- Jan 7, 2002
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Foreign brands swept the top rankings in a customer survey released today that gauged not only consumers' quibbles and complaints about their vehicles, but also how they felt about them.
Honda Motor Co. was the top-rated automaker in the 2005 Total Value Study by the California consulting firm Strategic Vision Inc. BMW's Mini Cooper was the highest-scoring vehicle, and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion brand racked up the best score for a single nameplate, beating out previous winner Lexus, also a Toyota brand.
The findings echo the results of other independent industry surveys, suggesting that domestic automakers are not yet delivering the winning mix of reliability, fuel-efficiency, affordability, prestige and overall attractiveness in their vehicles that some highly-rated foreign nameplates offer.
"You could list the hot products that Detroit has to offer without taking your other glove off," auto analyst David Healy at Burnham Securities said. "Detroit products are better executed, the quality is improving, but I think that as far as value for the price and appeal of the models, the imports still have the edge."
Among Detroit automakers, General Motors Corp. scored the highest, with winners in four out of 24 model segments surveyed. They included the Chevrolet Malibu Maxx in the midsize, multiple-function car market, and the GMC Sierra 2500/3500 in the heavy-duty pickup segment.
GM also earned high marks for fuel-efficiency, coming in second place after Hyundai Motor Co. among owners of cars with four-cylinder engines. Among owners of vehicles powered by larger engines, it also came in second place, after BMW AG.
"What they've got to do is talk more about their fuel-efficiency. They've developed a lot of technology that hasn't gotten attention," said Daniel Gorrell, a partner at Strategic Vision.
Ford Motor Co. had one winning entry, the Ford F-150 full-size pickup.
Honda had four segment winners -- the Acura RL luxury sedan, and the Honda Accord coupe, Honda Element small sport utility vehicle and Odyssey minivan. It won the top overall score, reflecting the high resale value of its models, fuel economy and technical innovations.
Owners of the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic gas-electric hybrids gave their cars the highest scores for fuel-efficiency. But the third-, fourth- and fifth-place winners were diesel-powered cars: the Mercedes E320 CDI, and the VW Jetta TDI and Golf TDI. They all earned more points than larger hybrids, such as the Ford Escape and Honda Accord hybrids.
"This says that diesel, in terms of fuel-efficiency, is a very viable alternative," Gorrell said.
Scion was rated overall best brand by its owners, who cited the affordability of the vehicles and the low cost of operating them.
Among luxury brands, Porsche earned poor marks in the affordability and standard equipment categories.
Other low-scoring brands included GM's Hummer nameplate, slammed for poor fuel-efficiency, and Suzuki, Isuzu and Kia. The last three received poor marks for technical innovations, reliability, durability and resale value.
Toyota's Lexus brand, GM's Cadillac and Honda's Acura nameplates won the highest marks for durability.
In similar studies conducted this year, Lexus, Porsche, Lincoln, Buick and Cadillac won the highest scores for reliability in J.D. Power and Associates' Vehicle Dependability Study. It polls owners after three years.
Lexus, Jaguar, BMW, Buick and Cadillac were the top-rated brands in J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Study of vehicles after three months of ownership. Porsche, Land Rover, Lexus, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz were the top scorers in its Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study.
For its Total Value Study, Strategic Vision surveyed 69,000 owners of 2005 models. It queried customers about vehicle ride and performance, quality and craftsmanship, fuel-efficiency and affordability. It also gauged their emotional responses, asking whether they felt confident and safe in their vehicles and proud to own them.
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0510/10/0auto-342898.htm
Honda Motor Co. was the top-rated automaker in the 2005 Total Value Study by the California consulting firm Strategic Vision Inc. BMW's Mini Cooper was the highest-scoring vehicle, and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion brand racked up the best score for a single nameplate, beating out previous winner Lexus, also a Toyota brand.
The findings echo the results of other independent industry surveys, suggesting that domestic automakers are not yet delivering the winning mix of reliability, fuel-efficiency, affordability, prestige and overall attractiveness in their vehicles that some highly-rated foreign nameplates offer.
"You could list the hot products that Detroit has to offer without taking your other glove off," auto analyst David Healy at Burnham Securities said. "Detroit products are better executed, the quality is improving, but I think that as far as value for the price and appeal of the models, the imports still have the edge."
Among Detroit automakers, General Motors Corp. scored the highest, with winners in four out of 24 model segments surveyed. They included the Chevrolet Malibu Maxx in the midsize, multiple-function car market, and the GMC Sierra 2500/3500 in the heavy-duty pickup segment.
GM also earned high marks for fuel-efficiency, coming in second place after Hyundai Motor Co. among owners of cars with four-cylinder engines. Among owners of vehicles powered by larger engines, it also came in second place, after BMW AG.
"What they've got to do is talk more about their fuel-efficiency. They've developed a lot of technology that hasn't gotten attention," said Daniel Gorrell, a partner at Strategic Vision.
Ford Motor Co. had one winning entry, the Ford F-150 full-size pickup.
Honda had four segment winners -- the Acura RL luxury sedan, and the Honda Accord coupe, Honda Element small sport utility vehicle and Odyssey minivan. It won the top overall score, reflecting the high resale value of its models, fuel economy and technical innovations.
Owners of the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic gas-electric hybrids gave their cars the highest scores for fuel-efficiency. But the third-, fourth- and fifth-place winners were diesel-powered cars: the Mercedes E320 CDI, and the VW Jetta TDI and Golf TDI. They all earned more points than larger hybrids, such as the Ford Escape and Honda Accord hybrids.
"This says that diesel, in terms of fuel-efficiency, is a very viable alternative," Gorrell said.
Scion was rated overall best brand by its owners, who cited the affordability of the vehicles and the low cost of operating them.
Among luxury brands, Porsche earned poor marks in the affordability and standard equipment categories.
Other low-scoring brands included GM's Hummer nameplate, slammed for poor fuel-efficiency, and Suzuki, Isuzu and Kia. The last three received poor marks for technical innovations, reliability, durability and resale value.
Toyota's Lexus brand, GM's Cadillac and Honda's Acura nameplates won the highest marks for durability.
In similar studies conducted this year, Lexus, Porsche, Lincoln, Buick and Cadillac won the highest scores for reliability in J.D. Power and Associates' Vehicle Dependability Study. It polls owners after three years.
Lexus, Jaguar, BMW, Buick and Cadillac were the top-rated brands in J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Study of vehicles after three months of ownership. Porsche, Land Rover, Lexus, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz were the top scorers in its Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study.
For its Total Value Study, Strategic Vision surveyed 69,000 owners of 2005 models. It queried customers about vehicle ride and performance, quality and craftsmanship, fuel-efficiency and affordability. It also gauged their emotional responses, asking whether they felt confident and safe in their vehicles and proud to own them.
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0510/10/0auto-342898.htm
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