The Results Are In

We’ve found…

We analyzed 18,000 automotive brands and dealerships in the United States, and 15,000 more across Canada and Europe, during a year marked by seismic change.

Here’s what we found:

• Auto dealerships that effectively manage their digital reputations see up to a 10% increase in average sales volume.
• Customer feedback matters more than ever. Dealership hygiene is a key driver of negative sentiment in the Covid-19 era. Mentions of personal health and safety have grown 100X in reviews of dealerships since the pandemic hit — and it’s an overwhelming consumer concern.
• A dealership’s valet service is the Number One new driver of positive sentiment during the pandemic. A good valet service addresses customers’ desire to minimize time around other people inside brick-and-mortar locations.
• A different OEM brand dominates each geographic market studied, with Nissan topping the U.S. list; Lincoln in Canada; and Mitsubishi, BMW, and Lexus leading the rankings in Europe.

The State of the Industry

The 2020 Automotive Reputation Report Update is an essential resource to understand how online reputation management is evolving in a digital-first world that has been changed by a cataclysmic global pandemic. We’ve ranked the world’s top automotive brands, dealer groups, and dealerships based on a variety of factors, including the volume and sentiment of customer reviews.

This report is an update to our 2020 Automotive Reputation Report, which was published in February. Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has exacted a heavy toll economically on most industries, including automotive. Even though automotive sales overall are down during the pandemic, people are buying vehicles and getting their cars serviced. Cox Automotive reported that in September, the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) in the United States was likely to reach 15.5 million — the fifth consecutive month of sales pace improvement after the industry saw a historic low in April.

Automotive customers also continue to share their opinions of dealerships and OEM brands through ratings and reviews — a lot of them in 2020, as our Q3 update shows. The pandemic has influenced those opinions, especially of dealerships, in significant ways. As we report in our section on car shopping and service during the pandemic, dealerships’ ability to respond to customers’ concerns about safety and convenience has an impact on their reputations.

Automotive customers also continue to share their opinions of dealerships and OEM brands through ratings and reviews — a lot of them in 2020, as our update shows. The pandemic has influenced those opinions, especially of dealerships, in significant ways. As we report in our section on car shopping and service during the pandemic, dealerships’ ability to respond to customers’ concerns about safety and convenience has an impact on their reputations.

To research wide-ranging consumer sentiment, Reputation.com’s data science team applied machine learning to unstructured text from consumer reviews on Google, Facebook, and other sources for 33,000+ dealerships and leading automotive brands. Then we ranked dealerships and brands using Reputation Score. Using a scale of 0 to 1,000, Reputation Score measures a location’s sentiment, visibility, and engagement across nine elements ranging from star average to review volume. (See the section Elements of Reputation Score for more detail.)

We calculate Reputation Score using artificial intelligence to take a snapshot of everything customers say about a brand. We examine customer surveys. But we also look at the harder-to- find, unstructured data that other tools overlook, such as tweets, Facebook posts, and other comments that appear on social channels every day.

Reputation Score is not the only metric, but it’s a valuable one. It’s a tool that provides a unique assessment that complements other industry ratings and performance measures. Unlike other industry report cards, Reputation Score delivers actionable insights that help automotive dealerships and OEMs improve operations and drive revenue. We can show how an increase in Reputation Score leads to measurable revenue gains.

How COVID-19 Has Changed Automotive Shopping and Service

The Covid-19 pandemic has upended revenue targets and many longstanding practices within the automotive industry.

At the start of the pandemic, many auto factories were forced to shut down for several weeks, resulting in a lack of output and low sales numbers in the second quarter. In fact, U.S. auto sales hit a record low in April. But the industry has battled back, with monthly sales slowly rising into the third quarter of the year. Even so, U.S. auto sales overall remain depressed, dropping 9.7% in the third quarter, and some industry watchers say it will take years for industry sales to recover to their pre-pandemic levels.

During this tumultuous year, the pandemic has also influenced how people shop for vehicles. According to Cars.com research, of those who purchased a car within the last six months, 57% said it was due to the pandemic. That’s because consumers are turning to personal car ownership as their preferred and safe mode of transportation. Cars.com also says that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of virtual car-buying tools and contactless home delivery options from both shoppers and sellers.

Our own research also reveals some important ways that the shopping and service experience has changed during the pandemic. We analyzed how people searched for dealerships online and their ratings/reviews across thousands of U.S. dealerships between January and September 2020. Here’s what we found:

Many Automotive Customers Fear for Their Health and Safety

Mentions of personal health and safety have increased 100X since the pandemic hit.

Those mentions typically focus on how well dealerships follow Covid- 19-related protocols such as requiring customers and employees to wear safety masks and maintain an acceptable social distance.

And a number of customers are not happy, with complaints rising since April. In fact, the percentage of negative complaints has risen from 18% in April to 38% in September. Concerns over how well dealerships enforce personal health and safety protocols constitute one of the biggest issues driving negative customer sentiment,
and the newest theme over the last few months. When employees and other customers neglect to wear masks in waiting rooms and showrooms, or when people fail to follow social distancing protocols, reviewers notice.

Remember, customers can verify with their own eyes how well you follow health and safety protocols. But the reverse is true, too: dealerships that follow health and safety protocols receive positive feedback and, on the whole, positive remarks about health and safety outweigh the negatives.

• “Dealership is clean and doing everything they can with the Covid situation going on.”
• “The dealership staff were all friendly and I appreciated them all wearing masks.”
• “Great customer service and fast service. Came in for a 10k maintenance check. They were all wearing their mask for our safety.”
• “Staff was very friendly and professional and they were all wearing masks which I appreciate. The facilities were immaculate. All in all a very pleasant experience.”
• “The dealership was very clean and everyone was wearing their masks.”

Service and pricing are still the top priority

All that being said, health and safety is not the Number One driver of negative sentiment. Health and safety ranks fourth behind service, pricing, and finance as negative drivers.

Dealerships need to improve the fundamentals in addition to keeping their locations safe.

Vehicle Cleanliness Matters More Than Ever

If ever there was a time when keeping vehicles clean was important, this is it. A dirty car always reflects poorly on a dealership. But during a pandemic, the appearance of untidy and unclean vehicles on the lot and in the service lane may very well drive away customers in droves.

Fortunately, most dealerships are doing a good job in the cleanliness department, and the review comments reflect that:

• “[The service advisor] gave us a loaner for the day and advised me that the car would be ready in the afternoon. As promised, I received the expected car ready text in the afternoon. The car was ready with a car wash and carpets vacuumed. Great customer service. Thank you!”
• “Had a great experience picking up my dream car. Juan made it an easy and informative experience. He had my new car clean and ready for me to pick up and was very knowledgeable about the vehicle and its functions.”

But the complaints are beginning to creep up since bottoming out in April.

These are the kinds of comments no dealership wants to see:

• “The only thing that needs improvement is the washing of cars before being handed to you, it’s not that clean.”
• “Car was not cleaned after service. Car was returned dirty.”

Shopper Interest Has Spiked Online

We examined the volume of consumers’ views, or impressions, of dealerships’ Google Posts. Posts consist of variable content such as sales and special events that dealerships publish on their Google My Business (GMB) listings. Views of Posts are a good barometer of shopper interest and intent. Those views increased by more than 50% – surging above their pre-Covid-19 levels.

Facebook and Google Drive Shoppers to Dealerships

Digital engagements on Google and Facebook drove more than 10% more traffic to dealer websites than pre-Covid-19, and they drove 20% more calls from May to July. In addition, the volume of clicks to directions to physical dealerships has returned roughly to pre-Covid-19 levels.

People have been interested in doing business with dealerships even during the height of state-by-state lockdowns. And sites such as Facebook and GMB listings are safer ways to do research.

Ease of Making an Appointment Is More Important Than Ever

People are less likely to walk into a dealership now.

Dealerships that make it easier to make an appointment ahead of time have a distinct advantage over those that don’t, at a time when people don’t want to spend too much time lingering inside a dealership.

Here’s how customers are responding positively:

• “Easy process and flexible scheduling. Car is clean and fueled up ready to go making the swap out process seamless.”
• “Efficient quality service. Fair price. Easy to make an appointment. Repair went according to the expectation set. Service reps and cashiers are friendly and welcoming.”
• “It was easy to make an appointment for the time that worked best for me. Very fast and friendly staff.”

Valet Services Are the Number One New Driver of Positive Sentiment

When people reviewed their experience visiting a dealership, the quality of the dealership’s valet service is the strongest new driver of positive consumer sentiment in 2020.

• Reviews typically included comments such as “Great experience, easy scheduling service pick-up and delivery,” or “Our car was picked up from our home and returned the same day in excellent condition.”
• A good valet service addresses customers’ desire to minimize their time around other people inside a brick-and-mortar location, where the risk of contracting Covid-19 increases. Driving awareness of these services is a dealership’s top opportunity to influence customer satisfaction and comfort.

Vehicle Prices Are Hurting Sentiment

Price-related complaints constitute the second-highest factor driving negative sentiment, behind service.

Customer complaints included comments like this:

• “He changed the price of the car once I decided to buy. Then, after giving my deposit, he threatened to keep it or take it because I was out of town and could not travel back immediately due to Coronavirus cancellations.”
• “Had a positive experience at this dealership while I was buying my car but when I got my first loan statement there were thousands of dollars of add-ons that I didn’t agree to pay for.”
• “Buyer beware, they will over charge, fuzzy math. Sales manager charged my daughter a $1,000 more . . . very shady people. They WILL RIP YOU OFF.”

But the positive comments outweigh the negatives, as these examples illustrate:

• “. . . very professional and gave us excellent service. No need to leave town to get a great deal!”
• “Got a great honest price . . . and an honest trade in. Clean facility and a painless buying process. We were treated with friendliness and respect.“
• “We were on the prowl to purchase a used car/truck out right in the $8,000 range out the door and took two days but we finally found something we liked . . . and even came in under budget $7,700 outdoor tags and all final . . . Very pleased and WE’LL BE BACK FOR ANOTHER.”

What’s going on with the complaints about prices, though?

We speculate that chronic inventory shortages dogging the auto industry are having an impact. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, even though car sales are down, prices are reaching new highs.

The average new vehicle sold in September cost a record $35,655, according to J.D. Power. The shutdown of automobile factories in the spring left dealerships with less inventory to sell in subsequent months, and even used inventory dwindled. Less inventory drives prices up. In addition, as the Cars.com survey and other sources have noted, the pandemic has actually inspired people to start shopping for automobiles for a variety of reasons – to seek refuge, to make it possible to take short road trips, and to relocate to safer places to live.

According to the Detroit Free Press, it’s going to take at least two years for auto manufacturers to restore the sales and production numbers seen before the start of the coronavirus pandemic – so we should expect cars to remain pricey for quite some time.

Rankings: Key Findings

• The automotive industry has the highest average Reputation Score and star rating — 594 and 4.5, respectively — of any major industry that we measure.
• The automotive industry’s 594 average Reputation Score has dropped from the 603 average we reported in February 2020. The lower average is driven by a decrease in review volume, due to Google suspending reviews for weeks at the height of the pandemic, decreasing levels of review responses, and lower review spread.
• The bar is higher for making the Top 100 list. The Top 100 dealerships this year earned a Reputation Score of 886 and above. That’s 272 points above the industry average.
• Engagement is good – but there is room to improve. The average engagement score for all brands in our study was 63%. That said, brands still have a ways to go before they reach the 100% response rate Reputation.com recommends.
• The average number of reviews over the past 12 months per location is just 160 (down from 191 in February), which points to an opportunity for auto brands to build review volume to capture, analyze, and act on recent customer feedback to improve the overall customer experience.
• Rankings can change at any time, as customer feedback continues to affect a business’s Reputation Score. Despite the intense competition, 68% of the dealerships currently tracking toward the Top 100 ranked among the top 3% nationwide for the past year.

Automotive Rep Score is down in the update

The automotive industry’s average Reputation Score has dropped from the 603 average we reported in February 2020. The lower average is driven by a decrease in review volume, due to Google suspending reviews for weeks at the height of the pandemic, decreasing levels of review responses, and lower review spread.

• A dealership’s valet service is the Number One new driver of positive sentiment during the pandemic.
• Dealership hygiene is a key driver of negative sentiment in the Covid-19 era.

Ranking the US and Canada Leaders

Top Brands in the United States

• Nissan retained its top ranking. At 681, its Reputation Score remains virtually the same as in our February report. Nissan had the second highest response rate to negative feedback (72%), the second highest engagement score (79%), and the lowest number of dealerships with scores below 500 (3%). Nissan also had the highest visibility rate (71%) and the second highest average review volume in the last 12 months (401).
• Mitsubishi saw the highest Reputation Score increase, with an improvement of 54 points since the last report. Why? Because Mitsubishi improved in all factors: sentiment, visibility, and engagement.
• Cadillac’s Reputation Score dropped the most (45 points). Cadillac’s customer sentiment remained steady — so why the drop? The brand experienced lower review volume, spread, and review recency, which affected Cadillac’s visibility. In addition, Cadillac’s engagement levels dropped. There’s a lesson here: reputation management means more than passively watching the positive reviews roll in. Brands must work at maintaining their reputation by encouraging customers to post reviews, and by responding to them.
• Tesla performed poorly in our update, with the lowest rate for responding to negative reviews and the lowest engagement scores. Of all brands we studied, Tesla had the lowest number of locations with scores above 700. Consumer sentiment for the Tesla brand was average (72%). According to our findings, Tesla struggles with the service side of its business. Tesla was also rated worst for pricing and speed of service.
• Among Asia Pacific brands in the United States, Nissan ranked highest. Lexus, Subaru, and Acura were clustered tightly together for the second, third, and fourth spots. Their scores were especially close in the engagement and sentiment categories, which points to the two ways these brands can break apart from the pack. Acura should focus on engagement and visibility to move ahead, while Subaru should focus on sentiment. Meanwhile, Toyota rounded out the Top Five. Also, Mitsubishi moved up five spots while Hyundai jumped six spots to round out the final spot in the Top 10.

Dealerships and Large Dealer Groups in the United States

• The majority of dealerships included in the study — 80% — had Reputation Scores above 500. Nearly one-third (30%) had scores above 700. Incredibly, 38 dealerships had Reputation Scores of 900+.
• Dealerships that earned a spot in our Top 100 list represent the top .05% of all dealerships in the United States. Ranking in the Top 100 is a significant accomplishment. However, without ongoing reputation and customer experience management, maintaining a Top 100 ranking is impossible.
• The top four brands with dealerships tracking toward the top of the list were Ford, Lexus, BMW, and Honda. Thirty-seven Ford dealerships and eight Lexus dealerships are on the list. BMW and Honda earned six spots each.
• California and Florida — the two states with the most car sales — achieved dramatically different rankings based on aggregate Reputation Scores for their dealerships. Florida ranked fourth (behind North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and top-ranked Rhode Island). California, where car sales are highest, ranked 41. California dealerships have plenty of opportunity to improve.
• Kimber Creek Ford and Hendrick Lexus Charlotte are still among the top ranked at One and Two, and they are separated by only four points. Volvo Car Georgia – which ranked third last time — is no longer in the Top 100, which shows just how volatile the Top 100 can be.
• Hendrick dealerships scored an impressive five spots in the Top 11 — for Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo brands.
• Among privately-held dealer groups, Hendrick Automotive maintained its Number One ranking. Among publicly-held dealer groups, AutoNation ranked first, as well.
• Large dealer groups excel at reputation management: 17 of 22 had Reputation Scores above the industry average.
• Dealer groups outperform OEM brands and dealerships in engagement and sentiment, with many scoring above 90% in engagement.
• Findlay had the highest sentiment at 84%, Hendrick had the highest engagement at a very impressive 99%, and AutoNation had the highest visibility at 87%.
• Hendrick Automotive is the only dealer group that scored higher than 80% in all three categories (sentiment, visibility, and engagement).

Brands in Canada

• The top performers for Reputation Score in our study were Lincoln, Ford, and Hyundai. At 550, the average Reputation Scores of Canadian brands was lower than in the United States (594), the United Kingdom (584), Germany/Austria/Switzerland (608), and France (597).
• Ford had the highest sentiment score at 75%. Lincoln had the highest visibility score at 61%. Hyundai had the highest engagement score at 88%.

Ranking the European Leaders

• Lexus, Suzuki, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Honda ranked highest for sales experience. Citroen, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Peugeot, and Jeep ranked lowest.
• Honda, Suzuki, Toyota, Lexus, and Kia ranked highest for service experience. Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, and Jeep ranked lowest.
• France: The top-rated brand in France was BMW, with a score of 635. The lowest rated was Jeep at 556. Peugeot had the highest sentiment at 71%. BMW had the highest visibility and engagement at 67% and 84%, respectively.
• Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: Mitsubishi had the highest average Reputation Score of all brands at 666 (an increase of 15 points). Peugeot had the lowest at 574, followed by Citroen at 579. Mitsubishi had the highest sentiment at 85%. BMW had the highest visibility at 63%. MINI had the highest engagement at 80%.
• United Kingdom: Lexus had the highest average Reputation Score at 675. The lowest: Jaguar at 530. Lexus had the highest sentiment at 85%. Kia had the highest visibility at 69%. Toyota had the highest engagement at 97%.

What Dealerships Should Do

Embrace Reputation Experience Management

Reputation Experience Management means managing customer reviews to get found, get chosen, and get better. Google says that high-quality, positive customer reviews will improve your dealership’s visibility and increase the likelihood that a potential customer will visit you. Reviews are the lifeblood of your dealership in three big ways:

• Getting found: high-quality, positive reviews make your dealership more visible on Google.
• Getting chosen: ratings and reviews are the top factor consumers use when choosing between local businesses, and more than one-half of consumers pass up locations with lower than a 4-star rating.
• Getting better: By combining reviews with informal customer feedback from sources such as Facebook, your dealership identifies strengths and areas that need to be improved before they turn into problems.

When you get better, you get more reviews, which means you are more visible and more likely to be chosen — a virtuous cycle that drives customers to your dealership.

Claim Multiple Google My Business Listings

Your GMB listing is critical to reputation experience management. That’s because GMB listings have an inordinately high-impact on your visibility. So when you accumulate reviews on your GMB listing, you do more to help your reputation online than you can on any other online destination.

Google encourages automotive dealers to publish multiple GMB listings per location — one for sales, one for service, and one for parts, depending on how extensive a dealer’s operations are. That’s because separate GMB listings make each department at a single location more visible for all the ways people might search for something they need from a dealer.

The idea behind having multiple listings per location is to align a dealer’s sales, service and parts with the different ways people search. A GMB listing for a service department containing its own contact information and keyword-aligned content (e.g., “oil changes” or “transmission service”) will improve the service department’s visibility for local searches (e.g., “oil change near me” or “transmission repair near me”). And a GMB listing for sales will make the sales department more visible when people are searching for cars to buy rather than service.

For one of our clients, we tested the effectiveness of maintaining separate GMB listings for each location. We chose 20 locations to pilot a test. For those 20 locations, we created separate listings for sales, service and parts. For a period of five months, we compared SEO results for those locations versus the rest of the client’s locations. Here’s what we found: dealers enrolled in the GMB pilot saw a 21% year-over-year increase in GMB impressions (or views) versus non-enrolled dealers.

Learn more about this topic on our blog.

Put Your GMB Listings and Facebook Pages to Work

Keep your presence on Google and Facebook up to date. Use features such as Google Posts to let shoppers know about deals, and use visually appealing tools such as Facebook Live to showcase your inventory.

Monitor Reviews Closely and Respond to Them

Responding to customers demonstrates publicly your commitment to service and also improves your visibility on Google.

Request Reviews

Asking for reviews increases the likelihood of your listing being refreshed with positive, timely feedback. Recent and positive reviews also influence your local ranking on Google.

Learn from Reviews

Watch for common themes emerging in both positive and negative reviews. For instance, we’ve highlighted how customers need to feel safe in your environment. Review your protocols and look for ways to reassure your customers that you are following strict protocols in your sales and service areas. In addition, during these uncertain times, be mindful of your tone.

The next step in your reputation journey: embrace Reputation Experience Management now.

What Are Tenants Talking About?

Today, reputation and customer experience (CX) begins with Google. Nearly all searches occur on Google, and more than half of all those searches are “zero-click.” This means that Google, not your website, may be the only opportunity you have to attract and convert new business. In other words, Google is your new digital front door.

What people find when they land on your Google My Business (GMB) listing will make the difference between them choosing to visit your property or your competitor’s. Showcasing plenty of recent customer reviews is essential. Today, 98% of prospective residents read reviews before they make a decision about where to live, and 84% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations when evaluating a business.

Equally important is the level of richness and accuracy of your listings — are their photos of your properties? Do you manage your Google Q&A? Are you sharing relevant and interesting content via Google Posts? All of these factors affect your online visibility and your ability to generate clickthroughs and calls from your listings.

But there’s more to managing your reputation than managing your Google presence. Read on for essential actions you can and should take to take your reputation to the next level.

Embrace Reputation Experience Management

Reputation experience management means managing customer reviews to get found, chosen, and better. Google says that high-quality, positive customer reviews will improve your dealership’s visibility and increase the likelihood that a potential customer will visit you.

Reviews are the lifeblood of your dealership in three big ways:

• Getting found: high-quality, positive reviews make your dealership more visible on Google.
• Getting chosen: Ratings and reviews are the top factor consumers use when choosing between local businesses, and more than half of consumers pass up locations with lower than a 4-star rating.
• Monitor and respond to reviews. Respond to all reviews, especially the negative ones, to demonstrate a commitment to the residents’ experience with your properties. Leverage technology to monitor all reviews across the web, for all your locations, and create templated responses to ensure brand consistency and that locations respond appropriately in a timely manner
• Getting better: By combining reviews with informal customer feedback from sources such as Facebook, your dealership identifies strengths and areas that need to be improved before they turn into problems.

When you get better, you get more reviews, which means you are more visible and more likely to be chosen — a virtuous cycle that drives customers to your dealership.

Claim Multiple Google My Business Listings

Your GMB listing is critical to reputation experience management. That’s because GMB listings have an inordinately high impact on your visibility. So when you accumulate reviews on your GMB listing, you do more to help your reputation online than you can on any other online destination.

Google encourages automotive dealers to publish multiple GMB listings per location — one for sales, one for service, and one for parts, depending on how extensive a dealer’s operations are. That’s because separate GMB listings make each department at a single location more visible for all the ways people might search for something they need from a dealer.

The idea behind having multiple listings per location is to align a dealer’s sales, service and parts with the different ways people search. A GMB listing for a service department containing its own contact information and keyword-aligned content (e.g., “oil changes” or “transmission service”), will improve the service department’s visibility for local searches (e.g., “oil change near me” or “transmission repair near me”). And a GMB listing for sales will make the sales department more visible when people are searching for cars to buy rather than service.

For one of our clients, we tested the effectiveness of maintaining separate GMB listings for each location. We chose 20 locations to pilot a test. For those 20 locations, we created separate listings for sales, service and parts. For a period of five months, we compared SEO results for those locations versus the rest of the client’s locations. Here’s what we found: dealers enrolled in the GMB pilot saw a 21% year-over-year increase in GMB impressions (or views) versus non- enrolled dealers.

Put your GMB listings and Facebook Pages to Work

Keep your presence on Google and Facebook up to date. Use features such as Google Posts to let shoppers know about deals, and use visually appealing tools such as Facebook Live to showcase your inventory.

Monitor Reviews Closely and Respond to Them

Responding to customers demonstrates publicly your commitment to service and also improves your visibility on Google.

Request Reviews

Asking for reviews increases the likelihood of your listing being refreshed with positive, timely feedback. Recent and positive reviews also influence your local ranking on Google.

Learn from Reviews

Watch for common themes emerging in both positive and negative reviews. For instance, we’ve highlighted how customers need to feel safe in your environment. Review your protocols and look for ways to reassure your customers that you are following strict protocols in your sales and service areas. In addition, during these uncertain times, be mindful of your tone.

The next step in your reputation journey: embrace reputation experience management now. Learn from the top-ranked dealerships and brands in our Q3 study.

Top Properties Per State