 6.1.

The German premium brand improved its score by 0.1 points compared to the Summer survey and it is 0.3 points higher than in the same period last year.

Overall manufacturers scored an average rating 0.1 lower than in the Summer 2016, but unchanged from last winter.

The Winter 2017 survey, had 1,704 respondents from a total of 29 participating franchise networks, which equates to a response rate of 41%.

While Mercedes-Benz topped the tables, Kia consolidated its second position with a further improvement of 0.1 points to a total of 9.3.

Lexus was the third placed franchise with a total of 9.0 points, which is unchanged from last Summer.

Suzuki and BMW close out the top five with 8.6 and 8.2 points respectively.

The NFDA said: “The least valued franchises by respondents are Citroen (3.8), Mitsubishi (3.9), Volkswagen (3.9) and Nissan (4.0).

“Apart from Citroen, which saw its score improving by 0.2 points, the other three have experienced significant declines.”

NFDA director, Sue Robinson, said: “A number of manufacturers have clearly taken into consideration previous negative scores and now improved their position, showing that strengthening the dealer-manufacturer relationship requires effort, but is achievable.

“Dealer networks such as Mercedes and Kia have consistently performed well over the last few years, but it is also positive to see that other networks, such as Peugeot and Mazda, have shown enormous increases in score within the survey.

“However, average scores across the majority of the questions have generally worsened. In such a critical period, it is fundamental that manufacturers and dealers continue to constructively work together towards the ultimate same objective which is ensuring that the automotive industry is well represented at all levels and continues to thrive.”

To access a pdf copy of the full NFDA Winter Dealer Attitude Survey click here.