Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. has earned a No. ranking in the 2012 China Original Equipment Tire Satisfaction Index Study, carried out by research firm J.D. Power Asia Pacific.
J.D. Power presented a plaque to representatives of the Tokyo-based tire maker during an April 21 ceremony at the recent Auto Shanghai 2013 trade show.
In the study, Yokohama came in first for overall satisfaction with 843 points, and was cited for its tires' durability, handling and ride, the company said in a May 1 press release.
Yokohama said that according to Power—whose parent firm J.D. Power and Associates is based in Westlake Village, Calif.—customer satisfaction with OE tires greatly affects the choice of replacement tires, and among customers who were highly satisfied, more than 36 percent said they would buy the same tire brand for replacement tires.
The "2012 China Original Equipment Tire Satisfaction Index Study" measured satisfaction with original equipment tires expressed by new vehicle owners during the first 12 to 24 months of ownership, indexing satisfaction on a 1,000-point scale.
J.D. Power conducted the study between February and May 2012 among persons who purchased a new vehicle between February 2010 and May 2011. The marketing research firm received responses from 12,066 new-vehicle owners.
