Alpine Ranks Highest for Ninth Consecutive Year

TOKYO: 22 Oct. 2020 — Customer satisfaction with aftermarket in-dash navigation systems has increased overall from last year, but the ease of use is a common challenge among owners of both factory- and dealer-installed navigation systems and aftermarket navigation systems, according to the J.D. Power 2020 Japan Navigation Systems Customer Satisfaction Index StudySM—Aftermarket, released today.

The study, now in its 14th year, measures customer satisfaction with aftermarket in-dash vehicle navigation systems. Six factors comprised of multiple attributes are examined (listed in order of importance): navigation function (27%); audio and video function (18%); display screen (18%); design and texture (17%); ease of use (14%); and other functions, apps and services (5%). Satisfaction is calculated on a 1,000-point scale.

“Customer satisfaction has increased for the audio/image quality and the display screen, on which vehicle owners place high importance,” said Hayato Iwakura, manager of the automotive division at J.D. Power Japan. “This improvement in satisfaction is a result of the continuous efforts of manufacturers to improve navigation systems to meet the expectations of their customers. This study also finds that the increase in score is driven by satisfaction with smartphone connectivity to the navigation system in order to play music or movies.”

Following are some of the key findings of the 2020 study:

• Gaps in satisfaction are narrowing among brands: Overall customer satisfaction with aftermarket in-dash navigation systems averages 631 points, a slight year-over-year increase of eight points compared to an increase of 18 points from 2018 to 2019. Among the five brands included in the study, three brands have achieved the same score this year, which narrows the gap in satisfaction among brands.
• Satisfaction is highest in the display screen factor, while there is room for improvement in the ease of use factor: Among the six factors comprising overall satisfaction, the highest satisfaction this year is in the display screen factor (648). In contrast, the lowest satisfaction is in the ease of use (606), the factor for which satisfaction has remained relatively low for the past two years. Results for this factor are similar in score in the J.D. Power 2020 Japan Navigation Systems Customer Satisfaction Index StudySM—OEM, demonstrating that improving satisfaction with ease of use is a common challenge for manufacturers of both factory- and dealer-installed navigation systems and aftermarket in-dash navigation systems.
• Audio and video function satisfaction improves: The largest year-over-year improvement is seen in the audio and video function factor (638), an increase of 14 points from 2019. For the past two years, satisfaction in this factor has increased. In the audio and video function factor, satisfaction is higher among owners who have used the HDD or memory in the navigation system or the DVD/Blu-ray feature than among owners who have used the AM/FM radio, CD or one-segment/full-segment broadcasting. Moreover, the study finds that owners who have used the internet radio/internet video distribution or the streaming services are more satisfied than are owners of the aforementioned features.
• Smartphone connections are more frequently used: Approximately two-thirds (66%) of owners say that they have connected their smartphone to the navigation system, an increase of 10 percentage points during the past two years. The study also asks owners which functions/applications or services via internet they have an interest in when considering their next vehicle purchase. The most frequently cited answer is map updates (33%), followed by information service/applications such as for news or weather forecasts (26%), both of which reflect year-over-year increases of 5 percentage points each.

Study Rankings

Alpine ranks highest for a ninth consecutive year, with a score of 694. Alpine achieves the highest scores in all six factors among all brands included in the rankings. Pioneer (628) ranks second, and Denso Ten, Kenwood and Panasonic (619) rank third in a tie.

The 2020 Japan Navigation Systems Customer Satisfaction Index Study—Aftermarket is based on responses from 1,920 vehicle owners who purchased an aftermarket navigation system from April 2018 through March 2020. The study was conducted via internet and was fielded in July 2020.

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