Archive for the 'Quality' Category
October 14th, 2009 by DaveAdmin
Chrysler scored above the average in J.D. Power’s three-year reliability survey, which looked at repairs to 2006 vehicles. Jaguar and General Motor’s Buick headed the list this year with just 122 problems per hundred vehicles each; Lexus trailed the American and British firms, with 126 problems per hundred, and Toyota came in close behind at 129. Oddly, the Scion brand, made by Toyota, came in very low, at 222 problems per hundred vehicles – lower than any American vehicles.
Aside from the Grand Caravan topping the minivan charts, no Chrysler vehicle came in at first, second, or third place in their segments. Toyota garnered the highest number of top rankings, with five (Prius, Solara, Highlander, Sequoia, Tundra). The Honda Odyssey did not appear in the top three vans (nor did the Chrysler Town & Country, though it might have been lumped in with the Grand Caravan). Mercedes came in second place for premium sporty car.
The top German brand was Porsche, at 150 per hundred. Chrysler came in at 165, edging out BMW at 166 and the industry average of 170. Mercedes fell at 184, far lower than most luxury brands and substantially lower than Chrysler.
Dodge fared less well, coming in at 202 overall, despite having the highest quality minivan; Dodge was beaten by both Ford and Chevrolet in this measure, but beat Mini, Kia, Pontiac, Mazda, and Volkswagen. Jeep came in at 220, below Kia’s 218 but above Hummer and Scion.
The worst record was held by Suzuki, with 263 problems per hundred vehicles; and by German automaker Volkswagen, with 260.
October 14th, 2009 by DaveAdmin
J.D. Power rated the Dodge Grand Caravan as the most reliable minivan in America, giving it a higher reliability score than any other full or midsized van. The Grand Caravan was named Most Dependable Van, beating the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna.
This test covers three full years, and is a better measure of long-term reliability than the J.D. Power 90-day “initial quality” tests.
August 27th, 2009 by Bill Cawthon
In a letter sent today to Members of Congress, Chrysler Group LLC announced that the company will accept product liability claims on vehicles manufactured by Chrysler LLC (now OldCarco LLC) before June 10, 2009, and involved in accidents on or after that date. On June 10, 2009, Chrysler Group purchased substantially all of the assets of Old Carco.
“We know a lot more about the viability of our business today than when we purchased Old Carco’s assets in its bankruptcy proceedings several months ago,” said John Bozzella, Senior Vice President, External Affairs & Public Policy, Chrysler Group LLC. “While Chrysler Group still faces challenges, we are confident that the future viability of the company will not be threatened if we accept these claims.”
OldCarco filed for bankruptcy protection on April 30, 2009. Following many complex and lengthy hearings, the bankruptcy court approved the sale of substantially all of OldCarco’s assets to a newly formed company, Chrysler Group LLC. As part of the bankruptcy court-approved purchase, Chrysler Group had agreed to assume liability only for cars sold by Chrysler Group. As a result of today’s announcement, Chrysler Group’s approach is consistent with that taken by General Motors as part of its bankruptcy process.
“We want our customers to feel comfortable and confident buying, driving and enjoying one of our vehicles,” Bozzella said. “Chrysler Group vehicles meet or exceed all applicable federal safety standards and have excellent safety records.”
Source: Chrysler Group press release
August 19th, 2009 by DaveAdmin
Chrysler is dropping its lifetime warranty from 2010 models, though it will remain on 2009 models. Instead, the company will provide a free 5 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty, which, instead of being transferable, is assigned to the car itself, so that anyone who buys a used 2010 Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep second-hand, third-hand, etc., can get service without having to transfer the warranty.
The new 5/100 plan has no deductible. It is accompanied by the usual basic 3/36 warranty, 5/100 corrosion, coverage, and extendeded Federal emissions warranty.
Exceptions to the new warranty plan are the Sprinter (assembled by Freightliner from Mercedes kits), diesel-powered trucks, Sterling trucks, company car vehicles, Volkswagen Routan, and Mitsubishi Raider.
SRT vehicles and fleet vehicles (including police, postal, ambulance, and taxi) were not covered by the lifetime powertrain warranty, but will be covered by 5/100.
The change may have been spurred by the costs of paperwork and tracking of older vehicles with the lifetime warranty, and by customers’ cynicism about the lifetime plan.
August 18th, 2009 by DaveAdmin
Cadillac joined Lexus at the #1 place in customer satisfaction in the annual University of Michigan survey of automakers. The director of the survey, Claes Fornell, credited the improvements to the loss of “disgruntled” customers, which let the domestic automakers focus more on their core markets. Regardless of the reason, the Chrysler hit the average (84), beating Chevrolet and Ford; Dodge scored 81, beating Kia and Mazda; and Jeep was second to last, beating Nissan.
Niche automakers fared poorly, with an average score of 80. These would presumably include Porsche, Isuzu, Acura, and other low-volume automakers who were missing from the main rating list.
Here is the list:
- 89: Cadillac, Lexus
- 88: Buick, Honda, Lincoln-Mercury
- 87: BMW
- 86: Mercedes, Toyota, Volkswagen
- 85: Hyundai
- 84: Average; Chrysler, Saturn
- 83: Chevrolet, Ford
- 82: GMC
- 81: Dodge, Kia, Mazda, Pontiac
- 80: “All others”
- 79: Jeep
- 78: Nissan
The list appears to list automakers alphabetically within a particular score.
July 17th, 2009 by Bill Cawthon
Dodge was named the most improved brand in the latest J.D. Power Automotive Performance Execution and Layout Study. The survey measures new car owners’ satisfaction with the performance, features and layout of their vehicles.
Dodge scored an above-average 784 on the Powers 1000-point scale, just one point behind Ford, and was fifth among American brands and well ahead of both Honda (778) and Toyota (756). The highest score, 869. went to Porsche. The Dodge Ram was named as one of the most-improved vehicles for 2009.
Chrysler came in below the industry average of 779 with a score of 757, but that was still a point more than Toyota received. Jeep, with a 727, was next-to-last, beating Suzuki by 12 points.
June 23rd, 2009 by DaveAdmin
Doug Betts, Senior Vice-President—Quality, commented on the J.D. Power 90-day quality study for 2009 cars. While Chrysler as a whole did poorly, Betts pointed out that half of the ten most improved vehicles on the list were from Chrysler: the Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Avenger, Jeep® Wrangler and Jeep Liberty.
Chrysler Group improved 15 repairs-per-hundred-vehicles on the survey, above the industry average of 10. Jeep brand improved by 30 repairs, moving up three positions, thanks largely to a 47-repair-per-hundred improvement for the Jeep Wrangler.
As we mentioned yesterday, Chrysler PT Cruiser tied for first place in the Compact Multi Activity Vehicle segment. Chrysler Sebring (sedan and convertible) “finished fourth in the very competitive Midsize Car segment that includes such competitors as Nissan Altima, Pontiac G6, Chevy Malibu, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.” The sedan itself would have tied with the Nissan Altima for first place.
“Dodge Grand Caravan improved by 60 points and now ranks third in the midsize van category.”
Betts also wrote,
Above we talked about the highlights from the J.D. Power IQS survey. Internally, we have to acknowledge the “low lights.” We have proven to ourselves that we can improve the quality of vehicles that are in production at a faster pace than before. What we have not demonstrated is our ability to have a successful launch for a new model. … If we do not find the source of our problem in doing this and change our methods, our ability to improve in current production will not be enough to make us competitive with the best in the industry. We will improve and then fall behind, over and over. A change in our culture and a fundamental change in what we believe is “good enough” has to happen. I look forward to working together to make this next big shift in our expectations for ourselves.
