All You Need Is Love: Volkswagen And Ford Suddenly On Top In Quality
Can one dramatically increase customer satisfaction ion the course of three weeks? Yes, you can! How? Simple: Just get a different survey.
Three weeks ago, acid reflux, shouting matches and massive finger pointing were rampant at car companies like Volkswagen and Ford. On J.D.Power’s Initial Quality Study (IQS), Ford had landed (with a thud) on rank 23, and Volkswagen crashed to outdone in measured mediocrity only by Mitsubishi, Suzuki, and Dodge.
Now, all is fine again.
Strategic Vision presented the results of their 2011 Total Quality Index (TQI) today. Who’s on top? The dogs of last month.
Volkswagen was rated the best Full-line Corporation. Volkswagen has three models (Golf, Jetta and Tiguan) that are Total Quality leaders. In second place: Ford, followed closely by Honda and Nissan.
What is the secret to this reversal of fortunes? It’s love, baby.
“When customers explicitly state ‘I love this about my vehicle,’ it results in increased sales,” says Alexander Edwards, President of Strategic Vision. “We explicitly measure the emotional impact of each vehicle attribute and ask the customer what they Love about their vehicle. Jetta and Sonata owners report more Love than most all of their competitors. This is why it is no surprise to us that the Jetta and Sonata have had their best sales ever with their 2011 models.”
Strategic Vision argues that if you love your car, you don’t mind little problems. If you hate it, the tiniest things can drive you to divorce. Sounds familiar.
See, love cures everything. Even a horrendous IQS rating-
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Just another data point that shows that these quality surveys are just that, a singular data point that should be taken with a large grain of salt. Identifix, CR, JDP, SV, IC, TD, none of them have the "perfect" answer. Nor do enthusiast sites (after you chaffe out the I love it I love it I love it and the car X sucks because I say so posts) or owner reviews. It is all just a single point of data, and should be treated as such.
I think it's more that anybody who wasn't madly in love with these cars already dumped them for something that didn't drive them crazy.
The 3 year dependability survey is the only thing that matters. Only a moron would consult the other charts from JD when buying a car.