Detroit is still in the fight!

Thought this was a pretty interesting article.


The headline in this newspaper - Toyota and GM lead in quality survey -
said it all. At a time when General Motors Corp. is taking one body
blow after another, it was interesting to see that at least the
company's efforts to produce high quality vehicles are being
recognized.

Though GM did not have as many segment leaders as Toyota in the J.D.
Power initial quality study and ranked lower overall, it had more
winners than any other automaker. A closer look at the report reveals
that much of Toyota's success is based on its Lexus products. This is
not to diminish Lexus; winning first place in five market segments is
an outstanding achievement. But Toyota's relatively poor showing is
significant. Aside from the Prius winning the compact car segment (and
the Corolla appearing as a runner-up), the only Toyota-badged vehicles
to take top spots, or even appear in the rankings as runners up, were
all trucks, such the Sienna minivan and 4Runner and RAV4.

Look at the high volume car segments and GM dominates; entry midsize
car winner is the Chevrolet Malibu/Maxx, the premium midsize car award
goes to the Buick Century, with two GM vehicles in runner up positions,
and the Buick LeSabre takes top spot in the full size category.

Notably absent in any of these car categories are any Toyota or Honda
or Nissan products. Where, one might ask, is the mighty Toyota Camry or
the Honda Accord? Equally worrying from the Japanese automakers' point
of view should be the appearance of the Hyundai Sonata as a runner up
in the entry mid-size car.

The Malibu's win in its segment was especially impressive considering
that it is a new model and typically first year teething problems
undermine new vehicles in the study.

To a certain extent, this phenomenon was responsible for an overall
slip in the study by Chrysler and Dodge brands, which both launched
several new models over the last year. On the other hand Chrysler
Group's Jeep brand performed well overall and parent DaimlerChrysler
AG's Mercedes marque pulled itself back up to fifth place overall among
brands, tied with Cadillac (which continued to make a strong showing.)

As for Ford Motor Co. the picture was mixed; its luxury brand Jaguar
scored very well, second only to Lexus in the overall brand rankings.
Ford's Lincoln division also made a credible showing, but ratings of
the Volvo and Mercury nameplates slipped. Among Ford's own products,
the Five Hundred, F-150, Explorer Sport Trac, Ranger and Mustang all
appeared either as winners or runners up in their segments. But the
automaker's overall ranking slipped and was below the industry average,
as were GM and DaimlerChrysler.

The final word should go to GM's Hummer brand, which did a miraculous
job of improving from dead last in last year's survey to a strong
position just behind Nissan's Infiniti division and the other luxury
nameplates. Reportedly one reason for the turnaround is that Hummer
dealers have been making buyers aware of their vehicles' relatively low
gas mileage. Apparently Hummer buyers in the last survey complained
about their fuel consumption, a flaw that helped undermine the brand's
score. I still find it puzzling that an intelligent buyer of an H1 or
H2 Hummer could seriously be surprised by the fuel economy of these
vehicles. Perhaps it just goes to show the fickle nature of the
American consumer.

Patrick
'93 Cobra

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thought this was a pretty interesting article.
>
>
> The headline in this newspaper - Toyota and GM lead in quality survey -
> said it all. At a time when General Motors Corp. is taking one body
> blow after another, it was interesting to see that at least the
> company's efforts to produce high quality vehicles are being
> recognized.
>
> Though GM did not have as many segment leaders as Toyota in the J.D.
> Power initial quality study and ranked lower overall, it had more
> winners than any other automaker. A closer look at the report reveals
> that much of Toyota's success is based on its Lexus products. This is
> not to diminish Lexus; winning first place in five market segments is
> an outstanding achievement. But Toyota's relatively poor showing is
> significant. Aside from the Prius winning the compact car segment (and
> the Corolla appearing as a runner-up), the only Toyota-badged vehicles
> to take top spots, or even appear in the rankings as runners up, were
> all trucks, such the Sienna minivan and 4Runner and RAV4.
>
> Look at the high volume car segments and GM dominates; entry midsize
> car winner is the Chevrolet Malibu/Maxx, the premium midsize car award
> goes to the Buick Century, with two GM vehicles in runner up positions,
> and the Buick LeSabre takes top spot in the full size category.
>
> Notably absent in any of these car categories are any Toyota or Honda
> or Nissan products. Where, one might ask, is the mighty Toyota Camry or
> the Honda Accord? Equally worrying from the Japanese automakers' point
> of view should be the appearance of the Hyundai Sonata as a runner up
> in the entry mid-size car.
>
> The Malibu's win in its segment was especially impressive considering
> that it is a new model and typically first year teething problems
> undermine new vehicles in the study.
>
> To a certain extent, this phenomenon was responsible for an overall
> slip in the study by Chrysler and Dodge brands, which both launched
> several new models over the last year. On the other hand Chrysler
> Group's Jeep brand performed well overall and parent DaimlerChrysler
> AG's Mercedes marque pulled itself back up to fifth place overall among
> brands, tied with Cadillac (which continued to make a strong showing.)
>
> As for Ford Motor Co. the picture was mixed; its luxury brand Jaguar
> scored very well, second only to Lexus in the overall brand rankings.
> Ford's Lincoln division also made a credible showing, but ratings of
> the Volvo and Mercury nameplates slipped. Among Ford's own products,
> the Five Hundred, F-150, Explorer Sport Trac, Ranger and Mustang all
> appeared either as winners or runners up in their segments. But the
> automaker's overall ranking slipped and was below the industry average,
> as were GM and DaimlerChrysler.
>
> The final word should go to GM's Hummer brand, which did a miraculous
> job of improving from dead last in last year's survey to a strong
> position just behind Nissan's Infiniti division and the other luxury
> nameplates. Reportedly one reason for the turnaround is that Hummer
> dealers have been making buyers aware of their vehicles' relatively low
> gas mileage. Apparently Hummer buyers in the last survey complained
> about their fuel consumption, a flaw that helped undermine the brand's
> score. I still find it puzzling that an intelligent buyer of an H1 or
> H2 Hummer could seriously be surprised by the fuel economy of these
> vehicles. Perhaps it just goes to show the fickle nature of the
> American consumer.
>
> Patrick
> '93 Cobra


True true. But I don't buy JD's survey. Never have. Owners rating their
own cars 90 days after they drive them off the lot??? I think you get two
types of people he the first, mad as hell cause they just paid a lot of
money for something that broke real fast or those that are in denial because
they just paid a lot of money for something that broke real fast.

Obviously, a better survey would be to ask (me) how my daily driver 1980
Bronco, semi-daily driver 1985 Lincoln or 1990 and 1993 Mustangs still run.
And the answer is very well thank you. Initial quality is just that. We
will see how many 2005 Hummers, Malibus, etc., are still running in 20
years.

Brad

"Brad and Mia" > wrote in
news:F0Ake.1464009$8l.1097433@pd7tw1no:

>
> > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>> Thought this was a pretty interesting article.
>>
>>
>> The headline in this newspaper - Toyota and GM lead in quality
>> survey - said it all. At a time when General Motors Corp. is taking
>> one body blow after another, it was interesting to see that at
>> least the company's efforts to produce high quality vehicles are
>> being recognized.
>>
>> Though GM did not have as many segment leaders as Toyota in the
>> J.D. Power initial quality study and ranked lower overall, it had
>> more winners than any other automaker. A closer look at the report
>> reveals that much of Toyota's success is based on its Lexus
>> products. This is not to diminish Lexus; winning first place in
>> five market segments is an outstanding achievement. But Toyota's
>> relatively poor showing is significant. Aside from the Prius
>> winning the compact car segment (and the Corolla appearing as a
>> runner-up), the only Toyota-badged vehicles to take top spots, or
>> even appear in the rankings as runners up, were all trucks, such
>> the Sienna minivan and 4Runner and RAV4.
>>
>> Look at the high volume car segments and GM dominates; entry
>> midsize car winner is the Chevrolet Malibu/Maxx, the premium
>> midsize car award goes to the Buick Century, with two GM vehicles
>> in runner up positions, and the Buick LeSabre takes top spot in the
>> full size category.
>>
>> Notably absent in any of these car categories are any Toyota or
>> Honda or Nissan products. Where, one might ask, is the mighty
>> Toyota Camry or the Honda Accord? Equally worrying from the
>> Japanese automakers' point of view should be the appearance of the
>> Hyundai Sonata as a runner up in the entry mid-size car.
>>
>> The Malibu's win in its segment was especially impressive
>> considering that it is a new model and typically first year
>> teething problems undermine new vehicles in the study.
>>
>> To a certain extent, this phenomenon was responsible for an overall
>> slip in the study by Chrysler and Dodge brands, which both launched
>> several new models over the last year. On the other hand Chrysler
>> Group's Jeep brand performed well overall and parent
>> DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes marque pulled itself back up to fifth
>> place overall among brands, tied with Cadillac (which continued to
>> make a strong showing.)
>>
>> As for Ford Motor Co. the picture was mixed; its luxury brand
>> Jaguar scored very well, second only to Lexus in the overall brand
>> rankings. Ford's Lincoln division also made a credible showing, but
>> ratings of the Volvo and Mercury nameplates slipped. Among Ford's
>> own products, the Five Hundred, F-150, Explorer Sport Trac, Ranger
>> and Mustang all appeared either as winners or runners up in their
>> segments. But the automaker's overall ranking slipped and was below
>> the industry average, as were GM and DaimlerChrysler.
>>
>> The final word should go to GM's Hummer brand, which did a
>> miraculous job of improving from dead last in last year's survey to
>> a strong position just behind Nissan's Infiniti division and the
>> other luxury nameplates. Reportedly one reason for the turnaround
>> is that Hummer dealers have been making buyers aware of their
>> vehicles' relatively low gas mileage. Apparently Hummer buyers in
>> the last survey complained about their fuel consumption, a flaw
>> that helped undermine the brand's score. I still find it puzzling
>> that an intelligent buyer of an H1 or H2 Hummer could seriously be
>> surprised by the fuel economy of these vehicles. Perhaps it just
>> goes to show the fickle nature of the American consumer.
>>
>> Patrick
>> '93 Cobra
>
>
> True true. But I don't buy JD's survey. Never have. Owners rating
> their own cars 90 days after they drive them off the lot??? I think
> you get two types of people he the first, mad as hell cause they
> just paid a lot of money for something that broke real fast or those
> that are in denial because they just paid a lot of money for
> something that broke real fast.
>
> Obviously, a better survey would be to ask (me) how my daily driver
> 1980 Bronco, semi-daily driver 1985 Lincoln or 1990 and 1993
> Mustangs still run. And the answer is very well thank you. Initial
> quality is just that. We will see how many 2005 Hummers, Malibus,
> etc., are still running in 20 years.
>
> Brad

Answer: Maybe a few dozen around the planet. Gasoline will only be
available through the black market 20 years from now.

I have the Malibu MAXX and I can attest to the quality thus far--12K.
I love this car and if it keeps up I will be singing the chorus
regarding Detroit's comeback.