xcel
11-09-2006, 08:45 AM
Magazine reports American brands' reliability gradually closing in on Japan. (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061109/AUTO01/611090364/1148)
Christine Tierney - Detroit News - Nov. 9, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2007_Ford_Fusion2.jpg2007 Ford Fusion - One of the most reliable midsized cars.
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are improving the reliability of their vehicles as they design new models, but the domestics still lag the leading Japanese brands in overall comparisons, according to the influential Consumer Reports magazine.
Redesigned GM models such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon large sport utility vehicles won high marks for predicted reliability, based on the performance of the prior-model-year vehicles.
"This is promising for GM's full line of redesigned full-sized SUVs and pickups, which share the same platform as the Tahoe," the magazine said.
The Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr midsized cars also had top predicted-reliability ratings, according to Consumer Reports' widely watched annual survey, now on the newsstands.
But Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. still dominate the rankings, while Hyundai Motor Co. showed progress with several "newly recommended" entries such as the new Hyundai Azera and Sonata cars.
The results reflect trends seen in other surveys by firms such as J.D. Power and Associates and Strategic Vision -- a gradual narrowing of the gap between Detroit's automakers and the top Japanese brands.
Bennie Fowler, vice president of advanced and manufacturing engineering and global quality at Ford, said Consumer Reports' findings confirm Ford's own internal data.
"We're seeing a 25 percent reduction in defects over last year," he said. "It's a relentless focus on the details that's making it happen. The results are starting to show."
Jim Sanfilippo, executive vice president at consulting firm AMCI Marketing, said Detroit's automakers were close to closing the quality gap with the Japanese. "In terms of quality and dependability, I essentially see parity in the next product cycle," he said.
The domestic brands suffer from a lag in the perception of their quality improvements -- a handicap aggravated by the slower pace of their product development and model renewals.
According to Consumer Reports, some European brands scored poorly for reliability, but better in customer satisfaction.
Volkswagen's diesel Jetta won high marks for customer satisfaction, while the five-cylinder Jetta trailed near the bottom of the predicted-reliability rankings.
DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz is still struggling with bugs. "The least reliable vehicle in our survey, the redesigned for 2006 Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV, is likely to have 10 times as many problems as the Toyota Highlander hybrid, which debuted the same year," Consumer Reports said. Mercedes' R-Class wagon also was rated among the least reliable vehicles in its class.
DaimlerChrysler fared poorly in terms of coveted recommendations for its vehicles, gaining only four, while Toyota led with 23 recommended models out of a total 29 models.
Of the 47 top-rated vehicles for reliability, 39 were Japanese, six were domestic, one was South Korean and one was European.
The survey drew on 1.3 million responses from vehicle owners, the magazine said.
In its ranking of customer satisfaction, based on more than 400,000 responses, 26 of the 45 top-rated vehicles were Japanese.
Toyota's Prius hybrid was the most satisfying vehicle for the third year, with 92 percent of owners saying they would buy or lease one again. The Chevrolet Corvette followed in second place.
European models accounted for 11 of those with top satisfaction ratings. The domestics followed with seven, up from four last year.
The Best and Worst
According to Consumer Reports 2006 reliability survey, these vehicles scored the highest or the lowest.
Automobile type |Most reliable|Least reliable
Small cars:|Honda Fit|Chevrolet Cobalt
|Toyota Yaris|Nissan Sentra (2006)
|Honda Civic Hybrid|Volkswagen Jetta (5-cyl.)
|Toyota Corolla|Chevrolet Aveo
||
Family cars:|Honda Accord Hybrid|Volkswagen Passat (4-cyl.)
|Toyota Prius|
|Honda Accord (4-cyl.)|
|Ford Fusion|
|Mercury Milan|
||
Upscale/large cars:|Lexus ES350|Jaguar X-Type
|Lincoln Zephyr|Chrysler 300 (V-8)
|Hyundai Azera|Saab 9-3
|Acura TSX|
|Acura TL|
||
Luxury cars:|Lexus LS (2006)| Cadillac STS (V-8)
|Infiniti M*|Mercedes-Benz S-Class (2006)
||Mercedes-Benz CLS
||Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan
||BMW 7 Series
||Jaguar S-Type
||
Sports/sporty cars:|Lexus SC|Pontiac Solstice
|Toyota Camry Solara (4-cyl.)|Mercedes-Benz SL
|Subaru Impreza WRX|Mercedes-Benz SLK (V-6)
|Honda S2000|Chevrolet Corvette
|Mitsubishi Eclipse|Porsche 911, Carrera
|Mini Cooper Hatchback (2006)|Ford Mustang (V-6)
||
Wagons/minivans:|Pontiac Vibe|Buick Terraza
|Scion xB|Chevrolet Uplander
|Toyota Matrix|Saturn Relay
|Toyota Sienna|Nissan Quest
||
Small SUVs:|Toyota FJ Cruiser|Kia Sportage
|Honda Element|
|Honda CR-V (2006)|
|Toyota RAV4|
|Mitsubishi Outlander (2006)|
|Subaru Forester|
||
Midsized SUVs:|Toyota Highlander Hybrid|Mercedes-Benz M-Class
|Toyota 4Runner|Land Rover LR3 (V-8)
|Toyota Highlander|Mercedes-Benz R-Class
|Honda Pilot|Volkswagen Touareg
|Lexus RX400h (hybrid)|Jeep Grand Cherokee
|Acura MDX (2006)|Hummer H3
||BMW X5 (V-8, 2006)
||Volvo XC90 (6 and 8-cyl.)
||Ford Explorer
||Mercury Mountaineer (V-8 cyl.)
||
Large SUV’s:|Toyota Land Cruiser| Nissan Armada
|Lexus LX|Infiniti QX56
|Toyota Sequoia|Lincoln Navigator
|Chevrolet Tahoe|Hummer H2
|GMC Yukon|
||
Pickup trucks:|Subaru Baja|Nissan Titan
|Toyota Tundra|Ford F-250 (turbodiesel)
|Toyota Tacoma|Dodge Dakota (4WD)
|Nissan Frontier (V-6)|Cadillac Escalade EXT (2006)
Source: Consumer Reports.
Christine Tierney - Detroit News - Nov. 9, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2007_Ford_Fusion2.jpg2007 Ford Fusion - One of the most reliable midsized cars.
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are improving the reliability of their vehicles as they design new models, but the domestics still lag the leading Japanese brands in overall comparisons, according to the influential Consumer Reports magazine.
Redesigned GM models such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon large sport utility vehicles won high marks for predicted reliability, based on the performance of the prior-model-year vehicles.
"This is promising for GM's full line of redesigned full-sized SUVs and pickups, which share the same platform as the Tahoe," the magazine said.
The Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr midsized cars also had top predicted-reliability ratings, according to Consumer Reports' widely watched annual survey, now on the newsstands.
But Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. still dominate the rankings, while Hyundai Motor Co. showed progress with several "newly recommended" entries such as the new Hyundai Azera and Sonata cars.
The results reflect trends seen in other surveys by firms such as J.D. Power and Associates and Strategic Vision -- a gradual narrowing of the gap between Detroit's automakers and the top Japanese brands.
Bennie Fowler, vice president of advanced and manufacturing engineering and global quality at Ford, said Consumer Reports' findings confirm Ford's own internal data.
"We're seeing a 25 percent reduction in defects over last year," he said. "It's a relentless focus on the details that's making it happen. The results are starting to show."
Jim Sanfilippo, executive vice president at consulting firm AMCI Marketing, said Detroit's automakers were close to closing the quality gap with the Japanese. "In terms of quality and dependability, I essentially see parity in the next product cycle," he said.
The domestic brands suffer from a lag in the perception of their quality improvements -- a handicap aggravated by the slower pace of their product development and model renewals.
According to Consumer Reports, some European brands scored poorly for reliability, but better in customer satisfaction.
Volkswagen's diesel Jetta won high marks for customer satisfaction, while the five-cylinder Jetta trailed near the bottom of the predicted-reliability rankings.
DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz is still struggling with bugs. "The least reliable vehicle in our survey, the redesigned for 2006 Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV, is likely to have 10 times as many problems as the Toyota Highlander hybrid, which debuted the same year," Consumer Reports said. Mercedes' R-Class wagon also was rated among the least reliable vehicles in its class.
DaimlerChrysler fared poorly in terms of coveted recommendations for its vehicles, gaining only four, while Toyota led with 23 recommended models out of a total 29 models.
Of the 47 top-rated vehicles for reliability, 39 were Japanese, six were domestic, one was South Korean and one was European.
The survey drew on 1.3 million responses from vehicle owners, the magazine said.
In its ranking of customer satisfaction, based on more than 400,000 responses, 26 of the 45 top-rated vehicles were Japanese.
Toyota's Prius hybrid was the most satisfying vehicle for the third year, with 92 percent of owners saying they would buy or lease one again. The Chevrolet Corvette followed in second place.
European models accounted for 11 of those with top satisfaction ratings. The domestics followed with seven, up from four last year.
The Best and Worst
According to Consumer Reports 2006 reliability survey, these vehicles scored the highest or the lowest.
Automobile type |Most reliable|Least reliable
Small cars:|Honda Fit|Chevrolet Cobalt
|Toyota Yaris|Nissan Sentra (2006)
|Honda Civic Hybrid|Volkswagen Jetta (5-cyl.)
|Toyota Corolla|Chevrolet Aveo
||
Family cars:|Honda Accord Hybrid|Volkswagen Passat (4-cyl.)
|Toyota Prius|
|Honda Accord (4-cyl.)|
|Ford Fusion|
|Mercury Milan|
||
Upscale/large cars:|Lexus ES350|Jaguar X-Type
|Lincoln Zephyr|Chrysler 300 (V-8)
|Hyundai Azera|Saab 9-3
|Acura TSX|
|Acura TL|
||
Luxury cars:|Lexus LS (2006)| Cadillac STS (V-8)
|Infiniti M*|Mercedes-Benz S-Class (2006)
||Mercedes-Benz CLS
||Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan
||BMW 7 Series
||Jaguar S-Type
||
Sports/sporty cars:|Lexus SC|Pontiac Solstice
|Toyota Camry Solara (4-cyl.)|Mercedes-Benz SL
|Subaru Impreza WRX|Mercedes-Benz SLK (V-6)
|Honda S2000|Chevrolet Corvette
|Mitsubishi Eclipse|Porsche 911, Carrera
|Mini Cooper Hatchback (2006)|Ford Mustang (V-6)
||
Wagons/minivans:|Pontiac Vibe|Buick Terraza
|Scion xB|Chevrolet Uplander
|Toyota Matrix|Saturn Relay
|Toyota Sienna|Nissan Quest
||
Small SUVs:|Toyota FJ Cruiser|Kia Sportage
|Honda Element|
|Honda CR-V (2006)|
|Toyota RAV4|
|Mitsubishi Outlander (2006)|
|Subaru Forester|
||
Midsized SUVs:|Toyota Highlander Hybrid|Mercedes-Benz M-Class
|Toyota 4Runner|Land Rover LR3 (V-8)
|Toyota Highlander|Mercedes-Benz R-Class
|Honda Pilot|Volkswagen Touareg
|Lexus RX400h (hybrid)|Jeep Grand Cherokee
|Acura MDX (2006)|Hummer H3
||BMW X5 (V-8, 2006)
||Volvo XC90 (6 and 8-cyl.)
||Ford Explorer
||Mercury Mountaineer (V-8 cyl.)
||
Large SUV’s:|Toyota Land Cruiser| Nissan Armada
|Lexus LX|Infiniti QX56
|Toyota Sequoia|Lincoln Navigator
|Chevrolet Tahoe|Hummer H2
|GMC Yukon|
||
Pickup trucks:|Subaru Baja|Nissan Titan
|Toyota Tundra|Ford F-250 (turbodiesel)
|Toyota Tacoma|Dodge Dakota (4WD)
|Nissan Frontier (V-6)|Cadillac Escalade EXT (2006)
Source: Consumer Reports.