2008 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study: Porsche, Honda, Chevrolet among big winners

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Porsche, Honda, Chevrolet Among Big Winners in 2008 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study - Car News

GM and Ford do well, but Chrysler winds up near the bottom.

BY JOSEPH SZCZESNY June 2008

For the third year in a row, Porsche came out on top in the J.D. Power and Associates closely watched annual Initial Quality Survey (IQS) of vehicles sold in the U.S. by three dozen top automotive brands. (The complete rankings can be found on the next page of this article. Click here.)

Porsche, which makes its home in Stuttgart, Germany, came out as the top automaker in the annual quality survey, while the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen just outside of Stuttgart was named the top assembly plant. Porsche's Stuttgart plant, where the 911 cabriolet and coupe are built, came away with a "Silver" award as one of the best assembly plants in Europe, just ahead of BMW's Regensburg assembly plant.

Overall, Mercedes-Benz moved up one place against last year from fifth to fourth in the brand-level ranking, and three Mercedes-Benz models were among the top three of their respective segments.

However, vehicles from General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan also did well in the survey. For consumers, the survey is considered a good predictor of ownership experience throughout the life of a vehicle, even though it measures buyer satisfaction after a vehicle has been owned for just 90 days, officials from J.D. Power noted.

David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power's vehicle group, said the 2008 results reflected a steady "democratization of quality" across the industry. Japanese brands no longer dominate key vehicle categories, noted Sargent, echoing arguments domestic carmakers have been trying to make with only limited success. "All of the manufacturers are doing a really good job," Sargent said as he presented the 2008 survey results to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.

Individual Vehicle Accolades and Overall Improvement

The survey also highlights the best vehicle in 17 different segments, ranging from subcompact passenger cars to full-size vans. No manufacturer was tops in more than three categories, Sargent said. However, Honda, which seems to be on a roll this spring, won in the critical subcompact and compact car categories with the Fit and Civic and in the compact activity vehicle with the CR-V. In addition, the Chevrolet Malibu came away with top honors in the highly competitive mid-size car category, much to the satisfaction of General Motors.

"Initial quality in the automotive industry has improved significantly in 2008, with substantial gains demonstrated by nearly three-fourths of the 36 ranked nameplates," Sargent noted. Overall quality improved to 118 problems per 100 vehicles in 2008, down from 125 registered in

2007, added Sargent, who noted more than 81,000 consumers participated in the poll. "Due to some strong new-vehicle launches, in addition to a continued reduction in the level of defects and malfunctions, overall quality improved by six percent in 2008, compared with 2007," Sargent said. "This gain is driven not only by strong advances from many of the high- volume brands such as Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota, but also by very significant improvements by many other automakers.=94

Sargent added that the industry-wide improvement was driven by automakers=92 efforts to listen better to customer opinions and observations and to integrate the feedback into designing, engineering, and manufacturing better vehicles.

Flaws Now Blamed More on Initial Engineering, Less on Assembly

Where assembly plants used to get a bad rap in earlier surveys, many of the items buyers now find unappealing are design flaws that have to be fixed upstream in the vehicle development process rather than factory defects that are relatively easy to fix, Sargent said. "Considerable work is needed in design quality," around the industry, he said.

The introduction of new technology into a vehicle also is a challenge, he said. There are a lot of complaints about the integration of sound system and navigation screens. Manufacturers have to be aware of the challenges as they offer the new technology, he said.

Tom Wilkinson, GM spokesman, said the IQS results generally indicate GM's efforts to upgrade the company's models are working. "The Malibu was the fourth-best car in the entire survey," even though it was a brand new model, Wilkinson noted.

Meanwhile, Ford moved up to eighth place from tenth, while Mercury moved up two spots to sixth place, just ahead of the Honda brand, noted Ford officials. "For customers who make their purchase decision based on quality, Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles must be on their shopping lists," said Bennie Fowler, Ford group vice president, Global Quality. "It is gratifying to see our commitment to quality paying off in such recognition by J.D. Power and Associates," he said.

The one company that slipped, however, was Chrysler. Chrysler did have the top vehicle in two different segments=97the Durango and Dakota topped their segments=97but the Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep brands were in the bottom quarter overall among the 36 brands surveyed. The Jeep brand, in fact, was dead last. The bottom tier also included brands such as MINI, Land Rover, Saturn, Suzuki, and Saab. Chrysler spokesman Ed Saenz acknowledged Chrysler needed to raise the quality scores. "We're not satisfied," he said. "We know we need to do better."

Reply to
johngdole
Loading thread data ...

But the difference between the best to the worst is still only 0.8 problem per car. (Jeep's 167 - Porsche's 87) / 100

Reply to
johngdole

Plus, the system does not account for the severity of the problems. A car with a rare, but serious, problem (engine catching fire that destroys car) might make people less satisfied, on average, with the cars than a more common (but less serious) problem (car has defective blower motor switch, which does not require assistance of a fire department).

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Well poor initial quality is probably a good indicator of poor long-term-dependability, but not vice-versa.

Porsche's 2007 long-term-dependability was way below average (this is for models 3 years old).

Which vehicles are in the top ten for both IQ and LTD?

Lexus Honda Toyota Mercury

GM, Ford, and Chrysler should consider offering a 10 year bumper to bumper warranty for non-wear items, perhaps with a deductible in years

6-10. They need to convince people that their vehicles are reliable in the face of surveys like the ones from JD Power and Consumer Reports.
Reply to
SMS

GM and Ford do well, but Chrysler winds up near the bottom.

BY JOSEPH SZCZESNY June 2008

For the third year in a row, Porsche came out on top in the J.D. Power and Associates closely watched annual Initial Quality Survey (IQS) of vehicles sold in the U.S. by three dozen top automotive brands. (The complete rankings can be found on the next page of this article. Click here.)

Porsche, which makes its home in Stuttgart, Germany, came out as the top automaker in the annual quality survey, while the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen just outside of Stuttgart was named the top assembly plant. Porsche's Stuttgart plant, where the 911 cabriolet and coupe are built, came away with a "Silver" award as one of the best assembly plants in Europe, just ahead of BMW's Regensburg assembly plant.

Overall, Mercedes-Benz moved up one place against last year from fifth to fourth in the brand-level ranking, and three Mercedes-Benz models were among the top three of their respective segments.

However, vehicles from General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan also did well in the survey. For consumers, the survey is considered a good predictor of ownership experience throughout the life of a vehicle, even though it measures buyer satisfaction after a vehicle has been owned for just 90 days, officials from J.D. Power noted.

David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power's vehicle group, said the 2008 results reflected a steady "democratization of quality" across the industry. Japanese brands no longer dominate key vehicle categories, noted Sargent, echoing arguments domestic carmakers have been trying to make with only limited success. "All of the manufacturers are doing a really good job," Sargent said as he presented the 2008 survey results to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.

Individual Vehicle Accolades and Overall Improvement

The survey also highlights the best vehicle in 17 different segments, ranging from subcompact passenger cars to full-size vans. No manufacturer was tops in more than three categories, Sargent said. However, Honda, which seems to be on a roll this spring, won in the critical subcompact and compact car categories with the Fit and Civic and in the compact activity vehicle with the CR-V. In addition, the Chevrolet Malibu came away with top honors in the highly competitive mid-size car category, much to the satisfaction of General Motors.

"Initial quality in the automotive industry has improved significantly in 2008, with substantial gains demonstrated by nearly three-fourths of the 36 ranked nameplates," Sargent noted. Overall quality improved to 118 problems per 100 vehicles in 2008, down from 125 registered in

2007, added Sargent, who noted more than 81,000 consumers participated in the poll. "Due to some strong new-vehicle launches, in addition to a continued reduction in the level of defects and malfunctions, overall quality improved by six percent in 2008, compared with 2007," Sargent said. "This gain is driven not only by strong advances from many of the high- volume brands such as Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota, but also by very significant improvements by many other automakers.?

Sargent added that the industry-wide improvement was driven by automakers? efforts to listen better to customer opinions and observations and to integrate the feedback into designing, engineering, and manufacturing better vehicles.

Flaws Now Blamed More on Initial Engineering, Less on Assembly

Where assembly plants used to get a bad rap in earlier surveys, many of the items buyers now find unappealing are design flaws that have to be fixed upstream in the vehicle development process rather than factory defects that are relatively easy to fix, Sargent said. "Considerable work is needed in design quality," around the industry, he said.

The introduction of new technology into a vehicle also is a challenge, he said. There are a lot of complaints about the integration of sound system and navigation screens. Manufacturers have to be aware of the challenges as they offer the new technology, he said.

Tom Wilkinson, GM spokesman, said the IQS results generally indicate GM's efforts to upgrade the company's models are working. "The Malibu was the fourth-best car in the entire survey," even though it was a brand new model, Wilkinson noted.

Meanwhile, Ford moved up to eighth place from tenth, while Mercury moved up two spots to sixth place, just ahead of the Honda brand, noted Ford officials. "For customers who make their purchase decision based on quality, Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles must be on their shopping lists," said Bennie Fowler, Ford group vice president, Global Quality. "It is gratifying to see our commitment to quality paying off in such recognition by J.D. Power and Associates," he said.

The one company that slipped, however, was Chrysler. Chrysler did have the top vehicle in two different segments?the Durango and Dakota topped their segments?but the Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep brands were in the bottom quarter overall among the 36 brands surveyed. The Jeep brand, in fact, was dead last. The bottom tier also included brands such as MINI, Land Rover, Saturn, Suzuki, and Saab. Chrysler spokesman Ed Saenz acknowledged Chrysler needed to raise the quality scores. "We're not satisfied," he said. "We know we need to do better."

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Reply to
Shep

I'd guess just the reverse is true. When a car fanatic spends the big (ultrabig!) bucks for a Porsche, I'd bet he'd head to the dealership if there was a click in the windshield wiper, or a slightly crooked something or other that bugged him, whereas joe sixpack would ignore it. I used to be the roommate of a Porsche owner, and he wanted perfection at all times in any weather and was not about to put up with any imperfections.

Reply to
mack

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Reply to
Shep

But doesn't that also mean, on average, every Jeep has almost two problems for Porsche's one? That's not so minor.

Reply to
John Smith

Don't most people like the car they just bought within 90 days? Weak Statistic. Otherwise, it's kinda like admitting you're stupid. The meaningful information comes from those who have owned a car before and after the warranty is off. Not the non-manufacturer(exeption to the exception Kia/Hyundia 3/4 scale cars) exteneded warranty that covers only powertrain components except the ones you have go defective. As people tended to switch off from the domestics they were less likely to admit they bought a piece of crap. As people move to the latest fad cars they are less likely to admit their stupidity if if sucks. Again, 90 days means little when you consider human nature. Above average durability and customer service over the long run is what keeps customers happy.

GM and Ford do well, but Chrysler winds up near the bottom.

BY JOSEPH SZCZESNY June 2008

For the third year in a row, Porsche came out on top in the J.D. Power and Associates closely watched annual Initial Quality Survey (IQS) of vehicles sold in the U.S. by three dozen top automotive brands. (The complete rankings can be found on the next page of this article. Click here.)

Porsche, which makes its home in Stuttgart, Germany, came out as the top automaker in the annual quality survey, while the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen just outside of Stuttgart was named the top assembly plant. Porsche's Stuttgart plant, where the 911 cabriolet and coupe are built, came away with a "Silver" award as one of the best assembly plants in Europe, just ahead of BMW's Regensburg assembly plant.

Overall, Mercedes-Benz moved up one place against last year from fifth to fourth in the brand-level ranking, and three Mercedes-Benz models were among the top three of their respective segments.

However, vehicles from General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan also did well in the survey. For consumers, the survey is considered a good predictor of ownership experience throughout the life of a vehicle, even though it measures buyer satisfaction after a vehicle has been owned for just 90 days, officials from J.D. Power noted.

David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power's vehicle group, said the 2008 results reflected a steady "democratization of quality" across the industry. Japanese brands no longer dominate key vehicle categories, noted Sargent, echoing arguments domestic carmakers have been trying to make with only limited success. "All of the manufacturers are doing a really good job," Sargent said as he presented the 2008 survey results to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.

Individual Vehicle Accolades and Overall Improvement

The survey also highlights the best vehicle in 17 different segments, ranging from subcompact passenger cars to full-size vans. No manufacturer was tops in more than three categories, Sargent said. However, Honda, which seems to be on a roll this spring, won in the critical subcompact and compact car categories with the Fit and Civic and in the compact activity vehicle with the CR-V. In addition, the Chevrolet Malibu came away with top honors in the highly competitive mid-size car category, much to the satisfaction of General Motors.

"Initial quality in the automotive industry has improved significantly in 2008, with substantial gains demonstrated by nearly three-fourths of the 36 ranked nameplates," Sargent noted. Overall quality improved to 118 problems per 100 vehicles in 2008, down from 125 registered in

2007, added Sargent, who noted more than 81,000 consumers participated in the poll. "Due to some strong new-vehicle launches, in addition to a continued reduction in the level of defects and malfunctions, overall quality improved by six percent in 2008, compared with 2007," Sargent said. "This gain is driven not only by strong advances from many of the high- volume brands such as Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota, but also by very significant improvements by many other automakers.?

Sargent added that the industry-wide improvement was driven by automakers? efforts to listen better to customer opinions and observations and to integrate the feedback into designing, engineering, and manufacturing better vehicles.

Flaws Now Blamed More on Initial Engineering, Less on Assembly

Where assembly plants used to get a bad rap in earlier surveys, many of the items buyers now find unappealing are design flaws that have to be fixed upstream in the vehicle development process rather than factory defects that are relatively easy to fix, Sargent said. "Considerable work is needed in design quality," around the industry, he said.

The introduction of new technology into a vehicle also is a challenge, he said. There are a lot of complaints about the integration of sound system and navigation screens. Manufacturers have to be aware of the challenges as they offer the new technology, he said.

Tom Wilkinson, GM spokesman, said the IQS results generally indicate GM's efforts to upgrade the company's models are working. "The Malibu was the fourth-best car in the entire survey," even though it was a brand new model, Wilkinson noted.

Meanwhile, Ford moved up to eighth place from tenth, while Mercury moved up two spots to sixth place, just ahead of the Honda brand, noted Ford officials. "For customers who make their purchase decision based on quality, Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles must be on their shopping lists," said Bennie Fowler, Ford group vice president, Global Quality. "It is gratifying to see our commitment to quality paying off in such recognition by J.D. Power and Associates," he said.

The one company that slipped, however, was Chrysler. Chrysler did have the top vehicle in two different segments?the Durango and Dakota topped their segments?but the Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep brands were in the bottom quarter overall among the 36 brands surveyed. The Jeep brand, in fact, was dead last. The bottom tier also included brands such as MINI, Land Rover, Saturn, Suzuki, and Saab. Chrysler spokesman Ed Saenz acknowledged Chrysler needed to raise the quality scores. "We're not satisfied," he said. "We know we need to do better."

Reply to
Roadrunner NG

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This is why I can't possibly see how J.D. Power surveys are useful in determining anything other than initial quality which is what they are designed to measure. And I actually am a big believer in Porsches, I just don't think that J.D. Power results mean squat to anyone who's going to keep their car after the warranty runs out.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Absolutely. If I paid that much $$$ for a new car I'd expect it to be damn perfect. You're not spending all that money to look cool (hopefully) you are spending it because you appreciate engineering excellence.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Powers has a lot of importance. Look at all the advertising revenue it generates. It is also very important to know what the best car is for those that keep them for 3 to 6 months. If, OTOH, you intend to keep your car for

5 or 15 years, it has no meaning at all.
Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Consumer Reports has more meaning to the long term owner.

If the question is, how much service did you need in the first year of ownership, then JD Powers is the place to look. but when the question becomes, how much service did you need after 5 years, then Consumer Reports has the better answer.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

I agree.

And we keep seeing Buick at the top of the list, but we know it's the same shit that GM puts out under the Chevy nameplate, so it's not the car. In the case of Buick, it's the driver. 2500 miles/year at 25mph, never in the snow, and otherwise garaged--hell, what car WOULDN'T be top notch under those conditions?

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Good point! When one asks someone how they like their new vehicle, the response is usually not "I hate it!"

Kind of like asking that person what kind of a deal they negotiated on the car, people rarely say "I paid too much."

Also kind of like asking that person about their driving skills... regardless of their age, experience, gender, race, religion, ethnic background, level of education, financial status, or knowledge about the workings of an automobile, they all consider themselves above average drivers!

Reply to
Ray O

I only know of one person that actually said that. Cadillac Catera and after a week he knew it was not the car for him. Kept it about two years though.

I'm not just above average, I'm way above average.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Actually I can think of four vehicles I wish I had not purchased within 90 days - '78 Ford Fairmont, '81 Plymouth Reliant, '82 Toyota Cressida, '83 Mazda 626. The Reliant and Cressida were just giant POS's . They were by far the two worst cars I ever owned - but for different reasons, the Reliant was totally unreliable but performed well when it ran, the Cressida was both unreliable and drove like a POS. The Fairmont was reliable but I just didn't like it (too generic?). After driving the Mazda for 2 weeks I could never get comfortable in it and hated driving it on trips. I sold it to my Sister and she really liked it, so I guess it was just personal taste.

I don't think you guys are interpreting the survey correctly. They don't ask if you like the car, they you how many problems you have had. Unless you think Toyota owners are bigger liars than Chrysler owners, the results should be comparable.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Strickland" Newsgroups: alt.autos.toyota,alt.autos.toyota.camry,rec.autos.makers.honda,alt.autos.gm Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2008 6:43 PM Subject: Re: 2008 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study: Porsche, Honda, Chevrolet among big winners

JD Powers also has a survey that address longer term reliability (3 years). I suspect this is about as long as is meaningful. After three years I suspect owner treatment of the vehicles becomes a significant factor in reliability.

I've never had much respect for the CR survey results. I've answered them for years, but think doing so is largely a waste of times. The survey is far from random and they collect too little information to make the broad pronouncements given in the magazines. The little circles they display in the magazine are also misleading. They over emphasize the difference between vehicles.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

"C. E. White" wrote

All sort of holes may be poked into conclusions drawn from any survey.

The CR survey is as random as Power's ridiculously useless survey.

Based on the numbers surveyed, combined with the number of years covered, the results are most likely statistically significant.

CR explains precisely what the difference between circle coloring means.

Reply to
Elle

I agree, mostly. Any survey is dependent upon the sheer number of participants/respondants, and the more there are the greater the accuracy of the data. With any survey, if one throws out the top and bottom extremes of the response curve, the result should be relatively level and a reasonably accurate indicator of the overall feeling of the sample group.

I don't think that JD Powers and Consumer Reports will attract significantly different samples. They might ask different questions, and that might garner different responses, and this can result in differing views on the overall feeling of the groups, I don't see that either survey is better or worse than the other.

I would not follow the advise of the editorial staff too closely, except that they would have a good feel for the ergonomics, fit & finish, and comments about "feel good" stuff. They can not address the long term servicability issues, but they can accurately report on stuff such as noise in the cabin, relative power and performance, location of cup holders, etc.

But, when actual owners are asked about what they like and dislike about their cars, I have to give them far more weight for accurate responses.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

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