| Quality control: Toyota's still fares much better | Send to a friend |
| Monday, 22 February 2010 17:50 |
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A study conducted in the US and whose findings were released amid the Japanese carmaker torrent of recalls totalling more than 8.1 million Toyotas worldwide, reveals that several other automakers are facing similar problems. What has caught the attention of many is the revelation that despite its series of recalls of its products, including 400,000 of the popular 2010 Prius hybrid for problems associated with sticking brake pedals, software glitches and faulty floormats, Toyota is far from being the worst automaker on quality control. The study was based on the percentage of complaints each automaker received versus the total number of vehicles they sold in the United States between 2001 and 2010. It despite a torrent of high-profile recalls that have tarnished the Japanese carmaker’s once stellar reputation, consumer complaints over design glitches reflect an industry issue, not just a Toyota issue. The study published last Wednesday reveals that the automaker actually gets fewer customer complaints per car than the majority of its competitors. It reviewed more than 200,000 complaints filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the last decade and found that Toyota ranked 17th among the top 20 automakers in the overall number of complaints per vehicle sold. As a result, British carmaker Land Rover had the highest proportion of complaints relative to the number of cars it sold. The company received 0.6 per cent of the total complaints in the database, while its sales amounted to only 0.1 per cent of all new cars sold in the US. Meanwhile, Toyota had 9.1 per cent of all the complaints in the database. But the company was number 17 on the list because its sales made up 13.5 per cent of the US. According to the study, Toyota had fewer complaints than Ford, which was number 10 on the list, and General Motors, which came in at number 11. The only automakers to receive fewer complaints than Toyota were Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. Among the other automakers that ranked high on the list were Suzuki and Isuzu, which came in at numbers 2 and 3 respectively. German automaker Volkswagen came in at number 4. The complaints lodged against Toyota ranged from minor problems with lighting to more serious issues such as sudden acceleration and difficulty steering. But the study did not rate the reported incidences for severity. However, some automakers assume that customer complaints are the result of driver error and not necessarily a reflection of design problems. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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