The article below comes from today's New York Sun. -R.S.]
American Automakers Lag Behind Asia in Quality Toyota?s Lexus Was Best Among All Brands in J.D. Power Study
By BILL KOENIG ? Bloomberg News
Toyota Motor Corporation led an autoindustry quality study for the seventh straight year, as American car and truck brands, even with improvements, ranked behind Asian and European competitors. The industry average was the best since the J.D. Power & Associates study was revised in 1998, the marketing-research company said. General Motors Corporation stayed third among the biggest automakers, behind Toyota and Honda Motor Company. Hyundai Motor Company led South Korean makers to second by region behind the Japanese. Consumer complaints in the first 90 days of owning a new car or truck fell 11% to 119 per 100 vehicles. Automakers watch the
18-year-old American study because it can sway buyers. American brands, which rely more than rivals on rebates and loan discounts, combined were behind Japan, South Korea, and Europe. Even with gains this year, ?Ford and DaimlerChrysler must raise quality if they intend to compete without the bottom-line-draining rebates going forward,? said the director of investments at PanAgora Asset Management in Boston, Brian Bruce, who helps manage $13 billion including Ford shares. American brands averaged 123 complaints per 100 vehicles, the survey by Westlake Village, Calif.-based J.D. Power found. Japanese brands led at 111, followed by the South Koreans at 117 and the Europeans at 122. General Motors? incentives averaged $4,388 a vehicle in the first quarter, while DaimlerChrysler AG?s Chrysler spent $4,301 and Ford spent $4,258, according to CNW Marketing Research in Bandon,Oregon.Toyota?s average spending of $2,581 was highest among Asian makers, CNW said. Toyota?s score of 101 was lowest in the J.D. Power survey and improved from 115 last year. Among the major automakers with more than one brand, Honda was next at 102, down from 126; followed by General Motors, which improved to 120 from 134; Daimler-Chrysler, down to 123 from 139; Ford, which fell to 127 from 136; Volkswagen AG, unchanged at 141; and Nissan Motor Co., which rose to 147 from 135. Honda had the largest percentage improvement among those seven companies, with 19%, followed by Toyota and DaimlerChrysler with 12%. ?We saw widespread improvement across the industry,?said the senior director of vehicle research at J.D. Power, Brian Walters, in an interview. ?You can no longer say all Japanese product is superior and all domestic product is inferior.? Chrysler in a statement called the survey ?further proof that our quality initiatives are being validated.? The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based unit said its score improved 11%. Among smaller makers, Hyundai cut complaints to 102 from 143 and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG improved to 116 from 124. Porsche AG worsened to 159 from 117 a year ago. Toyota?s Lexus was best among all brands with 87 complaints per 100 vehicles, up from 76 a year ago. General Motors? Cadillac followed at 93, down from 103. Ford?s Jaguar was third with 98 complaints, a 20 percent improvement from 122 last year. Cadillac is ?hanging right up there with Lexus,? said Mike Wall, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based analyst for consulting firm CSM Worldwide. ?Jaguar, who?d have thought it? Jag in the not-too-distant past was the butt of quality jokes.? For the second consecutive year, General Motors? Hummer had the worst score, at 173 problems per 100 vehicles. That was an improvement from 225 last year, when the most frequent complaint was about the fuel economy of Hummer?s sport-utility vehicles. The survey is based on responses from 51,000 people who bought or leased 2004-model cars and trucks. Among vehicle brands J.D. Power tracked, 30 of 37 showed improvement, Mr.Walters said. Toyota cars and trucks led in seven of the 18 vehicle categories, including four for its Lexus luxury brand. Honda vehicles were rated best in three categories. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler led in two categories each, and Hyundai and Porsche each had the top vehicle in one. Asian automakers increased their share of the American market in the first quarter to 34.6% from 32.8% in the same period last year, according to Autodata Corporation of Woodcliff Lake, N.J.The combined share of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, excluding their European brands, fell to 59.1% from 60.2%. The share of all European brands declined to 6.3% from 7%.Richard Schulman (for email reply, remove the "-xyz" part)
-- "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein