Everyone has seen car commercials on TV and been amazed at how the new features are carefully staged to give the vehicle an ethereal glamor to the potential buyer but very few commercials will give you the honest truth about a new vehicle. Could you imagine a car commercial that showed a legitimate owner discussing their experience with purchasing?
- Customer One: “I purchased my new car and as I was driving off the lot the rear view mirror fell off the front windshield”
- Customer Two: “The fuel economy was not as good as I had hoped but the dealer said I didn’t drive it correctly”
- Customer Three: “My daughter spilled milk on the back seat and I still can’t get the stain off the seat even though they said the car was stain resistant.”
If the truth about vehicles came out then customers would be less inclined to purchase a new vehicle and would continue shopping around. This is where J.D. Power and Associates stepped in with the goal of getting the real information from consumers to potential buyers to help them make a wise purchasing decision. But just who is J.D.Power and Associates and why should we listen to what they have to say?
Who is J.D.Power?
J.D Power or James David Power III is the found of the global marketing firm J.D. Power and Associates. He was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts and studied finance before joining Ford Motor Company to work as a financial analyst and as a consultant for General Motors Corporation. His time with both companies gave him insight into how automotive manufacturers worked and helped to lend his expertise when he founded J.D. Power and Associates marketing firm.
J.D. Power and Associates – Managing worldwide automotive surveys
J.D. Power and Associates goal is to fill that information gap and to provide global information on vehicles and other products to consumer to allow them to make a truly informed purchasing decision. The company conducts surveys on a multitude of products and provides this information to corporations who then pay a licensing fee to be able to use the J.D.Power logo and survey results in their advertising campaign. The J.D.Power logo has worldwide recognition for providing high quality information and reliable data about a product which makes their recommendation a selling point for new products. The J.D. Power car reliability data is a major selling point for a vehicle and something that automotive engineers strive for with their designs.
J.D.Power car reliability study is well known in the automotive sector and conducts multiple different surveys annually looking at different facets of car ownership. There is the Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) which looks at the issues that consumers have experienced with their vehicles during the first three years they have owned the vehicle. The Initial Quality Study (IQS) looks at the first 90 days of vehicle ownership and any issues that the new owner may have experienced. Additionally, there are surveys that analyze the purchasing experience, service department experiences, safety features, and overall impression of the vehicle. Each study provides valuable, real-life data about the performance of the vehicle in the market.
The most important part of J.D.Power car reliability, quality and aesthetics studies are that they survey then end customer; they do not rely on third party contractors to tear down and asses the best possible vehicle that has been provided by a manufacturer and funded by the manufacturer as well. By surveying the customer and getting real-life data J.D.Power gets the true unbiased opinion on the vehicle quality. This unbiased opinion is what has given J.D.Power a worldwide reputation for providing high-quality information and data to its customers.
A Constant Focus
When you are designing a vehicle or buying a new car it is always a wise decision to read the customer reports from J.D.Power and Associates so that you can correct any errors in the previous design or prevent you from wasting money on a poor quality automobile. The automotive industry – especially OEMs are putting a much larger focus on satisfying these consumer complaints. J.D. Power car reliability studies allow a constant feedback loop between the customer and automotive engineer that is helping to propel the automotive industry continually forward. If you are a looking for ways of innovating at your company, you should focus on these reports for ideas. Listening to what the customer has to say is one of the best ways to create new ideas for your company and make yourself look like an all-star.