Research and Markets: Vehicle Body Styles and Interior Trends, 2004 Edition

DUBLIN, Ireland--Nov. 1, 20042, 2004--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c9179) has announced the addition of Vehicle Body Styles and Interior Trends, 2004 Edition to their offering.

The ever increasing use of electronics in modern vehicles has led to a variety of comfort and delight systems fitted across the segment range. Manufacturers expect that every conventional system that requires operating force will eventually be replaced by a self-powered version. This report initiates coverage of some of those self-powered driver comfort and convenience systems such as power seat adjustment, sunroofs, door mirrors and windows. Each chapter defines the technology, identifies the main players, reviews some recent sector developments and rounds off with a product forecast through 2007. All in all, this study includes 19 product forecasts for Western Europe, Japan and North America. Extract from the report - Introduction: Jump into any new mid-range car and you are almost sure to find power windows, steering, mirrors, sunroof and seat adjustment fitted as standard or optional. Come back next year and you might see the hand brake lever replaced with a button on the dash plus a few extra buttons on the steering wheel to activate the adaptive cruise control. And in a few years time, a clever voice recognition system will probably activate those buttons for you. For sure, the motorist's lot is becoming easier by the day. But satisfying them is not enough. The carmaker must delight them, too. Indeed, 'delighting your customers' seems to be the current rallying cry of business literatures, with companies being advised that the adoption of this goal is their only means of survival. According to researchers at Cranfield University, several definitions of delight are used, generally associated with exceeding customers' expectations to deliver the pleasant surprise that results when a product or service answers an unvoiced need.

Determining that satisfaction among vehicle owners was not enough, San Diego-based research firm, Strategic Vision have developed a new Total Delight Index. "The auto industry talks a lot about delighting your customers," said Dr Darrel Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, "but nobody had created a means of explicitly measuring this facet." This new metric is intended to help product planners develop 'delightful vehicles' that will beat the competition in a highly competitive marketplace. In 1995, Strategic Vision introduced its Total Quality Index measure to the automotive industry. It considered the whole vehicle ownership experience including the customers' emotional response. "We found that we had 'stretched' satisfaction while enhancing the measurement of quality at the same time. However, my new measure goes further," said Edwards. "A delight rating requires a more positive, complete response than simply 'excellent' or 'completely satisfied'. Important to understanding delight was uncovering that 'satisfaction', and even 'completely satisfied' meant that the manufacturer had fulfilled the basic contract with the customer. You can create an 'excellent' vehicle without delighting your customer. When you delight your customer, you create stronger bonds of emotional commitment to the product, brand and manufacturer. That leads to loyalty when the customer chooses the brand whenever possible."

Single-user licence edition

ii Copyright statement

ii Table of contents

iii List of tables

v List of figures

vi Acknowledgements

vii just-auto.com's research portfolio viii Incredible ROI for your budget - single and multi-user licences viii just-auto.com membership

ix Chapter 1

-- Introduction 1

-- Tomorrow's car 1

-- Report coverage 2

Chapter 2

-- Europe 4 2003 Frankfurt motor show 9

Chapter 3

-- Japan 14

-- 2003 Tokyo motor show 14

Chapter 4

-- North America 19

-- 2004 Detroit motor show 20

Chapter 5

-- New materials 24

Chapter 6

-- New interiors 30

-- Age concern 36

-- Reaching for the young 37

-- Tomorrow's interior 40

-- Appendix 42

-- Online sources of information 43

-- Free email newsletters 43

-- Other research reports 43

-- Global news and feature articles 43

-- Search the web 43

-- Your feedback

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