GMC Dealers Earn Top Honors For Sales Experience

While J.D. Power is known chiefly for evaluating vehicle quality, they also survey customers on their dealer sales experience and then issue the results, grouping and rating dealers by the brand they sell. The results are revealed every November with the release of their annual U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study. 

GMC of Rochester is always happy to see this survey because GMC dealers regularly do well. This year did not disappoint because JD Power named GMC dealers as having the #1 sales experience among truck and mainstream SUV shoppers.  

Study Details

The 2023 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study is based on responses from 37,234 consumers who purchased or leased their new vehicle from March through May 2023. The study asks questions about their satisfaction with the sales experience to both new-vehicle buyers and rejecters, the latter being those who shopped at a brand’s dealership but purchased elsewhere. 

The overall purchaser satisfaction rating is based on six factors (in ranked order): 

1. Delivery process (26%)
2. Dealer personnel (24%)
3. Working out the deal (19%)
4. Paperwork completion (18%)
5. Dealership facility (10%)
6. Dealership website (4%). 

Rejecter responses regarding a dealer they did not buy from are based on five factors: 

1. Salesperson (40%)
2. Price (23%)
3. Facility (14%)
4. Variety of inventory (11%)
5. Negotiation (11%)

GMC Regularly Does Well in Customer Satisfaction

With 1000 being a theoretical perfect score, the average score for all non-luxury brands was  790, but GMC dealers soared above that with a score of 821.  As mentioned, GMC dealers usually do well in this study.  In fact, GMC dealers have ranked either first or second for four of the past five years. 

GMC’s high ranking remains even as the industry improved as a whole compared to the previous year’s non-luxury brand average of 782. A suspected major factor is that vehicle inventory is back to normal levels after being significantly down in 2022 from the post-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  GMC rose more dramatically, with an almost 20-point improvement over the 2022 score of 802. 

“The improved level of vehicle inventory and the easing of upward pressure on prices are the driving factors in sending sales satisfaction back in a positive direction,” said Chris Sutton, Vice President of Automotive Retail at J.D. Power. “Vehicle buyers are more satisfied with the inventory choices they now see in dealerships across the country—more than in the past three years. Increased inventory also means fewer buyers are paying more than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for their new vehicle.”

GMC of Rochester is always looking for ways to improve our customers’ sales satisfaction.  We keep a large stock of new vehicles on hand, and pre-owned shoppers can easily filter for Certified Pre-Owned models or models for less than $15,000.  Our service center is filled with highly trained technicians, and we keep a large stock of parts on hand to minimize delays for our service customers. We invite you to shop the great GMC SUVs and trucks at our store and try that experience yourself.