Study names SA's best cars

The Mini Cooper has been voted the best car to buy in South Africa, according to the results of the latest Synovate findings.

Synovate's Competitive Customer Satisfaction Index (CCSI) showed that Mini was followed closely by Volvo, Chevrolet, Mercedez Benz and BMW in the category recognising customer satisfaction after purchasing a new passenger vehicle.

Mitsubishi was adjudged the best light commercial vehicle manufacturer in terms of customer satisfaction, followed closely by Toyota, Nissan and Isuzu.

Toyota topped the rankings for the service satisfaction in both passenger car and light commercial vehicle category.

Jaguar, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, Audi and Nissan were the runners up in the passenger car segment where customer satisfaction was concerned.

The survey was conducted over a 12-month period between January and December 2006 and is part of a study that measures the perceptions of more than 55 000 passenger car and light commercial vehicle owners.

"We can look forward to even higher levels of satisfaction into the future as the traditional players as well as the newer entrants consolidate their infrastructure and capacity to deliver ever-improving levels of satisfaction", said Richard Rice, Synovate client services director.