Quality of new cars have improved -Survey

The 2010 initial quality study by JD Power and Associates and CAR Magazine, shows initial quality averages have improved by almost 25 percent for passenger vehicles in South Africa, from 245 problems per 100 vehicles in 2008 to 184 problems last year. The improvement in average initial quality for bakkies was even greater in the […]

The 2010 initial quality study by JD Power and Associates and CAR Magazine, shows initial quality averages have improved by almost 25 percent for passenger vehicles in South Africa, from 245 problems per 100 vehicles in 2008 to 184 problems last year.

The improvement in average initial quality for bakkies was even greater in the same period, improving by almost 33 percent from 333 problems per 100 vehicles to 227 problems last year. The study revealed that the quality gap between passenger cars and bakkies narrowed by more than 50 percent between 2008 and last year.

Brian Walters, the vice-president of JD Power and Associates Europe and Africa research operations, attributed the improvement in new vehicle quality to a combination of widespread improvement in existing models and the phasing out of old designs that had lower levels of initial quality.

This trend was also evident in a similar study done by market research company Synovate, which reported in November that there was an average of 81 problems per 100 vehicles last year across the various brands, which equated to 0.8 problems a vehicle, compared with 182 problems per 100 vehicles in 2001, which amounted to almost two problems a vehicle.

The top five car brands in terms of initial quality in the JD Power and Associates study were Mercedes-Benz, with 103 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Honda (121), Audi (133), BMW (138) and Mazda (142).

The five worst-performing car bands in terms of initial quality were Renault (285), Nissan (260), Ford (212), Daihatsu (200) and Chevrolet (200).

The study is a customer-driven measure of problems experienced during the first three to seven months of ownership and examines 228 individual problem symptoms across nine factors.

All problems are identified as the number reported per 100 vehicles (PP100), with lower scores indicating fewer problems and better quality.

Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s East London assembly plant, which produces the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, was ranked the best of the South African plants in initial quality for the third consecutive year.

It was followed by Toyota South Africa’s plant in Prospecton in Durban and General Motors South Africa’s plant in Struandale in Port Elizabeth.

Vehicle assembly plants are ranked based solely on the number of defects and malfunctions in vehicles produced at that specific plant.

The top bakkie producer in terms of initial quality was Toyota with 165 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Opel (200), Isuzu (215), Ford (264) and Nissan (288).

The 2010 study was based on a representative sample of more than 7 700 new vehicle owners who purchased their vehicles between November 2009 and June last year

Walters said the study found that the number of quality problems experienced had a direct impact on customer recommendation rates. – Business Report

Culled from www.iol.co.za