Toyota is the highest-ranked automotive brand in the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKSCI), produced by the Institute of Customer Service.

A 1.4-point increase in its score since 2016 has seen the brand climb 26 places to equal 24th overall.

“It is great to be figuring among some of Britain’s most familiar and best-respected business names, delivering the kind of service that people value and trust,” said Richard Balshaw, Toyota GB customer service director.

“Toyota recently joined the Institute of Customer Service and we believe it can help us define more accurately what great customer service is and give us a forum where we can share experiences and discuss issues with other leading businesses,” he added.

Toyota has made some significant changes to its customer service operations, aimed at providing customers with prompt, accurate and helpful responses to their enquiries, whatever methods they use to get in touch.

A new internal system has been set up that provides an always-on link between the company’s national retailer network and the teams at head office, helping provide answers to product, technical and other queries with least delay.

In 2016 the company brought its front line customer service operation in-house: “This might have been seen as an unusual move, as these functions are usually handled by partner businesses, but we knew that we had the knowledge and resources here to deal immediately with at least two thirds of the enquiries we receive. In fact our customer relations team have more than 330 years’ experience between them,” said Balshaw.

Customer-facing services are also being upgraded, including improvements to the “live chat” service on the Toyota website.

The Institute of Customer Service helps companies achieve tangible business benefits through excellent customer service. Published biannually, the UK CSI is the national measure of UK customer satisfaction. It rates customer satisfaction at a national, sector and organisational level across over 250 organisations and 13 sectors, incorporating the views of 10,000 consumers. Thirty different considerations – such as staff professionalism, quality and efficiency, and complaint handling – are factored into the results.