Auto Quality Ratings Less Influential Than Ever Before
We are constantly waiting for outfits such as J.D. Power and Associates to tell us which car is the most reliable, but consulting firm 2953 Analytics says that these scores really don’t matter all that much.
The gap between the highest and lowest quality vehicle has been shrinking for years, and the managing director at 2593 Analytics says that consumers are more often basing their purchasing decisions on hard to measure factors like customer service, marketing effectiveness and the user-friendliness of in-car technology.
In the most recent J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, Lexus was the highest ranked brand with 73 problems per 100 vehicles on average, while the lowest was Mini with a score of 139 problems per 100 vehicles. Bernard Swiecki, a senior project manager at the Center for Automotive Research points out that both of these scores equal an average of 1 problem per vehicle for both brands.
In-car technology has already been known to increase or decrease car sales, a good example of which is MyFord Touch. Customers say the system it too slow, and is not easy to figure out, and because of this, sales of certain Ford vehicles have suffered and are predicted to keep suffering.
Customer service is cited by consumer reports to be a large factor, even more so than the quality of the vehicle. “How you treat a customer is really important,” said David Champion, senior director of automotive testing for the magazine Consumer Reports. “As long as you have some level of reliability, (a lower score) will be overlooked if you treat them right.”
[Source: Auto News]
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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