Re: GM is missing the point again
 

The fact is most ALL of the vehicle manufacturers fall within the
statistical average of 2%, which is the average number of faults for ALL
manufactured products. Naturally one will be on top and one will be on the
bottom in ANY list but a variation of .05% to 1% is in indeed meaningless.

What the customers should be more concerned about is the total cost to drive
the vehicle home, dealer service, shop rates for that service, insurance,
and parts costs, not whose brand in on the grill.

mike

"Rising Sun" <Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote in message
news:6cfe4cac44b46f92eb10fc79aedaea4a@pseudo.borke d.net...
> The Autobeat http://snipr.com/1n8lb
>
> ..General Motors and Chrysler tumbled down the list in J.D. Power and
> Associates' annual Initial Quality Study. The study measures problems
> found in the first 90 days of ownership after interviewing 97,000
> consumers.
>
> GM did poorly and a company spokesman argued that the survey doesn't
> matter. All of GM's brands finished below the industry average, which
> is 125 problems per 100 vehicles...
>
> The reason it doesn't matter, says the spokesman, is that the
> difference between top performers and the middle of the pack is
> statistically irrelevant. Toyota, which tied Jaguar for sixth with 112
> problems per 100 vehicles, beat Chevy by just 17 problems per 100 cars.
> He makes a point. Few consumers will notice 17 problems per 100
> vehicles. The Power study, he told me, is becoming less and less
> relevant because quality is reaching parity.
>
> There's some truth to that. But the argument naively misses a huge
> point. While some brands like Mercedes moved way up the charts this
> year and others, like Chrysler, tumbled way down, hot names like Honda
> and Toyota are in the top 10 every year. Every year!
>
> Consumers love and trust those brands. And those companies have been
> dining on Motown's market share for decades now. Sure, Detroit is
> close, by the numbers anyway. But consumers won't believe that Detroit
> is as good as Honda and Toyota until they beat them and beat them
> consistently in J.D. Power surveys, Consumer Reports studies, word-of-
> mouth recommendations and just general buzz. I'm sorry, why should a
> guy who's on his third Toyota or Honda buy a Chevy? Because the initial
> quality is almost as good and the disparity is statistically minuscule?
> There's a great sales pitch...
> ==========
> Rising Sun: http://snipr.com/eat_me_jarhead
>