Lexus tops imported car brands in Korea driver survey

Lexus ranked tops in a customer satisfaction survey of imported-car drivers in South Korea, which also found positive responses to the online purchase of a new car but hesitancy about switching to electric vehicles.

Lexus received the highest score of 77.21 points out of 100, among 15 foreign brands, in the Korea Economic Daily Imported Car Service Index (KICSI)’s overall rating in the second half of last year. Lexus rose from its second place slot in the first half of last year.

The Japanese brand was praised for qualitative services such as accurate pinpointing of problems, quick repair services and durability.
 
Volvo ranked second with 76.62 points. In the evaluation of quantitative services, such as insurance premiums, insurance claim payment and repair period, the Swedish brand beat Lexus to earn the highest score.

Porsche climbed to third place from fifth, while Toyota slid to fourth from third.

The KICSI was developed in 2015 by The Korea Economic Daily, Kookmin University’s automobile service research institute, the Korea Consumer Agency, the Korea Insurance Development Institute and research firm Macromill Embrain Co.

KICSI surveys 1,100 imported car drivers about their satisfaction with after-sale services provided by carmakers every six months. It also evaluates insurance premiums, repair periods, number of reported complaints and service infrastructure.

“Toyota Korea's Lexus and Toyota have been steadily expanding their investments to improve after-sale service satisfaction. Both received astounding scores in the qualitative evaluation,” said Lee Hyung-jae, a Kookmin University professor and head of the evaluation committee for KISCI.

In 2023, Toyota Korea sold 22,056 units of cars in Korea, of which Lexus made up half of that number, or 13,561 units, up 79% from a year earlier.

It was the first time for Toyota's annual sales in the country to surpass 20,000 units since 2019, when it sold 22,852 units.

Asked if they are willing to buy another Lexus and Toyota brand car in the future, quite a few drivers answered positively. 

GERMAN BRANDS UNDERPERFORM

Volvo scored high in terms of machine durability and prompt service, while Porsche ranked highly for mechanics’ expertise.

However, other German brands underperformed in the poll. Mercedes-Benz ranked fifth, trailed by Audi at ninth and BMW at 10th. Volkswagen fell three places to 13th.

The high costs of insurance premiums, repairs and parts were cited as areas of dissatisfaction among Benz, Audi and BMW owners. Their average repair period was 10 days, three days longer than that of their Japanese peers.

Lexus' average repair period was 7.8 days, the shortest for any imported car brand in Korea.

Honda rose two places to sixth. Land Rover slid to eighth from 4th, compared with the first half of 2023.

Jeep, Ford, Mini and Peugeot were lower down the list, ranked between 11th and 15th.

HYBRID CARS OVER ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Four out of 10 domestic imported car owners, 40.4% of those surveyed, said they would prefer hybrid powertrains when purchasing a new car in the future.

Next most popular were EVs (31.7%) and combustion engine cars (27.9%). Some 92% of respondents said they intend to buy an EV or hybrid car in the future. However, one-third of them did not specify the timing of their purchase of an eco-friendly car.

In contrast, the percentage of respondents saying they had no plans to buy EVs doubled to 8%, up from 3.9% in the first half of last year.

Breakdowns and safety concerns while driving EVs topped their concerns, followed by a lack of charging infrastructure.

Some 26% of imported car owners picked Tesla as their top choice among EV brands. Next in line were Mercedes-Benz (12.9%), Hyundai Motor (9.4%) and BMW (8.3%).

In terms of after-sale services, Tesla ranked near the bottom. Its average repair period was 10 days, the third-longest following Porsche’s 15 days and Chrysler’s 11.3 days.

ONLINE PURCHASE, USED CARS

Asked if they are willing to buy a new car online, 35.3% of respondents said yes while 32.3% said no.

Among respondents, 24.8% chose Hyundai as their preferred certified used car brand. Hyundai earned the highest ranking among secondhand car brands.

In the first half of 2023 poll, Hyundai came in second with 18.5%, below Benz’s 24.5%.

Last year, Hyundai began making inroads into the used car market after the Korean government allowed large companies to enter the market.

Write to Kin-Won Kim, Jae-Fu Kim and Nan-Sae Bin at Jin1@hankyung.com
hu@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article