Ford, GM and Chrysler pull even on cars, ahead on trucks

The restructured U.S. auto industry received a major boost in June when the closely watched J.D. Power and Associates quality survey revealed that Ford, GM and Chrysler cars have pulled even with foreign-based automakers on car quality.

And U.S.-based firms outperform foreign-based automakers in the light truck category, according to J.D. Power's 2009 Initial Quality Study, which surveys new car buyers and reports on the defects they encounter.

Chrysler LLC Group, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. cars averaged 103 defects per 100 vehicles – exactly the same as foreign-based brands, including Honda, Toyota and Nissan.

American automakers beat the competition in the light truck category, which includes pickups, vans and full-size SUVs. Chrysler, Ford and GM vehicles had 113 reported defects per 100 vehicles, compared to 117 for foreign-based brands.

The only area in which foreign-based brands outperformed U.S.-based companies was in the crossover category, typically a truck or SUV body on a car chassis. Foreign-based brands had 111 defects per 100 vehicles in this category, compared to 128 for U.S.-based brands.

Crossovers, however, represent just 20 percent of the U.S.-passenger vehicle market, which means that for 80 percent of cars and trucks sold in the United States, Chrysler, Ford and GM vehicles are equal to or better than the competition.

"It's amazing," J.D. Power vice president for automotive research David Sargent told Solidarity. "We would not have been surprised" to see a decline in quality at domestic firms "because of all the turmoil, such as plants in jeopardy of closing, suppliers in disarray."

When the survey was conducted (late 2008 and early 2009), U.S.-based companies were on a high-stakes roller coaster. Wrenching changes included a high-profile campaign for federal assistance, rapid-fire bankruptcy proceedings at GM and Chrysler, and restructuring at all three firms that included plant closings, reduced shifts, and thousands of retirements and buyouts resulting in new assignments and shift changes for thousands of workers who remained on the job.

In the face of these difficult challenges, the J.D. Power data show that UAW members on the factory floor performed their jobs with a high degree of skill, dedication and professionalism.

"There's a lot of hard work in assembly plants," Sargent said. "In the plants we visit, everybody is very aware how important their role is.

"Stereotypes the consumer might have are not borne out by the data," he added. "Union plants build vehicles that are every bit as good quality as nonunion plants."

But no one in the auto industry, Sargent said, can afford to rest on past accomplishments, and his message is simple: "Be proud, but keep at it. What we know is everybody else will keep improving. Quality improves by 6 percent a year. If you relax, you're way behind again, so keep on working at it."

Roger Kerson