Automotive Industry Improves 5 Percent Overall in Initial Quality
6 May 1999
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Automotive Industry Improves 5 Percent Overall in Initial Quality, With Car Quality Still Outpacing Light TrucksAGOURA HILLS, Calif., May 5 -- Cars significantly outpace light trucks in initial quality despite a growing customer trend of replacing cars with light trucks, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Initial Quality Study 2(SM) (IQS2) released today. "Many new light-truck owners expect to experience car-like quality in their new vehicles, specifically in the SUV segment," said Jacques daCosta, senior manager of product research at J.D. Power and Associates. "The challenge for vehicle manufacturers is to take lessons learned in car quality and apply them to light trucks as more and more car owners migrate to light trucks." After stalling for two years, initial vehicle quality within the automotive industry improved this year by 5 percent compared to 1998 study results. According to the study, Toyota captures a total of eight awards, including two plant awards. The Toyota Corolla, 4Runner, Land Cruiser and Sienna top their segments in initial quality, while the Lexus LS 400 continues to set the standard for initial quality, earning the distinction as the best Premium Luxury car for the third consecutive year. The Lexus LX 470 also earns the top ranking in the Luxury SUV category despite its first year in the study. "Toyota is an example of a manufacturer that has applied lessons learned on luxury makes and translated that across model line-ups," said daCosta. "These results are another reinforcement that their customers agree with what they are doing." Other notable results of the study include the performance of General Motors in capturing the top three positions in the Premium Midsize segment led by the Chevrolet Lumina, which achieved its first-ever initial quality award. The U.S.-built Nissan Altima topped the Entry Midsize segment after placing second last year. The study also shows that manufacturing plants from General Motors and Toyota stand out. GM's Flint, Michigan, assembly plant and Toyota's Tahara, Japan, assembly plant tie for the Platinum plant award based on the Buick LeSabre, Pontiac Bonneville and the Toyota Celica and Lexus LS 400 and GS sedans, respectively. Also in North America, the GM-Toyota joint venture, New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) car plant in Fremont, Calif., receives the Silver plant award based on the Corolla and Prizm models, while GM's Oshawa-1 assembly plant receives the Bronze based on the Lumina and Monte Carlo models. In Asia, Honda and Toyota assembly plants continue to build their reputations for initial quality, with Honda's Sayama, Japan, car plant receiving the Silver award in a tie with Toyota's Tsutsumi, Japan, plant. Honda's Sayama plant award is based on the RL, Accord and Prelude models, while Toyota's Tsutsumi plant is recognized for the Lexus ES 300 and the Camry models. In Europe, BMW's Dingolfing, Germany, assembly plant receives the Gold award, based on the BMW 5 and 7 Series models. Jaguar's Browns Lane, United Kingdom, assembly plant receives the Silver award, based on the Jaguar XK8 and XJ models, representing Jaguar's first-ever plant award. Mercedes-Benz's Sindelfingen, Germany, assembly plant captures the Bronze award, based on the C, CL, E and S-Class models. The 1999 Initial Quality Study 2 is based on 41,004 owners of 1999 model- year vehicles and monitors the number of problems new-vehicle owners face during the first three months of ownership. The study is the industry standard benchmark of initial vehicle quality and is based on problems-per-100 vehicles covering 135 specific problem areas across nine problem categories. Headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on actual customer responses from more than one million consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates has U.S. offices in Dallas; Detroit; Torrance, Calif.; and Westport, Conn. The firm also has international offices serving Canada, the United Kingdom/Europe and the Asia Pacific region. J.D. Power and Associates can be accessed through the World Wide Web at http://www.jdpower.com. Media e-mail contact: john.pepitone@jdpower. This press release is provided for editorial use only. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates survey results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Initial Quality Study 2(SM) Top Three Vehicles Per Segment in Initial Quality Car Segments Truck Segments Compact Car Compact Pickup Best: Toyota Corolla Best: Dodge Dakota Saturn SW Wagon Mazda B-Series Nissan Sentra Ford Ranger Entry Midsize Car Full-Size Pickup Best: Nissan Altima Best: Ford F-Series Light Duty Plymouth Breeze Dodge Ram Pickup Dodge Stratus Ford F-250 Super Duty Premium Midsize Car Mini Sport Utility Vehicle Best: Chevrolet Lumina Best: Honda CR-V Buick LeSabre Subaru Forester Buick Century Toyota RAV4 Sporty Car* Compact Sport Utility Vehicle Best: Acura Integra Best: Toyota 4Runner Honda Prelude Dodge Durango Mazda Miata Ford Explorer Entry Luxury Car Full-Size Sport Utility Vehicle Best: Infiniti I 30 Best: Toyota Land Cruiser Saab 9-5 Chevrolet Tahoe Mercedes-Benz C-Class Ford Expedition Premium Luxury Car* Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle Best: Lexus LS 400 Best: Lexus LX 470 Acura RL Infiniti QX4 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Lexus RX 300 Sports Car Compact Van Best: Mercedes-Benz SLK Best: Toyota Sienna Chevrolet Corvette Chrysler Town & Country Porsche Boxster Plymouth Voyager Source: J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Initial Quality Study 2(SM) * Note: These award segment scores are a weighted average of two segments: Entry and Mid-Sporty make up the Sporty Car award and Traditional Luxury and International Luxury make up the Premium Luxury award. Charts and graphs extracted from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying J.D. Power and Associates as the publisher and the J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Initial Quality Study 2(SM) as the source. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates survey results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Initial Quality Study 2(SM) 1999 Assembly Plant Awards Based on Vehicles Produced for U.S. Market Platinum Awards General Motors -- Flint, Michigan 102 Toyota -- Tahara, Japan 102 North America NUMMI (Car) -- Fremont -- Silver 111 General Motors -- Oshawa-1 -- Bronze 115 Europe BMW -- Dingolfing -- Gold 107 Jaguar -- Browns Lane -- Silver 110 Mercedes-Benz -- Sindelfingen -- Bronze 121 Asia Honda (Car) -- Sayama, Japan -- Silver 105 Toyota -- Tsutsumi, Japan -- Silver 105 Source: J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Initial Quality Study 2(SM) Charts and graphs extracted from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying J.D. Power and Associates as the publisher and the J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Initial Quality Study 2(SM) as the source. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates survey results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates.