all over the board

2009年 06月 23日 11:13

Big Three Car Makers Boost Their Quality Scores

Detroit's car makers increased their new-vehicle quality scores by an average of 10% in an influential industry survey despite being rocked by bankruptcies and the recession.

Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC reduced the number of troubles reported by consumers during their first 90 days of ownership, according to the annual J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality study. Toyota Motor Corp. led all the makers, with its Lexus brand finishing in the top spot, while BMW AG's Mini was last.

The results come at a time when quality and brand image are under intense pressure as auto makers are forced to make deep worker cuts and idle factories, which can lead to production problems.

The quality gap between the foreign brands and U.S. auto companies is now the smallest it has ever been, said David Sargent, J.D. Power's vice president of automotive research. The domestic brands lagged behind the foreign auto makers by just six points.

'Domestic and import initial quality is equal for cars, and the domestics have a slight edge for trucks,' Mr. Sargent said in a speech Monday in Detroit. 'Imports have a significant edge for crossovers.'

The biggest surprise was Chrysler. The company's iconic Jeep brand, which finished last in quality in 2008, climbed four spots in the rankings. Jeep had 137 problems per 100 vehicles -- 29 fewer than last year. The industry average was 108 problems per 100 vehicles.

Chrysler, which filed for bankruptcy April 30 and merged its assets with Fiat SpA, undertook a massive overhaul of its brands in 2008. Many of the vehicles were outfitted with new technologies and redesigned to focus on consumer comfort.

Problems tracked by J.D. Power can range from wind noise to transmission failure. The vehicles were evaluated between November through February.

Toyota's Lexus beat Porsche Automobil Holding SE with 84 problems compared to Porsche's 90. Porsche had the top spot for the past two years. GM's Cadillac finished in third with 91 problems followed by Hyundai Motor Co. at 95 and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. at 99.

Ford's Mercury and Ford nameplates scored above average, but the Lincoln brand finished in 27th place with 129 problems. Lincoln finished 15th last year. Volvo, which Ford is trying to sell, was 24th.

Ford, which has sidestepped the need for federal aid, is relying on product introductions to drive purchases. The company is still losing billions of dollars a year. GM and Chrysler both took federal aid late last year to continue operating during the economic downturn.

GM's vehicles were all over the board. Chevrolet finished in ninth place with 103 problems, but its GMC and Buick came in 18th and 19th, respectively. Buick, with its 117 problems, tied with the industry average last year.

Saturn, Saab and Hummer all finished well below the industry average. Saab was the lowest ranking nameplate with 138 problems. GM is in the process of selling off Saturn, Hummer and Saab as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. It also plans to close its Pontiac brand, which finished in 22nd place with 118 problems. BMW's Mini finished last with 165 problems.

Jeff Bennett

2009年 06月 23日 11:13

“底特律三巨頭”汽車質量上升

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管破產和衰退動搖了“底特律三巨頭”﹐在一項很有影響力的行業調查中﹐三巨頭的新車質量得分卻平均上升了10%。

據J.D. Power & Associates年度新車質量調查顯示﹐在新購車輛的最初90天中﹐消費者報告的福特汽車(Ford Motor Co.)、通用汽車(General Motors Corp.)和克萊斯勒(Chrysler Group LLC)汽車問題減少。豐田汽車(Toyota Motor Corp.)領先於所有汽車生產商﹐該公司旗下的雷克薩斯(Lexus)品牌奪得榜首﹐而寶馬汽車公司(BMW AG)的Mini品牌則是最後一名。

目前﹐由於汽車生產商被迫大幅裁員、關閉工廠﹐可能會造成生產問題﹐汽車質量和品牌形像因此處於巨大的壓力之下。

J.D. Power負責汽車研究的副總裁薩金特(David Sargent)說﹐目前外國品牌和美國汽車企業之間的質量差距是有史以來最小的。本土品牌只落後於外國汽車廠商6分。

薩金特週一在底特律發表演講時說﹐國產汽車和進口汽車的初始質量不相上下﹐本土品牌在卡車質量上還要略高﹐而進口汽車在混型車上有明顯優勢。

最出人意料的是克萊斯勒。該公司的標志“吉普”(Jeep)品牌2008年的質量得分最低﹐今年則上升了4個名次。每100輛吉普車有137個問題﹐比去年少29個。行業平均水平為每100輛車中有108個問題。

克萊斯勒於4月30日申請破產保護﹐並把資產與菲亞特(Fiat SpA)合併。2008年﹐該公司進行了大規模的品牌改革。很多汽車都裝配了新技術﹐並進行了重新設計﹐更偏重於消費者舒適性。

J.D. Power跟蹤到的問題包括風噪聲、傳動系統故障等各類問題。評估時間為去年11月至今年2月。

豐 田汽車的雷克薩斯有84個問題﹐擊敗有90個問題的保時捷(Porsche Automobil Holding SE)奪冠。過去兩年來保時捷一直把持著冠軍寶座。通用汽車旗下的凱迪拉克(Cadillac)有91個問題﹐位居第三﹔現代汽車(Hyundai Motor Co.)有95個問題﹐排第四﹔本田汽車(Honda Motor Co.)有99個問題﹐排第五。

福特的水星(Mercury)和福特(Ford)品牌得分高於平均水平﹐不過林肯(Lincoln)品牌有129個問題﹐位居第27。林肯去年排名第15位。福特正試圖出售的沃爾沃(Volvo)品牌排第24位。

福特汽車沒有申請聯邦救助﹐目前正依靠產品推介推動購買。該公司每年仍虧損數十億美元。通用汽車和克萊斯勒去年底雙雙接受了聯邦救助﹐以便在經濟低迷中繼續運營。

通用汽車旗下品牌大放異彩--翻譯錯誤 all over the board 指"表現差異甚大" 。雪佛蘭(Chevrolet)有103個問題﹐位居第9﹐不過GMC和別克(Buick)分列第18和19位。別克去年有117個問題﹐與行業平均水平持平。

土 星(Saturn)、薩博(Saab)和悍馬(Hummer)均遠遠低於行業平均水平。薩博是排在最末位的品牌﹐有138個問題。作為破產重組的一部分﹐ 通用汽車正在出售土星、悍馬和薩博。該公司還計劃結束龐蒂亞克(Pontiac)品牌﹐該品牌有118個問題﹐排第22位。寶馬旗下的Mini有165個 問題﹐排在最末一名。

Jeff Bennett