PITTSBURGH — When it comes to the meeting the needs of female shoppers, the auto brand whose dealers women rate as being the best overall is Mercedes-Benz, according to a semi-annual report from Women-Drivers.com.

The website gathers data for its Women Satisfaction Index based on thousands of audited consumer reviews based on experiences at specific dealerships in the areas of purchasing, browsing and service. Scores go from 1.0 to 5.0 (with 5.0 being the best).

Dealerships must receive a WSI score of at least 3.8 to be deemed Certified Women-Drivers Friendly.

The site emphasized how important treating women shoppers the right way can be for the auto industry. Females are responsible for more than half of vehicle purchases these days, but that doesn't tell the whole story of how much power they wield in the market.

In fact, the proportion of purchases initiated or influenced by women is said to be close to 80 percent.

Women are highly likely to check out at least three stores during their auto-buying process, a trend the company said was pivotal its decision to track how women rated their "browsing" time at dealerships.

How positive or negative a woman's browsing experience is at a store has a huge impact on her decision to visit the store again.

"Car manufacturers and dealerships that highly engage and support women during the purchase process are placing themselves in a strong position to convert more browsers to buyers, and, to get more referrals-all translating to increased sales," explained Anne Flemming, the company's president and car-buying advocate.

"Credit the top performing brands; clearly these companies and dealerships are doing a great job with customer engagement," she added.

The report put the WSI scores for auto brands' dealers in four categories. The categories include overall, purchasing, browsing and service.

Mercedes-Benz was No. 1 in the overall category with a score of 4.68, followed by Jeep (4.41) and Lexus (4.37).

BMW was No. 4, as its WSI was 4.36, and it was followed by Chrysler (4.35), Acura (4.19), Honda (4.18) and Buick (4.15) in spots Nos. 5-8, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 was Dodge (4.13) and Nissan (4.11).

The average WSI score was 4.05.

In the purchasing experience category Mercedes-Benz was again top of the list, but shared the spot with Dodge, as each scored 4.83. Lexus was next (4.78).

Across the board, all brands combined to have an average purchasing WSI score of 4.27.

Continuing on, the browsing category looked at women who visited a store but did not buy a vehicle that specific day. Mercedes-Benz took top honors once more, with a score of 4.52.

It was followed by Mazda (4.15) and Nissan (4.09). The average browsing score was 3.72.

Finally, Acura took the No. 1 ranking in the service arena with a score of 4.80. The average score was 3.91.

After Acura, BMW and Mercedes-Benz were tied in second (4.57).

The complete lists are as follows:

Overall

1. Mercedes: 4.68                  

2. Jeep: 4.41

3. Lexus: 4.37

4. BMW: 4.36

5. Chrysler: 4.35

6. Acura: 4.19

7. Honda: 4.18 

8. Buick: 4.15

9. Dodge: 4.13

10. Nissan: 4.11

11. Mazda: 4.03

12. Hyundai:  3.94

13. Chevrolet: 3.93

14. Subaru: 3.91

15. Ford: 3.86

16. Lincoln: 3.86

17. Toyota: 3.85

18. Volkswagen: 3.73

19. GMC: 3.70

20. Kia: 3.49

*Officials indicated that, "Some brands are not represented in this report because they are no longer being marketed and sold in 2010 and beyond, or due to lack of statistically significant data."

Purchasing

1. Mercedes and Dodge: 4.83

2. Lexus: 4.78

3. Chrysler: 4.64

4. Kia:  4.62

5. Jeep: 4.45

6. Buick: 4.44

7. Toyota: 4.32

8. Mazda:  4.30

9. Nissan: 4.29

10. Chevrolet: 4.25

Browsing

1. Mercedes: 4.52

2. Mazda: 4.15

3. Nissan: 4.09

4. Kia: 4.07

5. Jeep: 4.03

6. Chevrolet: 3.92

7. Dodge: 3.91

8. Chrysler: 3.79

9. Acura and Ford: 3.75

10. Volkswagen: 3.73

Service

1. Acura: 4.80

2. BMW and Mercedes: 4.57

3. Honda: 4.54

4. Chrysler: 4.47

5. Lexus: 4.29

6. Buick: 4.25

7. Subaru: 4.05

8. Nissan and Volkswagen: 3.88

9. Toyota: 3.76

10. Chevrolet and Ford: 3.58