An old spectre has come back to haunt Volkswagen, J.D. Power and Associates having just published the results of its 2011 Initial Quality Survey (IQS), which puts the automaker on par with MINI in 29th place out of 30 brands evaluated, with 131 problems per 100 new vehicles sold.
Though many consider the IQS an industry reference, the study that lists the issues consumers have been faced with during the first 90 days of ownership remains controversial.
Critics say the owners surveyed can call something a problem (a confusing voice activated navigation system, for example) when in reality it isn’t one. They also point out that a similar J.D. Power and Associates study (APEAL or Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout), ranks the automaker 14th.
Though Volkswagen could easily argue that the conclusions are incoherent and choose not to act, the automaker has taken a series of measures to ensure the initial quality of its products.
Volkswagen now reviews customer comments on a monthly basis, calls on a Client Satisfaction team when developing vehicles and pays more attention to the feedback of commercial fleet clients and dealers.
The goal is simple: find and fix every problem before it becomes widespread and impossible to control.
Though certainly not denying that there’s always room for improvement, Volkswagen still believes that they “do better than what they get credit for,” listing several products that were named Top Safety Picks by the IIHS and pointing out that they won Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Award.
Here are the results of the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Initial Quality Survey
Source: USA Today
Though many consider the IQS an industry reference, the study that lists the issues consumers have been faced with during the first 90 days of ownership remains controversial.
Critics say the owners surveyed can call something a problem (a confusing voice activated navigation system, for example) when in reality it isn’t one. They also point out that a similar J.D. Power and Associates study (APEAL or Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout), ranks the automaker 14th.
Though Volkswagen could easily argue that the conclusions are incoherent and choose not to act, the automaker has taken a series of measures to ensure the initial quality of its products.
Volkswagen now reviews customer comments on a monthly basis, calls on a Client Satisfaction team when developing vehicles and pays more attention to the feedback of commercial fleet clients and dealers.
The goal is simple: find and fix every problem before it becomes widespread and impossible to control.
Though certainly not denying that there’s always room for improvement, Volkswagen still believes that they “do better than what they get credit for,” listing several products that were named Top Safety Picks by the IIHS and pointing out that they won Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Award.
Here are the results of the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Initial Quality Survey
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| Photo: J.D. Power & Associates |
Source: USA Today