Toyota drags down new-vehicle quality average; Ford leads Detroit 3 gains, J.D. Power says
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From: C. E. White on 17 Jun 2010 15:56 Toyota drags down new-vehicle quality average; Ford leads Detroit 3 gains, J.D. Power says David Phillips Automotive News -- June 17, 2010 - 12:01 am ET UPDATED: 6/17/10 2:36 p.m. ET DETROIT -- Dragged down by Toyota Motor Corp., the quality of new cars and trucks sold in the United States slipped slightly this year -- the first time since 2007, according to a study released today. But Detroit's automakers -- helped by Ford Motor Co. and some of the smoothest new-model launches ever -- have matched or surpassed Asian and European rivals in initial vehicle quality for the first time, based on the closely watched J.D. Power and Associates survey. For the 2010 model year, General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group averaged 108 problems per 100 vehicles, compared with 109 problems for every 100 Asian and European vehicles, J.D. Power announced at an Automotive Press Association luncheon here today. Models such as the Ford Focus, Ford Fusion, Ram pickup and Buick Enclave helped drive Detroit's gains for 2010, the market research firm said. Among segments, J.D. Power said domestic brands lead rivals in cars and pickups, while foreign brands lead in crossovers, SUVs and vans. Ford -- with 12 models ranked among the top three in their respective segments -- was largely responsible for Detroit's showing in the latest survey. The Ford brand, with less than one problem per new model, jumped from eighth place in 2009 to fifth this year -- its best showing ever. Ford is the highest-ranked nonluxury brand in the survey as well. Overall, GM's initial quality slipped, with all four brands below the industry average, though the automaker had 10 models ranked in the top three of their respective segments. Buick, with 114 problems per 100 models, was the only GM brand to improve in the survey. J.D. Power said GM was hurt by the launch of several new models such as the Cadillac SRX, Buick LaCrosse, and Chevrolet Equinox and Camaro. Chrysler's four brands all improved but still fell below the industry average, although the new Ram truck brand scored just below the industry average. Industry slips Overall for 2010, new-vehicle quality slipped industrywide to 109 problems per 100 models from 108 in 2009. The results are based on a J.D. Power survey of 82,000 new-vehicle buyers after 90 days of ownership. A big reason for the slight drop in industry quality was Toyota Motor Corp.'s Toyota brand, which slipped below the industry average for the first time, to 21st place, with 117 problems reported per 100 models. The publicity surrounding sudden acceleration in several Toyota models was top-of-mind for many new owners of the brand's vehicles, J.D. Power said. "Clearly, Toyota has endured a difficult year," said Dave Sargent, vice president of global vehicle research at J.D. Power. Overall, Japanese brands averaged 108 problems per 100 models surveyed, a tie with U.S. domestic brands. South Korean brands averaged 111 problems and Europeans 114 problems. BMW's Mini was the most improved brand, and the Ford Explorer Sport Trac was the most improved model. Overall, 18 brands improved and 15 brands declined in the survey. Detroit showing For Detroit automakers, the results contrast sharply with a year ago, when the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler underscored longtime consumer perceptions about the quality of domestic brands. "This year may mark a key turning point for U.S. brands as they continue to fight the battle against lingering negative perceptions of their quality," said Sargent. "Achieving quality comparability is the first half of the battle. Convincing consumers -- particularly import buyers -- that they have done this is the second half." The quality of new or revamped models continued to improve in 2010, led by product launches from Ford, Honda, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. In the past, new models, on average, experienced substantially more quality problems than carryover models. But in its latest survey, J.D. Power said more than a half of all models launched during the 2010 model year performed better than their respective segment averages. At the same time, the initial quality of carryover and refreshed models fell in 2010. At the top Porsche AG, which launched the four-door Panamera, was the top-ranked brand, with 83 problems per 100 models surveyed. It was followed by Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Ford. Honda, Hyundai, Lincoln, Infiniti and Volvo also finished above the industry average. Last year, Lexus topped the survey with 84 problems per 100 models. Porsche and Lexus have led the survey for the past six years. At the bottom of the survey, with 170 problems per 100 models, was Land Rover. Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Mini, Jaguar and Dodge also placed near the bottom. Sargent said the industry has nailed "the oily parts" of the car and truck, with engine, transmission and chassis problems all but extinct. But new technologies such as Bluetooth, navigation and cameras continue to stymie automakers and consumers. "The industry is still struggling to seamlessly integrate these features in a way that does not frustrate consumers," Sargent said. "It can be anything from a voice recognition system that fails to recognize commands or a bad sensor that monitors tire pressure." Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100617/RETAIL/100619882/
From: Scott Dorsey on 19 Jun 2010 14:51 Ashton Crusher <demi(a)moore.net> wrote: >It's really incredibly stupid. Toyota went from 1.08 last year to >1.17 this year in terms of problems PER CAR. No retail car customer >in their right mind owning one or two new Toyotas (or any other brand) >would consider a change of 0.09 problems in the first 90 days >something meaningful in terms of making a buying decision. There is >so little difference between most brands that the whole thing has >become ludicrous. Well, the thing is, NONE of the cars today have enough initial defects to be considered alarming... all of them are far better than anything made a couple decades ago. So, really, using initial defects to compare vehicles is useless because the defect levels are all in the noise floor. The problem is, though, that what I want to know is how reliable a car will be after I've been driving it for twenty years, and measuring that without first driving the car for twenty years isn't possible. So there really isn't a good metric for what I most want to know, and the metric that _is_ available is effectively useless. It's a sad state of affairs. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
From: Derek Gee on 20 Jun 2010 23:02 "dr_jeff" <utz(a)msu.edu> wrote in message news:BqydnfsimcxP2oPRnZ2dnUVZ_tednZ2d(a)giganews.com... > One problem with the JD Powers and Assoc. survey is that it combines all > problems. So, if there a problem with a loose screw in the dashboard or > the engine caught fire and the car is trashed, the problems are weighted > equally. Another problem with the survey is that these are owner reported > problems. So the owners of a particular brand or model of car might be > less likely to report a problem than owners of another brand or model. > Finally, this is only during the first 90 days of ownership. So if a car's > brakes completely fail, resulting in a wreck that destroys the car is not > reported at all. What do you mean by the last sentence? If the brakes fail within the first 90 days, it's going to be reported. Why would think it wouldn't? Problems outside of the IQS 90 days, would be covered by the JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study which would be three years from the current model year. (e.g. the 2010 survey covered problems with the 2007 model year vehicles) Derek
From: C. E. White on 21 Jun 2010 07:22 "dr_jeff" <utz(a)msu.edu> wrote in message news:BqydnfsimcxP2oPRnZ2dnUVZ_tednZ2d(a)giganews.com... > One problem with the JD Powers and Assoc. survey is that it combines all > problems. So, if there a problem with a loose screw in the dashboard or > the engine caught fire and the car is trashed, the problems are weighted > equally. Another problem with the survey is that these are owner reported > problems. So the owners of a particular brand or model of car might be > less likely to report a problem than owners of another brand or model. > Finally, this is only during the first 90 days of ownership. So if a car's > brakes completely fail, resulting in a wreck that destroys the car is not > reported at all. > > Jeff I actually filled out one of these surveys for my Nissan Frontier. They asked a lot of questions. What they put in the press releases is just a teaser. JD Power makes money by selling the results to companies, not by giving away the information. Too bad they don't share more of the information with the public - but then if they gave a way the good stuff, how would they make money. Ed
From: Clive on 21 Jun 2010 21:37
In message <08ydnQ8EnOV474LRnZ2dnUVZ_gqdnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net>, jim beam <me(a)privacy.net> writes >have you ever encountered the exploding chinese capacitor problem in >electronics? to the consumer, there is no difference in initial >quality. but a few months down the road, when they literally go >"BANG", you'll discover why the initial quality, which was prima facie >perfectly adequate, was in fact no indicator of subsequent performance. >same for cars, "initial build quality" makes no differentiation >between one vehicle with cheapo chinese bearings [for example] and >another with quality american. Those final two words were an oxymoron. -- Clive |