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Last updated: 6 October 2026
TL;DR
- Manufacturers and importers mainly judge dealers on three review KPIs per dealership: how fast replies go out, what share of reviews gets a reply, and what average rating the dealership achieves.
- The patterns are similar across brands: reply within 24 to 48 hours or within a few days, a minimum rating somewhere around 4.3 to 4.7, and often an 80 percent response rate as the floor.
- Replying late costs a dealer points in the dealer assessment and sometimes bonus, and one lagging dealership drags down the figures of the whole dealer group.
- In Repmanager you set targets for response rate, response time and rating per organisation and per dealership, and the dashboard shows which dealership is on track.
What is a manufacturer KPI for reviews?
A manufacturer KPI for reviews is a target that the manufacturer or importer (the brand) sets for every dealership on its public reviews: how fast you reply, how many reviews get a reply and what rating you achieve. In the US this is usually the OEM itself; in much of Europe a national importer or national sales company plays that role. Either way, the manufacturer is the invisible client of your review management. It does not use your tools, but it decides what you are judged on.
Why does it care? Because every review under a dealer name is also about the brand. An unanswered complaint at one dealership is a brand problem for the manufacturer, not just a dealer problem. For the dealer groups working with Repmanager, mostly in the Netherlands, the manufacturer's target is almost always where the setup starts.
Which three KPIs do manufacturers judge dealers on?
The details differ per brand, but the pattern is consistent: response time, response rate and rating, measured per dealership. Exact norms and bonus schemes differ per brand and are confidential, but the ranges marketing managers at Dutch dealer groups mention to us sit close together.
| KPI | What it measures | Common pattern | Where it often goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Response time | time between review and first public reply | within 24 to 48 hours, sometimes within a few days | weekends, Friday evenings, holidays |
| Response rate | share of reviews with a reply | often 80 percent as the floor, 99 to 100 percent as the internal ambition | rating-only reviews and edited reviews |
| Rating | average stars per dealership | a minimum around 4.3 to 4.7 | one dealership having a bad stretch |
Many manufacturers also run their own satisfaction survey. That figure and the Google rating do not always move together. A workshop can score fine internally while sliding on Google, because different customers respond at a different moment.
What does replying late cost a dealer?
Replying late costs points in the dealer assessment, and with many brands part of the bonus depends on it. The sting is in the level: the manufacturer measures per dealership. One dealership with a three-week backlog misses the target, even if the rest of the group replies neatly within a day.
Two details surprise dealer groups most often. The first is the clock. A review posted on Friday evening already needs a reply over the weekend if the window is counted in calendar days. Why fast replies pay off beyond the manufacturer is covered in responding to Google reviews within 24 hours.
The second is the edited review. When a customer edits their review, some manufacturers count it again as a new review for the response rate. Terwolde, a Dutch dealer group, describes exactly that in the Terwolde case: reliably spotting edited reviews across 24 profiles was not doable by hand.
What counts as response time for the manufacturer?
That is the question every marketing manager asks, and the answer differs per brand. Does the clock stop when someone has seen the review, when the public reply is posted, or when the complaint is resolved? And are we talking calendar days or working days?
Ask your manufacturer or importer for the definition and adopt it as your own norm. If your own figure differs from theirs, check the timing as well: dealer groups often find the manufacturer's dashboard runs about a day behind.
An audit goes one step further. Then the manufacturer wants to see what you replied, who picked it up and how the complaint was resolved. What you need to be able to show is covered in audit-proof review management.
Why not steer on the rating alone?
Because a KPI on rating alone buries the signal. Customers sometimes know the dealer is judged on stars and give five stars with a complaint in the text, so as not to punish the dealer. The rating stays nice, but the dealership no longer sees what needs fixing.
On top of that, it is tempting to ask customers for five stars, and Google's policy does not allow it. What is allowed and what dealer groups steer on instead is covered in chasing a 4.7. Response time and response rate are fully in your own hands. The rating mostly follows from how many satisfied customers you invite to leave a review.
How do dealer groups hit manufacturer KPIs per dealership?
They measure at the same level as the manufacturer: per dealership, not as a group average. A group average of 85 percent can hide a dealership at 40 percent. Then they set the internal target just above the manufacturer's norm, so a busy month does not immediately turn into a red line.
They make one person own the follow-up per dealership, with a backup for holidays. With several brands per site that work doubles: Autobedrijf Nieuwendijk, a Dutch dealer group, manages 13 Google profiles for 8 sites, each with its own brand KPIs (see the Nieuwendijk case). How groups divide the work is covered in who replies to which review in a dealer group. And they automate what does not need a person, leaving time for the complaints. Which reviews suit that is in which reviews to answer automatically.
That 100 percent is achievable is shown by Terwolde: from a historical response rate of 73 percent to 97 percent over the past year and 100 percent in the most recent quarter, according to its case page. What is realistic across many dealerships is covered in a realistic response rate for multi-location businesses.
How do you set this up in Repmanager?
You turn the manufacturer's norms into your own targets, and the dashboard shows per dealership whether you are on track. Start at organisation level and adjust per dealership where a brand has a different norm.
- Open KPI targets from the avatar menu. Enter the organisation targets for response rate, response time and rating, just above the manufacturer's norm.
- Override them per location where a brand has a different norm. Leaving a location empty means the organisation target applies.
- On the dashboard, check the KPI tiles for average rating, response rate and Average response time against their targets, and the locations table with response rate, response time and unanswered reviews per dealership.
- Set the period to Past 12 months instead of an all-time total. That is how Terwolde found its team was already at 97 percent while the old figure still showed 73.
- In Reviews, use the quick views Open too long and Unassigned to find backlogs per dealership.
- Use More filters to find reviews edited by the reviewer. To have those answered again automatically, switch on Trigger on updates in the reply rule.
How to read these numbers as a growth metric rather than an obligation is covered in response time and response rate as growth metrics.
What usually goes wrong with manufacturer KPIs?
Steering on the group average. The manufacturer sees dealerships, not the group. Look per dealership too.
A target equal to the norm. Aim at exactly 80 percent and a busy month takes you below it. Keep a margin.
Forgetting edited reviews. An updated review that counts again stays unanswered if nobody looks at it.
The all-time figure as the yardstick. A total over all years hides that you are doing well now. Look at the last twelve months.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the manufacturer KPI inside a dealer group?
Usually the marketing manager, who manages the settings and the reporting. Follow-up on complaints often sits with the dealership or a coordinator. Make that explicit.
Do rating-only reviews need a reply for the response rate?
Assume every review counts, including one with only stars, unless your manufacturer defines it differently. A short thank-you is enough, and that suits a reply rule well.
What if the manufacturer measures a different response time than you?
Ask for the definition and compare the same period. Differences usually come from calendar days versus working days, or from the delay in the manufacturer's dashboard.
Do the KPIs also apply to other review platforms?
That differs per brand. Often it is Google per dealership, sometimes also the manufacturer's own survey or a third-party review platform such as Trustpilot. Ask, and measure the same platform.
Ready to make the manufacturer's norm your own?
Want to see per dealership whether you hit the manufacturer KPIs? In a 15-minute demo we show it with your own dealerships.
