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J.D. Power has released its annual report on customer service at auto dealerships' repair shops. Saturn and Infiniti displaced Lexus to be the top and second highest rated, while Cadillac moved up to the #4 position. General Motors actually did quite well, with Saturn taking the honors, and Cadillac, Buick, Olds, Chevrolet, Saab, and GMC all above average - indeed, only Pontiac was below average. Chrysler was wedged between Honda and Toyota in dealer service, slightly above average and, incidentally, above Land Rover. Ford and Mazda were below average, though most of Ford's other brands - Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercury, and Lincoln - were above average.
Generally, as one would expect, luxury brands did better than non-luxury brands, despite Saturn's lead.
Within DCX, it is worth noting that only Chrysler was above average in customer ratings of dealer service. Neither Mercedes, Dodge, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, or Kia made the above-average list. /opinion/ Of course, that may change as Mercedes lends its expertise to Chrysler - next year, Chrysler might be below average, too. /end opinion/
/rant/ We've now heard the new 7/70 ad, and it does indeed say that the extended warranty is due to the mix of German engineering with American, um, Americanization. Just like the frankfurter became a hot dog by adding an American name (this is the example used in the commercial), a Chrysler is, um, a German car with an American name, which has caused quality to "shoot up." Never mind that Korean cars have a longer warranty and no German engineering. Never mind that Mercedes itself (and for that matter Volkswagen and BMW) doesn't have as good a warranty, and it's more German. Never mind that Chrysler is ranked higher by Consumer Reports than Mercedes. Never mind that K-cars had the exact same powertrain warranty... now that the Germans have rescued Chrysler, by designing the PT Cruiser, new Ram, and Liberty, thereby increasing Chrysler's quality ratings, we're all going to be O.K. What's that you say? DaimlerChrysler had nothing to do with those vehicles? Well, just as we made the frankfurter American by calling it a hot dog, DCX is making Chrysler quality German by buying lots of radio ad time.../rant off/
(Thanks, Ponchonutty, for pointing to this story). Chrysler is still not doing well in Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash tests, even though the new Ram was the second best truck, getting a Good rating overall (Ford and Chevy managed a poor and marginal, respectively, with the F-150 being the lowest rated pickup). The is "marginal," above the "poor" Elantra nd Sephia/Spectra but below most other small cars (the Impreza, Civic, and Lancer topped the list). The Durango is rated "Acceptable," and the Liberty and Grand Cherokee are rated "marginal," beating a few other models but getting beaten in turn by many more.
/rumor/ We've heard that Belvedere will be prototyping three different new vehicles, designed to replace the Neon. We believe, based on past information, that these will be Lancer-based and include a two-door model, a four-door model, and a crossover of some sort. We fully expect the Neon replacement to include an all wheel drive variant that would steal some Impreza/WRX thunder. The prototype schedule would indicate that the Neon will be replaced more quickly than we had originally anticipated - we had thought it would last through 2006.
/rumor/ DodgeGuy wrote: "The writing is on the wall!
DaimlerChrysler [probably] plans on selling or closing the McGraw Glass
Plant. They have outsourced 3 highly profitable windshields to non-union
suppliers. The lines that ran these windshilds have been idled and a
wooden wall erected around them. 300 union jobs lost because of this. All
where given an indefinite layoff. No future product has been brought in. Is the
writing on the wall or what? Thank you to all the employees of McGraw Glass
for all you hard work."
Chrysler's ad campaign has started, billing Chrysler as an American
company with German expertise - a plan which is almost certain to backfire,
according to some analysts, since it (a) reinforces the fact that Chrysler is no
longer American, and (b) makes it sounds like Chrysler has to justify its
existence. Meanwhile, Patrick Clement pointed out that Chrysler is
advertising both its new 7/70 warranty and the "old" 7/100 plan - he
suggested this is an interesting example of blending American and German
expertise.
Honda has expanded the plant where the Odyssey minivan and closely
related Pilot "SUV" are made, in what may be the beginning of the end for
Chrysler's minivan dominance. A redesigned Accord is also due for the 2003
model year, reportedly bringing the hot-selling sedan up to the standards it
is usually assumed to have met.
DakRT and 2.0 R/T (handles) posted that the Viper would have 525 lb-ft of torque (rather than 500), that the 5.7 Hemi gained 10 lb-ft to produce 375 lb-ft of torque, and that this would be Dodge's 2003 lineup:
Stratus SE STDH22 (cpe)SXT= 21Y or 22Y
Intrepid SE LHDH41
[by Dan Minick] Mitsubishi, as reported in Just-auto and Veh-Net, announced
that they will cooperate closer with DCX and that model names would be
commonized across the world. Whether this means the Montero will change
its name to the Japanese Pajero, etc. or vice-versa [is unknown.] What is
interesting is that this annoucement comes on the heels of DCX's
announcements about Chrysler doing similar moves, and possibly taking
the Dodge brand to europe. Seems to me, that some sort of
meeting/discussion/stragtegy occured, whereby each brand would
strenghten its name recognition by standing for the same image world-wide.
[Allpar note: in the past, Chrysler has had some intriguing name games -
see this article for some historical
oddities.]
July 10, 2002: Americans with German expertise
July 10, 2002: Honda doubles Odyssey/Pilot production
July 9, 2002: Rumors
Neon SE PLDL41
Neon SXT PLDP41
Neon R/T PLDX41
Neon SRT PLDZ41
Stratus R/T STDS22 (cpe)
Stratus SE JRDM41
Stratus SXT JRDH41
Stratus ES JRDP41
Stratus R/T JRDX41
Intrepid ES LHDP41 SXT = 26G Pkg
July 9, 2002: MMC, Chrysler standardize names across the world
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