Friday, July 10, 2009

Buick & Jaguar Detrone Lexus on Dependability

Perceptions is one of the most difficult behaviors to change in people. Today, I am speaking about perceptions of automobile quality. Many people here in the United States think that American brands are inferior in dependability versus the Japanese brands. That was generally a true statement backin the 1980's and the 1990's.

This post is about the J.D. Powers vehicle dependability study which rates automobile reliability after three years of ownership. Generally, this study determines the long term reliability of vehicles by make and brand.

Lexus has dominated the J.D. Powers vehicle dependability study since 1986. So this is shocking news that Jaguar and Buick have tied for the top spot and surpassed Lexus on the quality front. J. D. Powers dependability study surveyed owners of 2006 model year vehicles. Jaguar moved up from tenth place, meanwhile Buick moved up from sixth position from last year. Owners opinions of a cars reliability after three years can be an impact on their opinion to repurchase that auto brand again.

Auto makers watch the J. D. Powers reports closely since a positive report can increase or decrease sales. Shown below is the Jaguar XF, which is a new model for 2009 replacing the S-type.Cars have improved materially since 1986 and Lexus and Toyota have set the pace. In the J. D. Power report Lexus was in third place followed by Toyota. Mercury, Infinity and Acura take the fifth, sixth and seventh places in the survey. The worst performing brand was Suzuki, which is a Japanese brand.

The Buick LaCrosse, which was the highest ranked mid-size car, has basically been a sleeper in the automotive scene. It is a conservatively styled and designed car. It competes well against the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Buick has been chosen as the GM division to compete against Lexus. Accordingly, the Buick LaCrosse will be totally redone for 2010 and looks quite impressive. Please see the June 3rd post on the 2010 LaCrosse.

This report basically shows that a number of brands are now competing with the Japanese on the long term quality of their vehicles. Ford has been on the upswing for the last couple of years...note the placement of the Mercury division. Credit does belong to Ford implementing the quality programs at Jaguar that developed this acclaim.

General Motors is increasing their quality at the same time.....the Buick division has been increasing reliability for the last five years. Many people have the perception that the American and British brands are inferior to the Japanese in quality. That may have been the case ten years ago but times are changing!

This story is based on an article written by Dan Strump the Associated Press news story.

12 comments:

  1. Hi Pete

    I have to say seeing Buick tied with Jaguar is surprising to me. I hope this wil help the U.S. Auto maker to gain market share.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Giovanna Garcia
    Imperfect Action is better than No Action

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  2. Hello Peter,
    That is impressive what they have done. Well done to them. That is what you call bringing up the bar and they did rise to the challenge Nice post.
    Dan and Deanna "Marketing Unscrambled"

    PS. You are on our Award List (like Hugo and Roxanne have done.) Visit our blog to see more.

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  3. Hi Pete .. both good cars .. especially if as you say the Buick is a Chinese favourite. Jags are good cars ..

    We've only got specialist brands left in the UK .. the others are owned by overseas companies, and we have one tooling company (GKN) left - tier one ..

    Gave a good weekend ..
    Hilary Melton-Butcher
    Positive Letters

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  4. Hi Pete,
    This is truly good news! We need to bring the pride back to buying an american car. You always seem to get the intersting scoops. Keep up the good work young man.

    Sincerely,

    Dr. Bob Moulas

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  5. Thank you Peter,
    As always great information. It is nice to know that these cars are making a turn around. The country as a hole will be better with them around and moving up in the markets with better cars.

    Dan and Deanna "Marketing Unscrambled"

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  6. Hi Pete ... that's interesting to know about the JD Powers report - I expect we have similar here in the UK .. but I don't know it! However, the LaCrosse is around here .. as I had to ask you who made it .. I've seen a couple in this town. Jag has a presence too .. and there are certainly quite a lot of those being driven ..

    It's good things are changing .. sets some different standards ..

    Thanks for telling me re the JD Powers report .. I'll have to watch out for it ..
    Have a good weekend ..Hilary Melton-Butcher
    Positive Letters

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  7. Hi Giovanna,

    Buick had been in the top ten for a number of years...most people are not aware. I think that this is one issue that will resonate with the public over time.

    Thanks for your comment!

    Pete Baca
    The Car Enthusiast Online

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  8. Hi Dan & Deanna,

    Congratulations to Buick for doing an exceptional job on quality! Hopefully, people will start to see that GM and Ford have improved their quality substantially.

    Thanks for your comment!

    Pete Baca
    The Car Enthusiast Online

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  9. Hi Hilary,

    The fact that Jaguar is at the top of the realiability rankings is exceptional. I can remember back in the 80's when you had to have a spare for when the car was in the shop.

    Now they make some of the most reliable cars in the world! Congratulations to Jaguar!

    Thank you for your comment!

    Pete Baca
    The Car Enthusiast Online

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  10. Dr. Bob,

    It is good to know that American companies are making highly reliable cars! Overall Ford leads the pack followed by GM and Chrylser is still a very distant third among U.S. manufacturers.

    Thanks for the comment!

    Pete Baca
    The Car Enthusiast Online

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  11. Hi Dan & Deanna,

    It is good that the American manufacturers are becoming competitive on the reliability front. They have been behind the Japanese for quite a long time.

    Thanks for your comment!

    Pete Baca
    The Car Enthusiast Online

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Hilary,

    The good thing about the JD Powers report is that the same cars are sold virtually the world over. So, there are some differences but the JD Powers long term report can give you an idea about the reliability of one brand versus another.

    Thanks for your comment!

    Pete Baca
    The Car Enthusiast Online

    ReplyDelete