Car Court

Posted by Neil49 (A) on March 11, 2005 at 14:13:22

In Reply to: Any accounting for US produced models in those stats? * posted by mr grits on March 11, 2005 at 13:25:30:

No specific breakdown, but for example, the Mercedes M-series SUVs, which are built in the U.S., were bad enough to knock the erstwhile cellar-dweller, the Land Rover, out of position in whatever J.D. Power owner satisfaction survey it was that they were in.

On the other hand, the article in Automobile shows two tables based on responses to a 2004 ADAC ( German auto association ) survey. The first reflects an image-ranking among Germans of thirty-three different auto makes. At the top of the list are Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche, in that order.

The second table shows the ranking of German customer satisfaction. The top five, in order, are: Toyota, Subaru, Honda, Mazda, and Nissan. The bottom five are, in order, starting with the bottom: Land Rover, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Fiat, and Smart (Mercedes off-shoot). Audi is eighth from the bottom, BMW a more respectable 11th from the top, and Porsche even higher at eighth.

In other words, image is one thing, ownership quite another.