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.
Showing posts with label Jaguar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jaguar. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Maserati Gran Turismo
This will be the last of the luxury supercar posts for the short term, but they are cars that instill such passion. Passion describes today's post of the beautiful Maserati Gran Turismo!
The Gran Turismo is a true 2+2 coupe. It is not the fastest versus it's competition! It does not have a lot of the electronic gadgets found on much of the competition..no heated and cooled seats, no adaptive cruise control, no night vision, or overly complicated stereo system. It is a gorgeous car with a unique driving personality...it is an incredibly smooth driving car. What this car has in abundance is panache! Check out this Maserati video!
Maserati is an Italian manufacturer of racing cars and sports cars. Maserati was originally founded in 1914, and competes directly with Aston Martin, Jaguar and to a lesser extent Audi, Mercedes Benz and BMW. Maserati has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since since 1993. Prior to that Chrysler under Lee Iaccoca owned Maserati.
The Gran Turismo comes in a huge number of colors, nineteen exterior colors, ten interior leather colors and believe it six colors for the brake calipers. A 4.2 liter V-8 generates 405 hp., the performance numbers are approximately 0-60 mph. 5.1 seconds, with a top speed of 177 mph.
Pricing for the Gran Turismo starts at $117,500 USD. My take is that this is not an average persons car, but a car that car enthusiasts should aspire to own. It is car that people find very rewarding!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Jaguar XF
Today's post is about one of my favorite cars the Jaguar XF. I had a friend that had two Jaguars in the 1990’s. I inquired why he had two since he was single. He said that he really enjoyed his Jaguars but that he needed one to drive since the other was usually at the dealer for repairs. Since, then Jaguar quality has improved, see my post Jaguar And Buick Overtake Lexus On Quality.
The Jaguar XF was selected by Car and Driver as one of the Ten Best for 2009. The XF is the first Jaguar ever picked for this award in the twenty seven years that Car and Driver have given out the awards.
The styling is radically different from the S-type that it replaced. Gone is the traditional British styling, instead there is a new aggressive stance. I have to admit to being partial to the traditional styling with my S-type. But, the new styling is attractive! Check out the Ian Callum video who designed the XF, Ian Callum is an exceptional British designer. He designed the Aston Martin DB7, DB8, Vanquish, and Jaguar XK.
The driving dynamics of Jaguars has also changed during the period that Ford owned the brand. The XF is a now a dynamic, agile, athletic drive. The XF has a supple suspension meanwhile handling the curves beautifully.
The base 4.2 liter V-8 motor produces 300 hp, while the 4.2 liter V-8 supercharged has 420 hp. The 0-60 time on the supercharged motor is 6.2 seconds. The stopping distances are excellent at 70-0 in 155 ft.,which is sports car territory. For additional information see XF video!
The base price starts at $49,975, which is a good price compared to most of the competition, which have a V-6 equipped model to compete in that price range. The competition is the BMW 535i, Mercedes E350, Cadillac STS, Infinity M35, and the Acura RL. All of those models are rear wheel drive with the exception of the Acura RL.
Jaguar had been a financial drain on Ford Motor Company since Ford acquired Jaguar. But, Ford did have to put in a substantial amount of money to make the brand competitive. The bottom line is that they were successful!
The Jaguar XF was selected by Car and Driver as one of the Ten Best for 2009. The XF is the first Jaguar ever picked for this award in the twenty seven years that Car and Driver have given out the awards.
The styling is radically different from the S-type that it replaced. Gone is the traditional British styling, instead there is a new aggressive stance. I have to admit to being partial to the traditional styling with my S-type. But, the new styling is attractive! Check out the Ian Callum video who designed the XF, Ian Callum is an exceptional British designer. He designed the Aston Martin DB7, DB8, Vanquish, and Jaguar XK.
The driving dynamics of Jaguars has also changed during the period that Ford owned the brand. The XF is a now a dynamic, agile, athletic drive. The XF has a supple suspension meanwhile handling the curves beautifully.
The base 4.2 liter V-8 motor produces 300 hp, while the 4.2 liter V-8 supercharged has 420 hp. The 0-60 time on the supercharged motor is 6.2 seconds. The stopping distances are excellent at 70-0 in 155 ft.,which is sports car territory. For additional information see XF video!
The base price starts at $49,975, which is a good price compared to most of the competition, which have a V-6 equipped model to compete in that price range. The competition is the BMW 535i, Mercedes E350, Cadillac STS, Infinity M35, and the Acura RL. All of those models are rear wheel drive with the exception of the Acura RL.
Jaguar had been a financial drain on Ford Motor Company since Ford acquired Jaguar. But, Ford did have to put in a substantial amount of money to make the brand competitive. The bottom line is that they were successful!
The XF has brought Jaguar onto the world stage with a highly competitive and dependable car. In the end, I think that Ford will regret selling Jaguar to Tata Motors at a bargain basement price, just when Jaguar started paying dividends.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Jaguar and Buick Overtake Lexus On Quality
This Associated Press news story written by Dan Strumph came across the wires today . 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. A future post will cover the 2010 LaCrosse. Shown below is a 2008 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. Credit does belong to Ford implementing the quality programs at Jaguar that developed this acclaim.
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. A future post will cover the 2010 LaCrosse. Shown below is a 2008 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. 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. 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!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Jaguar XKR
One feature that traditionally separated Jaguars from the competition is the use of fine woods in their autos. Today, technology and performance are features of the brand, a beautiful example can be found in one of Jaguar's premire vehicles the XKR. The XKR is available either as coupe or a convertible.
Jaguar introduced the XK series in 1996 featuring the AJ-V8, which was the first V8 in Jaguar history. The XKR features a 4.2 liter version of that motor, 32 valve, 4-cam aluminum, supercharged V8 with 420 hp. The motor propels the cat from 0-60 MPH in 4.9 seconds. The motor defines power, just as a silky 6-speed ZF allows gear changes via steering wheel-mounted paddles.
The XKR is nimble and light due to its aluminum alloy bodyshell which is a rivit-bonded monocoque design that increases stiffness, reduces weight and improves road performance.
It also has Computer Active Technology Suspension (eCATS) which reads road conditions and automatically adjusts damping for an optimum balance of ride and control and delivers class-leading highway fuel economy.
The convertible version of the car has an interesting safety feature, sensors deploy a high-strenght aluminum hoops in the case of a rollover, creating a shield zone to help protect passengers.
Pricing starts at for the XKR coupe is $84,475 and the convertible $94,475. Check out this XKR video.
Jaguar introduced the XK series in 1996 featuring the AJ-V8, which was the first V8 in Jaguar history. The XKR features a 4.2 liter version of that motor, 32 valve, 4-cam aluminum, supercharged V8 with 420 hp. The motor propels the cat from 0-60 MPH in 4.9 seconds. The motor defines power, just as a silky 6-speed ZF allows gear changes via steering wheel-mounted paddles.
The XKR is nimble and light due to its aluminum alloy bodyshell which is a rivit-bonded monocoque design that increases stiffness, reduces weight and improves road performance.
It also has Computer Active Technology Suspension (eCATS) which reads road conditions and automatically adjusts damping for an optimum balance of ride and control and delivers class-leading highway fuel economy.
The convertible version of the car has an interesting safety feature, sensors deploy a high-strenght aluminum hoops in the case of a rollover, creating a shield zone to help protect passengers.
Pricing starts at for the XKR coupe is $84,475 and the convertible $94,475. Check out this XKR video.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
