A new website has been launched by Citroen where customers can rate their experiences at dealerships.

Similar websites are common in other industries such as travel and many tourists rely on information they get from online travel advice from sites such as Trip Adviser.

The Citroen experiment will start in France, the UK and Germany. By 2016 more country-specific websites will be available in Europe in addition to Turkey, Russia, Brazil and Argentina.

The Middle East is not even on the radar yet for such services.

A company spokesman said that these websites are designed to provide customers with an opportunity to offer feedback about their dealership experiences by using a web interface similar to that of TripAdviser.

Other car companies do not have such websites.

There are of course test-drives and evaluation by journalists and professions bodies associated with the car industry.

But, the regional car industry still lacks an influential consumer voice that addresses both the industry and other fellow consumers.

In the Middle East region the market is somewhat fragmented and consumers do not have adequate outlets to let their views heard.

There are no strong consumer movements in the region.

Over the years, some issues were aired publicly by individual consumers such as shoddy services by some car mechanic shops in the region.

Sometimes, car companies themselves take awareness campaigns on safety issues.

Two successful efforts were publicized about need to wear seat belts and not leaving young children in cars even for short periods as temperature inside vehicles can rise sharply to intolerable levels.

The media helps too in raising awareness by highlighting dangers of reckless driving and need for consideration for other road users.

What is still lacking is a uniform forum for consumers to tell each other of their experiences at dealership, how they like and rate their cars and their advice to other potential buyers.

The best option is for consumer groups to take over such tasks, but car companies and the media can contribute to such an effort to give consumers the voice they need.

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*Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist, based in London.

Email: [email protected]