Quote:
javafour Quality of workmanship is another reason. US car makers have fallen way behind.
You may be right that this is a perception. Now, whether or not it is true is debatable, naturally:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080605/AUTO01/806050396&imw=Y
Ford, General Motors improve in quality survey
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. made impressive gains in J.D. Power and Associates' influential survey of initial vehicle quality, but Chrysler LLC continued to lag the rest of the industry.
Ford's Mercury brand passed Honda Motor Co., the first time in recent memory an American marque has outperformed one of Japan's top brands. And GM's Chevy Malibu was singled out as one of the best new vehicles of the year. But all three Chrysler brands ranked below average, with Jeep finishing last in the annual study.
"Ford has shown consistent improvement for the past five years, despite its restructuring," said David Letson, senior vice president of auto product quality at J.D. Power. "No other full-line manufacturer has done that."
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That includes Japan's quality stalwarts, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda, Letson said, noting that Ford's quality gains have consistently outpaced the industry.
Ford global quality chief Bennie Fowler said results reflect the hard work and commitment of Ford employees and suppliers, but he acknowledged that the car-buying public still needs to be convinced.
"Quality is permeating the whole culture at Ford," Fowler told The Detroit News. "But we know that we have a long way to go to win the confidence of consumers back."
The Ford brand rose from No. 10 last year to tie Jaguar for the No. 8 slot in this year's survey, which measures the number of mechanical problems and design-related issues experienced by consumers during their first 90 days of vehicle ownership.
David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power, presented the findings Wednesday to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit. He said that industrywide quality improved by 6 percent, with the number of problems per 100 vehicles falling to 118 from last year's average of 125.
Chrysler 'not satisfied'
Porsche was once again the highest-ranked brand, with 87 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Infiniti at 98 and Lexus with 99.
Mercedes-Benz tied Toyota for fourth place with 104. They were followed by Mercury in sixth place with 109.
The other brands in the top 10 were Honda with 110, Ford and Jaguar with 112, and Audi, Cadillac and Chevrolet with 113 problems per 100 vehicles.
Hyundai, Pontiac and Lincoln also rated above average, but Lincoln slipped to 15th from third.
Mazda, which is controlled by Ford, posted the biggest quality gain of any brand in the annual rankings. It tied GMC at No. 22, up from a second-to-last No. 34 in last year's survey.
On the other end of the spectrum, Jeep had the most reported problems with 167 issues per 100 vehicles.
The Chrysler and Dodge brands improved over last year, but were still below the industry average.
"We're not satisfied," said Chrysler spokesman Ed Saenz. "The new management here absolutely gets how important quality is."
Malibu wins a top slot
Sargent said the survey results are "a pretty good predictor" of long-term vehicle quality and consumer satisfaction.
That seems to be the case at Ford. Though the results of J.D. Power's own three-year quality study have not yet been released, an annual survey conducted by the RDA Group for Ford showed the same ranking among non-luxury brands.
Ford plans to release that report to employees today. A copy obtained by The News showed that just 0.6 problems per vehicle separated first-ranked Toyota from fourth-ranked Ford in the study of 2005 model year vehicles, which ranked Mercury second and Honda third.
Other automakers also use RDA's data, and its reports are generally a good indicator of how well a brand will do in J.D. Powers' surveys.
J.D. Power also ranks individual models by segment. GM, Ford, Honda and Toyota each took home three segment awards for individual models.
GM's new Malibu won in the hotly contested midsize car segment, an impressive achievement for an all-new model.
GM also claimed top honors in the large pickup segment for the light-duty Chevy Silverado pickup. The Pontiac Grand Prix received the large car award, although GM has since discontinued the model.
"We did what we said we would do," said James Hresko, GM North America vice president of quality, in an online chat with reporters following Wednesday's announcement.
"We had aggressive, ongoing follow-up with all functions involved, such as engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, supplier quality, etc., to ensure our quality requirements would be achieved. The Chevy Malibu is the perfect example that we can build a great car and we expect our future cars to do as well. The launch of the Malibu met our expectations and our learnings from it will be applied to the next launches."
Ford's E-series won the award for best van, while the Lincoln Navigator received top honors in the large premium sport utility vehicle segment. Mazda's MX-5 Miata won for compact sporty car.
Toyota won in the large premium car segment for its Lexus LS, in the midsize premium SUV segment for its Lexus GX 470 and in the large SUV segment for its Toyota Sequoia.
Honda's Fit won top honors in the subcompact segment, its Civic was ranked first in the compact car segment and its CR-V claimed the top slot in the compact SUV category.
Sargent noted that those are the segments consumers are migrating toward as gasoline prices continue to rise.
GM factory recognized
J.D. Power also handed out awards for factories.
Among Detroit automakers, only GM was recognized. Its Fairfax II plant in Kansas City, Kan., which manufactures the Malibu and Saturn Aura, received a bronze award.
The two highest-rated plants in North America both belonged to Toyota.
Its Baja plant in Mexico received the gold medal, while its factory in San Antonio, Texas, received the silver.
The Mercedes-Benz flagship factory in Sindelfingen, Germany, was the highest-rated in the world.
The survey looked at 2008 model year cars and trucks purchased or leased between November 2007 and January 2008. This year's results were based on responses from some 81,500 owners and leasees.
Detroit News reporter Sharon Terlep contributed to this report.