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Customer Satisfaction May Not Be All It's Cracked Up To Be

Tom Libby, the president of the Society of Automotive Analysts, argues that for all its vaunted reputation for customer satisfaction, the Saturn brand has never been able to capture "substantial" market share. That makes him question whether offering customers an unrivaled customer experience might have limited potential in U.S.

Asians automakers, with a 48.3% share of the market, have never excelled in customer satisfaction as a group, at least in the non-luxury arena. And the No. 1 brand, Toyota, is a laggard in many measures. "While a superior customer experience may be paramount for a segment of the buying public," Libby writes, "that segment may be limited in size."

Libby allows, however, that there may be other reasons for Saturn's limited sales. Perhaps its buying proposition got muddled amid the marketing of the incremental products. Or perhaps it failed to adequately explain how it was a "different" car company in ways that consumers found beneficial. Whatever the reason, its new owners "will need to provide a compelling buying proposition over and above what has been offered to date," he concludes.

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