2013 J. D. Power survey

Jaguar has retained its position as the country’s top-rated manufacturer. That’s according to the 2013 What Car? UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study, which has been compiled by J. D. Power.

Over 16,000 drivers of cars aged 12 to 36 months old participated, a sample size that was about 10% down on last year.

Jaguar: still the UK's highest-rated car manufacturer.

Of course, as with most surveys, the results do need to be viewed with a degree of perspective.

For starters, while the split between male and female participants was fairly even, the average age of people polled was 50. Perhaps not truly representative of the motoring public, then.

It’s also worth considering that only models with sales of 4,000 units or more which each generated at least fifty completed questionnaires were counted in the findings. Consequently the survey covers 116 models (with an average of 138 appraisals each), although a lack of eligible vehicles may have skewed some brands’ scores.

A good example is Chevrolet. It remains at the bottom of the manufacturer league table, yet that assessment is based purely on the Spark, the marque’s only product that qualified for inclusion in the review. Whether it’s representative of the entire range is an important but unanswered question.

The rankings also need to be judged based on their relativity. The aforementioned Spark, for instance, managed a grade of 70.2%, making it the worst individual model overall. However, among its city car peers the highest mark was the Volkswagen Fox’s 78.1%, so there’s hardly a huge difference.

2013 J. D. Power / What Car? UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study
Top Five Manufacturers
Position	Manufacturer	Score	2013 vs. 2012
1	Jaguar	82.7%	-
2	Lexus	81.8%	-
3	Honda	81.0%	+1
4	Škoda	80.9%	-1
5	Mercedes-Benz	80.4%	-
Bottom Five Manufacturers
Position	Manufacturer	Score	2013 vs. 2012
23	Fiat	75.4%	+2
24	Peugeot	75.0%	-7
25	Mitsubishi	74.5%	-3
26	Alfa Romeo	72.5%	-7
27	Chevrolet	69.1%	-

2013 J. D. Power / What Car? UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study
Top Five Models
Position	Model	Score	2013 vs. 2012
1	Škoda Superb	83.0%	+3
2	Škoda Yeti	82.8%	New entry
3	Jaguar XF	82.7%	-1
4=	Citroën DS3	82.2%	New entry
4=	Lexus RX	82.2%	+20
Bottom Five Models
Position	Model	Score	2013 vs. 2012
112	Fiat Panda	73.7%	-19
113	Ford Ka	72.2%	+1
114	Fiat Grande Punto / Punto Evo	72.0%	-2
115	Alfa Romeo Mito	70.7%	-70
116	Chevrolet Spark	70.2%	New entry

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Toyota is top car brand again
2012 J. D. Power Survey