J.D. Power: Vehicle Dependability Improves Industry-Wide; Caddy DTS, Porsche Tops
March 18, 2010
Overall vehicle dependability has improved 7 percent and for the first time in more than a decade, a domestic vehicle is the industry's dependability leader, says the latest Vehicle Dependability Study from J.D. Power and Associates.
Power's latest version of its widely-watched dependability study was based on 52,000 responses from owners about their experience over the last year with their 3-year-old, 2007-model vehicles.
General Motors Co.'s Cadillac DTS was the study's leader, beating all individual models with 76 problems per 100 vehicles; the industry average was 155 problems per 100 vehicles, a 7-percent improvement over the average 165 PP100 reported by owners last year.
Porsche was the overall nameplate leader at an average of 110 problems per 100 vehicles and Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln brand climbed six rungs since last year to finish in second place with a 114 PP100 rating. Overall, 25 of 36 brands improved their rating from last year and 14 brands performed better than the industry average.
Domestics, Toyota Doing Okay
Despite its recent safety-related recall issues, Toyota Motor Corp. once again made a strong showing in the J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study: the brand led all makers with segment leaders in four of the study's 19 model segments. Toyota's winners were the Prius, Sequoia, Highlander and Tundra.
Domestic brands captured four of the study's top 10 places - and seven of the top 10 individual models are domestic, either Ford or GM.
Notable brands below the industry average of 155 problems per 100 vehicles: BMW at 165; Chrysler at 166; Chevrolet at 176; Nissan at 180; Audi at 182; Toyota's Scion at 201 and Volkswagen at 225. The Jaguar Land Rover Group's Land Rover held the bottom position with a 255 PP100 rating.
Owners in the survey are asked to report the type and number of problems experienced with their vehicle in the preceding 12 months. Power said the problems are grouped in eight categories:
Vehicle exterior
The driving experience
Features, controls and displays
Audio, entertainment and navigation
Seats
HVAC
Vehicle interior
Engine and transmission
Lutz Validated
According to J.D. Power, several of the brands that posted solid scores in the latest Vehicle Dependability Study "are still trying to shake a perceived quality stigma." Four of the five brands mentioned with this problem - Cadillac, Ford, Lincoln, Hyundai and Mercury - are domestics.
Power's position seems to confirm the long-held and much-espoused opinion of GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz, who for years has railed that domestic brands have not done a good job of telling consumers how much domestic manufacturers' quality has improved.
"Producing vehicles with world-class quality is just part of the battle for automakers; convincing consumers to believe in their quality is equally as important," said David Sargent, J.D. Powers' vice president of automotive research. "It takes considerable time to positively change consumer perceptions of quality and reliability--sometimes a decade or more--so it is vital for manufacturers to continually improve quality and also to convince consumers of these gains." - Bill Visnic, senior editor
Photo by Cadillac
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:47 AM under Business , Companies , GM , Hyundai, Kia , News , Toyota , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
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