The JD Powers awards are based on self selecting respondents to surveys, so the results should always be taken with a grain of salt.
I wonder how many Big Three cars are sold to employees or those eligible for employee purchase plans (notwithstanding the current frenzy of “employee pricing deals” available now)? At one point I remember hearing something like 25%. I don't know if this number is even close to correct, but it illustrates a bit of a captive market. Of course, for fair comparison the non-UAW companies included too.
How many Big Three cars are sold to fleets ( rental car companies, company fleets, etc.)?
Sure there are cult followings for some cars. Big deal. Charles Manson also had a cult following. I often wonder if some Corvette owners might be overcompensating for other, ahhhhh, short comings.
Finally, the consumer seeks the best value to them for their car dollars. Fit and finish are important, quality, milage, durability, style and design are important (on varying scales) are all important. Also important is the honesty and integrity of the dealer representatives matter (I had a Chevy dealer tell me not too long ago I did not have to get the “finish protection package” because I obviously (”you're white”) had good credit. He went on to say the $1300 dealer add was just a wax job.)
So, Detroit is losing market share. There are a number of reasons that people are less inclined to buy their products. The solution? Make and sell stuff people want to buy with their limited car and truck dollars. Ultimately, the buyers are going to seek what they the best value for their $$$. And it would appear that Detroit is not measuring up in the market place.
On the bail out: let them do what every other company should do. Raise cash in the equity or debt markets. Otherwise declare bankruptsy.
There is rumor about quality and then there is truth...see below. Please note for years,Toyota vehicles were assumed to be wonderful and were not even tested.
‘But perhaps the biggest news among Asian automakers was the problems Toyota Motor Corp. had with reliability and recalls. Though down to 573,554 recalled vehicles from 657,308 in 2006, the Japanese company this month recalled about 10 percent of its Tundra pickups and earlier this year recalled more than 500,000 of its Sequoia SUVs. That’s significant because Toyota has been pushing hard to break into the highly profitable large vehicle market.
In October, Consumer Reports demoted Toyota to third from first in its vehicle reliability rankings, dropping the Camry, Tundra and Lexus GS from its list of recommended vehicles. The magazine said it would no longer automatically recommend Toyota vehicles that had been redesigned.
“This is a big issue for us,” Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong said, noting that the 2005 recall total, 2.37 million vehicles, was “really glaring.”