German and Japanese auto makers dominated an influential survey of US customer satisfaction released on Wednesday, while only two American brands ranked in the top 10. Porsche AG had the most highly prized cars, according to the survey by market research firm J.D. Power and Associates, followed by BMW AG and Mercedes Benz.
The next highest ranked were Lexus and Infiniti, the luxury brands of Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co. The Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Azera, Lexus IS 250/IS 350, Porsche Cayman, Ford Fusion and Nissan Infiniti M-Series each ranked highest in their segments, according to the survey. Ford was the only US auto maker to gain top placings, with the Ford Mustang dominating the mid-size sporty car segment and the Ford Fusion ranking highest in the mid-size car category.
The results come as US auto makers struggle to come to terms with a legacy of consumer doubts about the quality of their vehicles and to shore up an erosion of their market share. The results of the annual Powers Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout survey remain important to auto makers because vehicles with stronger rankings tend to sell faster and at higher prices, said Joe Ivers, director of customer satisfaction research for J.D. Powers.
"There is a large group of buyers who are most interested in things like comfort, style and performance. This group is often willing to put up with a few quality snags to get a vehicle they truly feel passionate about," Parker said.
J.D. Power based its study on responses from more than 63,000 people who bought or leased 2006 model cars and trucks. They were surveyed after 90 days of ownership.
German brands took four of the eleven top-in-segment awards, with BMW topping the large premium car and compact car segments.
DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz topped the premium sporty car segment while Porsche topped the compact premium sporty car category. Porsche also shot to the top of J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study in June. That study looks at perceived defects in new vehicles and scores models according to the number of problems new owners report.
One theme of Wednesday's satisfaction survey was the importance of new designs to consumers, Ivers said. Models that were all-new or had undergone a major redesign tend to receive scores higher than average, the study found.
Toyota, long seen as the gold standard in quality, took two of the segment awards - its Scion tC won the compact sporty car category while its Lexus IS 250/IS 350 topped the entry premium car. The Suzuki Aerio ranked highest in the sub-compact car segment, while Nissan's Infiniti M-Series ranked highest in the mid-size premium category.
The study did not include 2007 models, many of which are currently on the road. GM has an entire line of redesigned SUVs and trucks, called the GMT-900 series, which will be a part of next year's study.
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