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Strategic Vision Total Quality Index
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
How brands scored in the consumer survey. Based on a 1,000-point scale.
1. Infiniti 898 (tie)
Mercedes Benz 898 (tie)
2. Cadillac 896
3. Jaguar 895
4. Lexus 894
5. BMW 893
6. Acura 886
7. Audi 883
8. Lincoln 880
9. Saab 880
10. Volkswagen 874
11. Volvo 873
12. Saturn 871
13. Hyundai 868
14. Nissan 862
15. Honda 861
16. Chevy 861
Industry avg. 858
17. Mitsubishi 857
18. GMC 852
19. Mercury 851
20. Chrysler 851
21. Dodge 850
22. Ford 850
23. Buick 849
24. Land Rover 849
25. Toyota 848
26. Pontiac 845
27. Mazda 843
28. Oldsmobile 838
29. Subaru 838
30. Jeep 838
31. Kia 830
32. Suzuki 817
33. Isuzu 808
Quote:
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DETROIT:
Emotions can trump problems when consumers size up their new cars, a survey out Monday shows. Volkswagen beat all multi-brand automakers for satisfying customers in the first three months of ownership, according to the annual survey by Strategic Vision, an automotive research firm in San Diego. Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti scored at the top for all brands.
The survey, called Total Quality Index, asked 40,000 owners how much they like their vehicle overall; how many glitches they found; how much quality they perceive in the packaging and performance; how emotionally attached they are; and whether they would buy the car again if they had the chance.
Both Volkswagen and Mercedes have scored poorly on rival J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS), which surveys consumers only on things gone wrong in the first 90 days.
"Often the things right with a vehicleó plus brand image in the case of Volkswagen and Mercedes ó can overwhelm the things gone wrong," says Strategic Vision's Dan Gorrell. "And this points to the importance of building in emotion and desirability to new products, not just reliability."
VW has topped all automakers the last three years in the Strategic Vision survey, even though sales in the USA are down 50,000 the last two years and its score in the Power IQS was down 15% last year.
Mercedes, which tied with Infiniti for first among brands in the Strategic Vision survey, improved from sixth last year. But it ranked 13th among brands in the IQS.
"We made progress in Power's survey, but we aren't in the top 10, which is where we have to be," says Mercedes spokeswoman Donna Boland. But Strategic Vision's Total Quality Index "shows we are on the right track."
South Korean automaker Hyundai, which vaulted ahead of the Toyota brand in this year's IQS, beat both Toyota and Honda in the Total Quality Index.
Toyota, which ranked 20th among all brands, "suffers from blandness and ubiquity, especially with high-volume cars like Camry and Corolla," Gorrell says.
But he credits Toyota with working on the problem by expanding its design resources in North America to cater more to American tastes.
Other key findings in the Strategic Vision survey:
* General Motors topped 11 of 19 product categories. Saturn Ion, Chevrolet Malibu and Corvette and Cadillac XLR were among the top ranked. "GM does very well with people who buy (its brands), but it has a long way to go to win over people who end up buying an import after considering imports against GMs," Gorrell says.
* Saturn and Hyundai ranked higher than Honda for vehicles priced below $23,000.
* VW, Nissan and Chevrolet were the only brands to beat the industry average for vehicles priced $23,000 to $30,000, the heart of the industry.
* Fewer than one in three buyers reported any problem in the first 90 days. Chrysler scored worst, with 5% reporting serious problems. Just 2% of Honda and Toyota owners reported serious problems.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
How brands scored in the consumer survey. Based on a 1,000-point scale.
1. Infiniti 898 (tie)
Mercedes Benz 898 (tie)
2. Cadillac 896
3. Jaguar 895
4. Lexus 894
5. BMW 893
6. Acura 886
7. Audi 883
8. Lincoln 880
9. Saab 880
10. Volkswagen 874
11. Volvo 873
12. Saturn 871
13. Hyundai 868
14. Nissan 862
15. Honda 861
16. Chevy 861
Industry avg. 858
17. Mitsubishi 857
18. GMC 852
19. Mercury 851
20. Chrysler 851
21. Dodge 850
22. Ford 850
23. Buick 849
24. Land Rover 849
25. Toyota 848
26. Pontiac 845
27. Mazda 843
28. Oldsmobile 838
29. Subaru 838
30. Jeep 838
31. Kia 830
32. Suzuki 817
33. Isuzu 808
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DETROIT:
Emotions can trump problems when consumers size up their new cars, a survey out Monday shows. Volkswagen beat all multi-brand automakers for satisfying customers in the first three months of ownership, according to the annual survey by Strategic Vision, an automotive research firm in San Diego. Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti scored at the top for all brands.
The survey, called Total Quality Index, asked 40,000 owners how much they like their vehicle overall; how many glitches they found; how much quality they perceive in the packaging and performance; how emotionally attached they are; and whether they would buy the car again if they had the chance.
Both Volkswagen and Mercedes have scored poorly on rival J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS), which surveys consumers only on things gone wrong in the first 90 days.
"Often the things right with a vehicleó plus brand image in the case of Volkswagen and Mercedes ó can overwhelm the things gone wrong," says Strategic Vision's Dan Gorrell. "And this points to the importance of building in emotion and desirability to new products, not just reliability."
VW has topped all automakers the last three years in the Strategic Vision survey, even though sales in the USA are down 50,000 the last two years and its score in the Power IQS was down 15% last year.
Mercedes, which tied with Infiniti for first among brands in the Strategic Vision survey, improved from sixth last year. But it ranked 13th among brands in the IQS.
"We made progress in Power's survey, but we aren't in the top 10, which is where we have to be," says Mercedes spokeswoman Donna Boland. But Strategic Vision's Total Quality Index "shows we are on the right track."
South Korean automaker Hyundai, which vaulted ahead of the Toyota brand in this year's IQS, beat both Toyota and Honda in the Total Quality Index.
Toyota, which ranked 20th among all brands, "suffers from blandness and ubiquity, especially with high-volume cars like Camry and Corolla," Gorrell says.
But he credits Toyota with working on the problem by expanding its design resources in North America to cater more to American tastes.
Other key findings in the Strategic Vision survey:
* General Motors topped 11 of 19 product categories. Saturn Ion, Chevrolet Malibu and Corvette and Cadillac XLR were among the top ranked. "GM does very well with people who buy (its brands), but it has a long way to go to win over people who end up buying an import after considering imports against GMs," Gorrell says.
* Saturn and Hyundai ranked higher than Honda for vehicles priced below $23,000.
* VW, Nissan and Chevrolet were the only brands to beat the industry average for vehicles priced $23,000 to $30,000, the heart of the industry.
* Fewer than one in three buyers reported any problem in the first 90 days. Chrysler scored worst, with 5% reporting serious problems. Just 2% of Honda and Toyota owners reported serious problems.