As a continuation to last week's theme of supporting Michigan businesses, today I would like to provide you information regarding the biggest industry in our state, the automotive industry. It's a well known fact that Japanese automakers make higher quality vehicles than American automakers and has been for many years? Or is it???
That is what our media would like you to believe. They have no problem making front page news of every hiccup in the American auto industry. Yet when a similar event occurs with a foreign automaker, we rarely hear about it. Therefore, Mike Coogan from Wyandotte forwarded me some information recently that may change your opinion.
Did you know:
Answer: United States.
Per J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Mercury and Cadillac are in the top 3, along with Lexus. An d in 2007, Buick was tied with Lexus for the top spot.
Answer: Volkswagen.
According to Business Week, Volkswagen had the most recalls at this time a year ago. The second worst was Toyota.
3. Which midsize sedan has the highest initial quality?
Answer: The Chevrolet Malibu has better initial quality than any competitor, including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima. The Ford Fusion also beat all 3 Japanese competitors.
This too is from the J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey, which also reveals that above average are American brands Mercury, Ford, Cadillac, Chevrolet , Pontiac, Lincoln, and Buick. Below average are import brands Acura, Kia, Nissan, BMW, Mazda, VW, Subaru, and Scion (and several others).
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/2008-Initial-Quality:-Midsize-and-Large-Cars
4. Which large sedan has the highest initial quality?
Answer: Again per J.D. Power, the highest quality large car is the Pontiac Grand Prix, beating the Toyota Avalon. Two other Detroit cars that beat the Avalon are the Mercury Sable and Mercury Grand Marquis.
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/2008-Initial-Quality:-Midsize-and-Large-Cars
5. Which midsize pickup has the highest initial quality?
Answer: The Dodge Dakota has the best quality for midsize pickups, proving that Chrysler too can beat the imports. Both the Dakota and the Ford Ranger beat the ToyotaTacoma.
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/2008-Initial-Quality:-Pickups-and-Vans
6. Which car is the most economical overall?
Answer: Per Edmunds.com, the premier automotive analysis site, the most economical car in America, taking into account not only mileage but all costs, is the Chevrolet Aveo. The Honda Fit is #3 and the Toyota Prius is a distant #34.
http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/press/127806/article.html
7. Which car did the Los Angeles Times describe as "a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti"?
Answer: "Cadillac makes a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti, and that car is the 2008 CTS. No other car in the mass market dares so much as this expressive and audacious bit of automotive avant-gardism." Dan Neil,20LA Times.
http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-neil12dec12-pg,0,5427133.photogallery
8. Which company makes the winner of the 2008 "Green Car of the Year" award?
Answer: The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid is the winner of this award. How could a full-size SUV defeat the media darling Toyota Prius? Read the link below and you will discover, "What's equally eye-opening is that the Tahoe's 21 mpg city fuel efficiency rating is the same as that of the city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan. "
Did you catch that? A huge, full-size SUV from Chevrolet that gets the same city mileage as a 4-cylinder Toyota Camry!! Chevy obtained this remarkable achievement through the use of its 2-mode hybrid system, a technology that Toyota does not have. And I was also personally involved in the design of the braking system for this vehicle. Therefore, purchasing it puts money directly into my and my coworkers' paychecks!
http://www.greencar.com/features/2008greencar/
9. Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the "North American Car of the Year" for 2007?
Answer: Not only was the Saturn Aura picked by the automotive press corps as better than the Honda Fit and the Toyota Camry, "When a panel of 47 journalists named the Saturn Aura the North American Car of the Year over the Toyota Camry, the vote wasn't even close, 205-89." Chicago Tribune, 1/15/07
http://www.northamericancaroftheyear.org/news.html
10. Which car won the same award for 2008?
Answer: GM again crushed the Japanese competition in 2008 when the Malibu received 190 votes to the Honda Accord's 95. The Accord actually ca me in 3rd since GM's other finalist, the Cadillac CTS, received 165 votes.
http://www.northamericancaroftheyear.org/news.html
11. Which company had a luxury vehicle, a midsize sedan, and a large truck removed from the Consumer Reports recommended vehicles list in October 2007 because of mounting quality problems?
Answer: Toyota's much publicized quality problems resulted in Consumer Reports actually removing from their recommended vehicles list the Lexus GS luxury car, Camry V6 sedan, and Tundra pickup. This demotion occurred in October 2007.
This Q&A list was put together by an employee of an American car company who just might lose his job because of public perceptions that do not match reality. If you are one of the many Americans who gave up on Detroit's cars because of a bad experience many years ago, it's time to rethink your position. Rethink Detroit.
Foreign automakers: 33 U.S. jobs per 2,500 cars sold in America.
That is because while purchasing a vehicle from a foreign automaker could support some American manufacturing jobs, purchasing a vehicle from an American automaker also supports all the design, engineering, finance, sales, marketing, HR, etc. jobs! And that does not include all of the jobs of their American suppliers.
Please take some time to educate yourself from the wealth of great information from these two websites. Our future depends on it!
http://levelfieldinstitute.org/
http://www.overthehillcarpeople.com/
Until next time . . .
Be Positively You!
Pat Tardiff
p.s. To really make this newsletter work, we need your help. Therefore, do you have a positive experience to share with others? Just send me a short email summary of 400 words or less. Pictures are also encouraged.
p.p.s. Do you know someone that may benefit from the experiences we share? Then forward this letter and if they agree, they can just send an email to pat@BePositivelyYou.com with "I'd Like to Make a Positive Difference" in the subject line and I'll add them to the distribution list. Either way, we'd love to hear from you!
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