I was reading some of the other SCBA blog posts from today and caught the one at Holy Coast by Rick Moore about the General Motors announcement that the General will be cutting 25,000 factory jobs over the next three years in order to help make a return to profitability.

Rick and I both agree that GM needs to address product concerns, but he disparages them for their lack of quality and I feel that they are mostly problematic with not having the “right” products at the right time. We both agree that the union contracts that GM is saddled with are terrible, especially their financial commitment to retired workers health insurance and pensions, both of which contribute to many hundreds if not thousands of dollars of cost per each GM vehicle sold.

But even though Toyota/Lexus took twice as many segments as GM in top vehicles per segment, I am happy to report that GM is fighting back on the quality front, and is doing pretty well in fact. Road & Track quotes the latest J.D. Powers Initial Quality Survey in their May issue:

Toyota and General Motors, the two largest automobile manufacturers in the world, took 15 of the 18 top model segment awards in the J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Initial Quality Study (IQS).

The closely watched report surveyed more than 62,000 U.S. owners and lessees of 2005 model-year vehicles and measures 135 attributes across nine categories, including ride/handling/braking, engine and transmission, and a broad range of quality problem symptoms reported by vehicle owners, Power explained in a news release.

In the study, Toyota earned 10 of the top model segment awards, with the Lexus SC 430 the highest-ranking model for the second consecutive year, at 54 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). Other Toyota models earning segment awards include the Toyota Prius (Compact Car), Scion tC (Sporty Car) and Toyota RAV4 (Entry SUV).

General Motors earned five top model segment awards, including those for the Chevrolet Malibu/Malibu Maxx (Entry Midsize Car), Buick Century (Premium Midsize Car) and Chevrolet Suburban (Full-Size SUV).
(…)
General Motors also swept Powers’ North/South America plant quality awards. GM’s Oshawa #2, Ontario, Canada, plant, which produces the Buick Century, Buick LaCrosse and Pontiac Grand Prix, earned the Gold Plant Quality Award. The Oshawa #1, Ontario, and Hamtramck, Mich., plants earned the Silver and Bronze Plant Quality awards, respectively.

It’s actually mind bending if you think back to the vehicles of 15-20 years ago and remember what they were really like. If you were driving in the 60s and 70s, those vehicles seem like they came from another age. Metal dashes? Sheet metal bumpers? Manual winding windows? Trunks in mid-sized cars big enough to sneak 4 guys into the drive-in? Points & condensers? Carburetors and manual chokes? Drum brakes front & rear? Planned obsolescence? Quality? Uh, uh . . . uh?

Having recently purchased a new GMC Envoy, I am happy to report that this is the first vehicle I’ve owned in a very long time that has had zero defects either on delivery or in the first month of ownership. That’s an encouraging way to start. BTW — another interesting point is that NONE of the top vehicles for any segment were German or European models. There’s been five Mercedes and two BMWs in my car crazy past. My, my . . . how the mighty have fallen! (db)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 7th, 2005 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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