This article addresses the relationship between customer satisfaction with automotive technical assistance services (SATISSER) and loyalty to the manufacturer of the vehicle (LEALDFAB), a subject that has not been appropriately investigated in the marketing. Beginning with a theoretical review, an empirical analysis with a sample of 225 users of Brazilian vehicles made by Fiat, Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen was undertaken. By using the structural equation modeling method, evidences were found of a significant link between the exogenous latent variable SATISSER (as cause) and the endogenous latent variable LEALDFAB (as effect). This result may have an inductive effect of hardworking upon manufacturers of goods and service providers in general (not only automobile dealerships) toward improvement of the services component in their offerings.
Satisfaction with services; loyalty to the manufacturer; cause and effect; vehicles, dealerships