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Industry Report Part 2: Toyota Leads J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study Corporate Rankings

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Kia and Suzuki are Most Improved Players while Nissan and Hyundai Slide Backward

Need some help figuring out which car to buy? To repeat some important information mentioned in yesterdays report, J.D. Powers and Associates tries to make buying a car easier each year, by publishing its Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) which rates automakers by corporation, nameplate and the top three vehicles in each segment of the market.

The results of the 2004 VDS were obtained by surveying more than 48,000 original owners of 2001 model year cars and light trucks. Being a survey, it cant be construed as an exact science, but nevertheless the Westlake Village, California based company is a force in the market, sending automakers scrambling to engineer their cars to achieve better results. In the end, vehicles are becoming more reliable with each passing year.

For their results, J.D. Powers and Associates surveyed more than 48,000 original owners of 2001 model year cars and light trucks. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler)

Yesterdays J.D. Powers and Associates coverage was on nameplate rankings, which once again showed Lexus in 1st place out of 37 brands, Land Rover in last, and strong performance from Buick, Infiniti, Lincoln, Cadillac and Honda, the latter being the top performing entry brand. All three domestic automakers showed marked improvement with their various nameplates too, the strongest being General Motors Corporation, followed by Ford Motor Company and then DaimlerChrylser.

How do the Big

Once again the nameplate rankings showed Lexus in 1st place out of 37 brands, and Land Rover in last. (Photo: Lexus)

All of the Big 3 improved in problems per 100 vehicles. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

But as well as the domestic automakers have done in this years VDS, the Japanese manufacturers remain far ahead. Top on the list is Toyota Motor Sales, Inc., that sells the Toyota brand, as well as Lexus and now Scion. Being that the cars surveyed for the 2004 VDS are 2001 models, Scion has yet to enter the picture. Just the same Toyotas 207 PP100 rating puts it up front, beating last years top corporation Porsche Cars North America, Inc., despite having slid backward in its PP100 average from the 2003 VDS results of 196. Porsche, which enjoyed top-spot with 193 PP100 last year, now sits in 3rd with 240 PP100.

Splitting

The Japanese manufacturers, with Toyota still in 1st place, remain far ahead of most of the domestic brands. (Photo: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.)

Rival Nissan North America was right behind Honda in the 2003 VDS, taking 4th place and better than average status with 258 PP100. What happened with this years results? Thats difficult to ascertain, but whatever the reason the automaker has dropped to 6th place with a PP100 of 271, now just under median level of 269 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100).