J.D. Power Asia Pacific Reports: Nissan Moco Ranks Highest in Mini-Car Initial Quality Study in Japan
Fuel Efficiency-Related Complaints Continue to Challenge Automakers
TOKYO: 2 October 2007 — The Nissan Moco ranks highest in initial quality, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2007 Japan Mini-Car Initial Quality StudySM (IQS) released today.
The study, now in its seventh year, is a customer-driven measure of problems experienced during the first two to seven months of ownership based on evaluations by vehicle owners. The study focuses on 222 problem areas affecting quality across nine IQS factors: engine/transmission; features and controls; heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC); ride, handling and braking; seats; sound system; vehicle exterior, vehicle interior, and other problems. All problems are summarized as the number of problems reported per 100 vehicles (PP100), with lower scores indicating a lower rate of problem incidences and thus higher quality. The survey was redesigned for the 2007 study to capture problems experienced by owners in two distinct categories: quality of design and quality of production (defects and malfunctions).
The industry average for 2007 is 131 PP100, with design problems accounting for about one-half of the total reported problems. Categories with the highest numbers of reported problems are vehicle exterior (averaging 20.6 PP100) and engine/transmission (averaging 33.9 PP100). Among production quality problems, owners cite “driver/front passenger door operation problem” and “rear seat door operation problem” most frequently. Among design problems, issues related to fuel efficiency are cited by owners most frequently, including “engine lacks power when using air conditioning” and “fuel efficiency is too low.”
“In light of high gasoline prices, improvement of initial quality related to fuel efficiency continues to be an important challenge, since this is an area of great interest to new-vehicle buyers,” said Satoru Hiraki, manager of the automotive industry group at J.D. Power Asia Pacific. “Currently, there exists a discrepancy between actual fuel efficiency experienced by vehicle owners and reported fuel efficiency of mini-car models by manufacturers, with actual fuel efficiency being consistently lower than manufacturers’ reported fuel efficiency. As expectations for higher fuel efficiency grow among consumers, each manufacturer will need to close the gap between actual and manufacturer-reported fuel efficiency.”
Among the 12 ranked mini-car models, the Nissan Moco has the fewest reported problems at 83 PP100, which is 48 PP100 lower than the industry average. The Moco performs particularly well in the vehicle exterior and engine/transmission factors. The Suzuki MR Wagon follows the Nissan Moco with 93 PP100. The Honda Life, Honda Zest, Subaru Stella and Mitsubishi eK Wagon round out the six top-ranked models, each performing above the industry average.
The study finds that as the number of reported problems increases, recommendation intent tends to decrease. This decrease occurs not only when manufacturing problems are experienced, but also when design problems are encountered that make vehicle features inconvenient or hard to use.
“Today, manufacturers are expected to create high-quality products that are nearly problem-free because word of mouth information that spreads quickly via the Internet can strongly influence other shoppers’ purchase and recommendation intent,” said Hiraki. “Until 2007, the mini-car market in Japan had been expanding each year, (Page 1 of 2)
but sales volume is now starting to show signs of slowing. In the midst of these market conditions, it will be critical for manufacturers to develop attractive products that arouse the interest of customers, to fulfill consumer expectations for continuous quality improvement and to provide quality that is even higher than these expectations.”
The 2007 Japan Mini-Car Initial Quality Study is based on responses from 3,979 new-car owners who purchased their mini-cars between October 2006 and March 2007. The study was fielded in May 2007.
In addition to the Mini-Car IQS, J.D. Power Asia Pacific will publish a complementary study focusing on “things gone right” during the new-vehicle ownership period. The results of this study, the 2007 Japan Mini- Car Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, will be announced in mid-October.
About J.D. Power Asia Pacific J.D. Power Asia Pacific, established in 1990, conducts customer satisfaction research and provides consulting services in the automotive, information technology and finance industries. Information regarding J.D. Power Asia Pacific and its products can be accessed through the Internet at www.jdpower.co.jp
About J.D. Power and Associates Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor’s, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2006 were $6.3 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.
Media Relations Contacts: Maki Kawano John Tews J.D. Power Asia Pacific Director, Media Relations Toranomon 45 MT Bldg. 8F J.D. Power and Associates 5-1-5 Toranomon 5435 Corporate Drive, Suite 300 Minato-ku, Tokyo Troy, MI, 48098 USA Japan 105-0001 001 248-312-4119 Phone +81-3-4550-8090 [email protected] [email protected]
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(Page 2 of 2) NOTE: One chart follows.
J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2007 Japan Mini-Car Initial Quality StudySM
Model Rankings Problems per 100 Vehicles (Lower score indicates better quality performance)
0 50 100 150 200
Nissan Moco 83
Suzuki MR Wagon 93
Honda Life 104
Honda Zest 105
Subaru Stella 121
Mitsubishi eK Wagon 128
Industry Average 131
Nissan Otti 132
Daihatsu Move 133
Suzuki Wagon R 140
Suzuki Every Wagon 146
Mitsubishi i 152
Daihatsu Tanto 172
Source: J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2007Japan Mini-Car Initial Quality StudySM
Charts and graphs extracted from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying J.D. Power Asia Pacific as the publisher and the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2007 Japan Mini-Car Initial Quality StudySM as the source. Rankings are based on numerical scores, and not necessarily statistical significance. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power Asia Pacific survey results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power Asia Pacific.