How Does Automakers' Car Quality Rank?

The marketing and consulting company, J.D. Power & Associates just released its closely watched annual study of vehicle quality found Monday that Ford (F), General Motors and Chrysler made strides last year but still lag behind their foreign competitors.

At a time when Detroit is desperate to start turning out cars and trucks that people want to buy, the top two brands in the J.D. Power study were foreign cars: Lexus, Toyota's (TM) luxury line, and the Porsche. GM's (GMGMQ.PK) Cadillac finished third.

The survey measures mechanical and design problems that show up in the first 90 days of ownership. The 2009 models turned out by the Detroit Three improved by an average of 10 percent, compared with an industry average of 8 percent.

Toyota, which overtook GM last year as the world's biggest automaker, dominated the J.D. Power honors. It swept awards in 10 vehicle categories, and its plant in Japan that builds the Lexus SC 430 and Toyota Corolla took the award for top plant.

For GM, only two brands performed above average: Cadillac and Chevrolet. The four brands it is purging in bankruptcy protection — Pontiac, Saturn (PAG), Hummer (sold) and Saab (sold) — were also its worst rated.

The scores come during a tumultuous time for the auto industry, with sales at their worst level in decades and taxpayers stuck paying for part of the restructuring of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC to the tune of billions of dollars.

Although the two automakers have been pummeled by the economic crisis, many analysts have complained that a shortage of high-quality small car offerings has hobbled their performance in an already difficult market.

There's a message for what's left of Detroit's automakers in the new J.D. Power and Associates rankings: Get back to work, innovate and reinvent yourselves.

Comments

[TinyTim:]

"The survey measures mechanical and design problems that show up in the first 90 days of ownership"

useless. show me data on long term reliability and cost of ownership

Jun 25 01:43 PM

[J9:]

Hey - I work at GM in product quality and thought I would give you some additional insight to dispell comments that we're not working hard ... the two GM brands (Cadillac and Chevrolet) that ranked above industry average represent 70 percent of the total vehicles we build. Additionally, from a statistical standpoint, there is no quality gap between Lexus and Cadillac or Honda/Toyota/Ford and Chevrolet. In fact, Cadillac improved in its ranking from 25th to 3rd in two years and it is one of the top five most improved brands according to J.D. Power. Our Chevy Malibu is a strong contender in the ultra competitive midsize car segment in both initial quality and dependability and ranks above the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Furthermore, the total number of warranty repairs -- a true indicator of long-term quality -- have improved by around 45 percent over the last couple of years.

Jun 25 03:50 PM

[notsosmart:]

its not only the whole car its the internal bits that may fail as the same piece may come from different manufacturer in different countries.90 days is a joke.if they really stood behind the product you would not have to buy warranties(& then maybe warranties on the warranty cos).sell me a car thats guaranteed for 100,000 mi(with proof of proper service) without warranty gimmicks & small print & you will have a winner.i hope ford is smart enough to do this.i would like to buy a car from them.

Jun 25 04:23 PM

[J9:]

notsosmart ... upon purchase or lease of a GM model (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, GMC) you get the best warranty coverage available in the industry, at no extra charge. GM vehicles include a 100,000 mile / 5 year limited powertrain warranty that is transferable from owner to owner, no deductible, covers more than 900 engine/transmission parts, and includes roadside assistance and courtesy transportation. GM began offering this warranty coverage in the 2007 model year.

On Jun 25 04:23 PM notsosmart wrote:

> its not only the whole car its the internal bits that may fail as
> the same piece may come from different manufacturer in different
> countries.90 days is a joke.if they really stood behind the product
> you would not have to buy warranties(& then maybe warranties
> on the warranty cos).sell me a car thats guaranteed for 100,000 mi(with
> proof of proper service) without warranty gimmicks & small print
> & you will have a winner.i hope ford is smart enough to do this.i
> would like to buy a car from them.

Jun 26 09:20 AM

[jse17:]

Fool me 100 times, shame on them! Fool me 101 times.......SOS!


On Jun 25 01:43 PM TinyTim wrote:

> "The survey measures mechanical and design problems that show up
> in the first 90 days of ownership"
>
> useless. show me data on long term reliability and cost of ownership

Jul 02 09:37 AM