Here's a novel concept: make owning a vehicle a pleasant experience, and shoppers will re-buy your brand in the future. Make a vehicle that's prone to frustrating electrical glitches or blown driveline parts, and your buyers will go online, tell countless others, and boycott your brand forever.
JD Power and Associates is a company that measures the many dimensions of the automotive industry on a full-time basis. Most recently, they've asked the original owners of a 3-year old vehicle about problems they've experienced with it, in order to come up with the most dependable brands for 2009.
Owners could report problems from one of over 200 symptoms in a survey, and Buick and Jaguar tied for first place. Buick? You read that right. In fact, the American value-luxury brand has been in the top ten list of this study's winners since it was launched.
In fact, Buick is right up there with the likes of the Lexus LS 430-- which has fewer problems reported than any other vehicle in the study. That's interesting, given that the LS is a highly sophisticated flagship sedan with plenty of gadgets to fail.
When it comes to this year's winners, Buick and Jaguar, here's a thought. It's unclear if there's a correlation between mileage and owner-reported problems. It's also unclear if the typical Buick or Jaguar driver does the same mileage in a year as everyone else.
Could the results be skewed because Buick and Jaguar owners don't drive as much as those in Toyotas and Fords?
Just a thought.
Reaction for the press release:
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Buick and Jaguar Tie to Rank Highest for Vehicle Dependability
JD Power and Associates is a company that measures the many dimensions of the automotive industry on a full-time basis. Most recently, they've asked the original owners of a 3-year old vehicle about problems they've experienced with it, in order to come up with the most dependable brands for 2009.
Owners could report problems from one of over 200 symptoms in a survey, and Buick and Jaguar tied for first place. Buick? You read that right. In fact, the American value-luxury brand has been in the top ten list of this study's winners since it was launched.
In fact, Buick is right up there with the likes of the Lexus LS 430-- which has fewer problems reported than any other vehicle in the study. That's interesting, given that the LS is a highly sophisticated flagship sedan with plenty of gadgets to fail.
When it comes to this year's winners, Buick and Jaguar, here's a thought. It's unclear if there's a correlation between mileage and owner-reported problems. It's also unclear if the typical Buick or Jaguar driver does the same mileage in a year as everyone else.
Could the results be skewed because Buick and Jaguar owners don't drive as much as those in Toyotas and Fords?
Just a thought.
Reaction for the press release:
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Buick and Jaguar Tie to Rank Highest for Vehicle Dependability