Rover gets thumbs-down from customers

By MICHAEL CLARKE
Updated: 03:06 EST, 14 April 2005

BELEAGUERED car manufacturer MG Rover has had more misery heaped on it after coming close to bottom in a car satisfaction table. Only four major car manufacturers finished lower than Rover in the 32-company list, topped by Lexus and Skoda.

Rover got 755 points out of 1,000 for customer satisfaction - well below the average of 786 in the table based on responses from more than 20,000 car owners. Only Land Rover, Peugeot, Fiat and Alfa Romeo were below the Birmingham-based company.

Administrators are currently attempting to salvage a deal for the manufacturer following the collapse of merger talks with China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. The company was placed into administration last Friday, threatening the future of over 6,000 jobs.

The list, compiled by What? Car magazine and marketing information company JD Power, found Rover also fared badly in the table of 124 individual models. Its MGF, which later became the TF, was in 123rd place with 70.6 points out of 100, with only the Kia Sportage below it.

Another Rover, the 25 which later became the ZR, was also in the bottom 10 - in equal 115th place with 73.6 points.

The Honda Jazz (88.1 points) finished top for the second successive year. Second was the Lexus IS 200/300 (85.5 points) and third the Toyota Yaris (85.1 points).

Dave Sargent, executive director of European operations at JD Power, said: 'It is encouraging for UK motorists that good-quality, satisfying cars come in all shapes and sizes and at all price levels. Also, many of the leading models, including some from Japanese brands, are built right here in the UK.'

What Car? group editor Steve Fowler said: 'This shows that British factories are building some of the best cars.'

The customer satisfaction tables were based on evaluations of more than 23,000 owners of cars registered in 2002 and 2003. Satisfaction ratings included quality and reliability, vehicle appeal, dealer service satisfaction and ownership costs.