A ranking of customer sales satisfaction with the major motor vehicle brands in the United Arab Emirates has seen Toyota take the top spot.
Ford took second place in the new survey from JD Power, an international consumer insights firm, with Chevrolet coming in third.
The Japanese auto manufacturer earned a score of 819 in comparison to the 813 earned by Ford and the 807 awarded to Chevrolet.
The UAE Sales Satisfaction Index was conducted between June and September last year and saw 1,884 car buyers polled.
The index measured the satisfaction that car buyers feel about their new car sale based on half a dozen criteria, including the delivery process, the deal they reached, the sales consultant and the paperwork involved in the purchase.
In overall sales satisfaction for luxury brands, the highest ranked was Mercedes-Benz, which scored 826.
Infiniti came in second place in this ranking, with Lexus taking third place.
A greater number of customers are also starting to take advantage of digital platforms during the process of purchasing a new vehicle, according to the study.
57% of respondents made use of digital tools this year, in comparison to just 42% last year.
The regional director of the automotive practice of JD Power, Shantanu Majumdar, says that dealerships are becoming more and more invested in digital technology that is able to provide more convenient, transparent and efficient purchasing experiences.
However, dealerships need to remember that while digital tools can be a big help with the streamlining of everyday processes, not all customers appreciate or are comfortable with them.
Human interaction is still vital to ensuring that the dealership provides a satisfactory customer experience, which digital tools can complement judiciously, Majumdar points out.
Toyota is always a popular brand in the UAE, with the Camry model being the nation’s most viewed used vehicle online, as revealed by a report released in March by dubizzle, a classified site.
More than 1.18m page views were made of the Japanese car model by car marketplace users last year.
The JD Power study revealed that the customer satisfaction score for customers who make use of the internet while shopping was 828 out of 1,000 in comparison to 781 for non-users.
Online customers are also three times more likely to perform price comparisons between dealers than those who do not make use of the internet, at a figure of 49% compared to 17%.
More technology is still being added by dealers in order to better serve customers, with the likes of smartphones, tablets and touchscreen monitors now being used.
These devices can display information relating to price and payment, show off the features of a vehicle, and input the needs of customers.
However, with 92% of customers still physically visiting dealers, and 77% interacting with them via the telephone, it is clear that human interaction cannot be entirely replaced by digitalisation.
Anyone buying any vehicle in the UAE needs to take out car insurance coverage.
Car insurance ensures the financial safety of car owners in the event of accident or vehicle theft.