Jeep working to improve customer satisfaction

Jeep issued 14 voluntary safety recalls last year, 11 of which were for the popular Grand Cherokee (six affected the 2014 model). Fiat Chrysler Australia issued 16 recalls in total in 2014.

Global Jeep CEO and president Mike Manly said work has already started on improving customers’ aftersales satisfaction.

“We have taken a number of steps to address the things that are addressable,” Manly told Australian media in Detroit today. “In terms of not just quality of our vehicles, but also in the way we handle our customers, you’ve seen some of those changes in Australia”.

Jeep’s growth potential in Australia hinges not just on attracting new customers but also maintaining existing ones, a task that industry data on consideration to repurchase for existing customers suggests may be a challenge.

Nonetheless, the sharply priced and feature-rich Jeep Grand Cherokee was a big hit last year, taking the title of the best-selling large SUV in Australia with 16,582 sales.

Manly is keen to point out that the problems are not necessarily just with the vehicles, but also in how the fixes were being addressed.

“I think our job is to try to produce the best quality vehicles we can but when there’s an issue to make sure we try to deal with that situation in the best way we possibly can.”

“I am not into categorising faults,” Manly said when asked if it was the Jeep dealers that had let some customers down. “We have a lot of communication with our customers as well, through our call centres, through regular communication with them. I am not into allocating who’s fault or who’s blame it is."

This year will see Jeep launch the highly anticipated Renegade SUV, with a minor update coming for the Grand Cherokee in 2016 before an all-new model arrives in 2017.