BMW and Ford Dominate the 1998 Plant Quality Awards
3 June 1998
BMW and Ford Dominate the J.D. Power and Associates 1998 Plant Quality Awards AGOURA HILLS, Calif., June 3 -- Ford and BMW both stand out
in J.D. Power and Associates redesigned annual Initial Quality Study (IQS2) by
sweeping the North American and European regional plant awards, respectively.
Honda, Toyota and Nissan each claim one award in the Asian region.
BMW's Dingolfing, Germany assembly plant, home to the 5-and 7-Series, sets
vehicle quality standards for the world this year by posting the best problems
per 100 score of any plant producing vehicles for sale in the U.S. In honor
of this achievement, Dingolfing is awarded the J.D. Power and Associates
Platinum Plant Award for the assembly plant manufacturing vehicles with the
fewest reported problems of all those serving U.S. consumers. BMW's Munich
and Regensburg plants are tied in a close second-place finish among European
plants, each receiving Silver Plant Awards for the European Region. Both
plants produce variations of the BMW 3-Series.
"For the third consecutive year, this year's Platinum Award is from a
different region of the globe. In 1996, the award went to an Asian assembly
plant, while last year two North American plants tied for the honor,"
commented George Owens, project director of IQS2 at J.D. Power and Associates.
"These results illustrate not only the importance each manufacturer has shown
in improving quality over time, but equally that no one manufacturer has a
lock on quality. With the bar continuing to rise, each manufacturer must
continue to look for new ways to improve assembly technology and processes
and, in turn, overall vehicle quality," Mr. Owens said.
In North America, Ford Motor Company dominates the rankings with the three
highest-ranked plants. St. Thomas, Ontario takes the North American Gold
Award. St. Thomas builds Ford's large rear-wheel-drive cars, the Ford Crown
Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis. Chicago Assembly, home to the Ford Taurus
and Mercury Sable, takes home the Silver Award for North America, while the
Michigan Truck plant receives the Bronze Award. Michigan Truck is home to the
Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, both of which receive IQS2 awards this
year in the Full-Size and Luxury SUV categories.
In Asia, assembly excellence is more widespread. Honda's Sayama, Japan,
plant repeats its 1997 performance and receives the Asian Gold Award based on
the quality of the Honda Prelude, Acura TL and Acura RL models that are
produced there. Toyota's Tahara, Japan, plant, home to the top-ranking Lexus
LS400 and the new GS 300/400, captures the Silver Plant Award and Nissan's
Oppama, Japan, plant receives the Bronze Plant Award. Oppama produces the
Infiniti I30 and Nissan Maxima.
Conducted annually, the J.D. Power and Associates IQS2 study monitors the
number of problems new-vehicle owners experience in the first three months of
ownership. The study is the industry quality standard in ranking current-year
models based on problems per 100 vehicles covering 135 specific problem areas
over nine vehicle sections. The 1998 study reports responses from more than
58,000 owners of 1998 model-year vehicles. The IQS2 plant awards are based on
vehicles built throughout the world and for sale in the United States.
J.D. Power and Associates is an international firm best known for its
marketing information services in key business sectors including market
research, forecasting and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and
satisfaction measurements are based on actual customer responses from over one
million consumers annually. With its headquarters in Agoura Hills,
California, the firm also has U.S. offices in Torrance, California; Michigan;
and Connecticut. Its international locations include Japan, Korea, England,
Canada and Brazil.
J.D. Power and Associates can be accessed through the World Wide Web at
http://www.jdpower.com. Media email contact: john.pepitone@jdpower.com.
This press release is provided for editorial use only. No advertising or
other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D.
Power and Associates survey results without the express prior written consent
of J.D. Power and Associates.
