FRANKFURT, June 30 (Reuters) - Toyota took top place for the third consecutive year in a high-profile survey of German car buyers' satisfaction, released on Wednesday, leading a near sweep by quality-conscious Japanese car makers.
Luxury car maker Porsche and France's Peugeot were the only European companies to capture a top spot in one of the survey's seven categories of vehicles versus their Japanese rivals, which took the first four slots in the overall ranking as well.
The J.D Power and Associates study analyses customer satisfaction with four key measures in their new cars: quality and reliability, vehicle appeal, service satisfaction and ownership costs.
Toyota models ranked highest in three car segments. Honda and Mazda cars also emerged as winners in one segment each as Japanese car makers´ reputation for reliability served them well.
In the overall rankings, Toyota scored 844 points out of a possible 1,000, putting it well ahead of Mazda (816), Subaru (815) and Honda (811) in the survey by the market research and consulting group.
But General Motors division Opel, Volkswagen and other makers of cars for the masses also boosted their scores on the poll of more than 24,000 drivers.
German manufacturers BMW , Audi , Mercedes-Benz and -- for the first time -- Opel performed above the industry average, with Opel the most improved brand from its performance in 2003.
The industry average increased five points in the year.
Nevertheless, Mercedes-Benz´s overall rank dropped to 11th out of 28 from a tie for seventh place in 2003. It has been grappling with quality assurance problems, which it has vowed to set right.
"It is encouraging for the industry to witness the improvements made by high-volume European manufacturers like Opel and Volkswagen. In particular, both brands have greatly improved in the area of dealer service," said Martin Volk, research manager at J.D. Power.
"However, the strong record of the Japanese brands on meeting customer expectations means that all European manufacturers still have some considerable work to do to match their levels of customer satisfaction," he added.
Here are the rankings: Small Car: Honda Jazz Lower Medium Car: Toyota Corolla Upper Medium Car: Toyota Avensis Executive/Luxury Car: Peugeot 607 Sports Car: Porsche 911 Multi-Purpose Vehicle: Mazda Premacy Sport Utility Vehicle: Toyota RAV4