Perception and Facts Behind Buyer Avoidance for Certain Vehicles

[larry4pyro]

Heres an interested article posted on GMinsidernews. It's a JD Powers study on the reasons buyers avoid vehicles manufactured in America, Europe and Asia.

http://detnews.com/graphics/2007/0102jdpower.pdf

Regards,
larry4pyro

[Skyflare]

Very interesting survey.

One thing that still needs to be answered is where does the perceived idea of poor reliability and quality of American cars come from? Past history, i.e., cars like the Pinto or Vega? Or is this a phenom of the current age, i.e., America bad syndrome. I wonder...

[Chemist]

Intriguing!

I'm going to pass then on to my (nearly) daughter-in-law. She has a real passion for statistics. This will keep her occupied for a while.

--Chemist

[Mark in INdiana]

Very interesting survey and analysis. I believe that a contributing factor for the bad perception of American autos is the bias of the auto journalists. It has been said here before in other threads, the stuff they often write is out of wack with reality. If the Pontiac Aztec and the Toyota Scion were switched ie the Aztec made by Toyota, it would have gotten rave reviews !! As for the belief that they get poor fuel economy, people tend to see all the SUVs and trucks on the road and that gets mixed into their overall perception. The US car companys did create the perception in the 70' and 80's with poor quality, poor mileage, etc... . But they have made tremendous strides in the last decade or so and are competive in many areas. Many knowledgeable industry surveys support this. This is where consistant objective journalism can help change the ill perceptions. The 9% of respondents that would buy from an American auto company because of the difficult financial situation the big 3 are currently in understand where many of the jobs in this country come from. I realise that there is still room for improvement. The big picture points to a domestic reality that is better than old perceptions. My opinions are offered for thoughtfull consideration, reflection and constructive discussion.