2005 TQS: BMW On Top
BMW top brand; Nissan, GM, Hyundai also big winners in new quality study.
By Paul A. Eisenstein
Marketing Report: May 16, 2005 by TCC Team (5/15/2005)
Benz questions Power #1 ranking, GM moves to Publicis.

German automaker BMW took top honors as "best brand" in the 2005 Total Quality Study, with Nissan, Hyundai, and General Motors also scoring well in the annual survey, which is designed to focus on both things-gone-right, as well as things-gone-wrong with new vehicles. The latest TQS shows Japanese automakers resonating best with U.S.consumers, but it also delivers some unexpected and potentially contentious results. In one example, Ford's Five Hundred sedan, though derided as bland, nudged ahead of the stylish Chrysler 300 in the Large Car category. Meanwhile, troubled GM took more top honors than either of its domestic rivals, despite the poor reception rewarded many of its newest products. Perhaps the most significant finding of the new study is the fact that SUVs are losing the emotional luster that had driven them to become the hottest product on theU.S.market over the past decade. BMW on top BMW has had a consistently strong showing, over the years, in the Total Quality Study, reflecting its strong brand image and distinctive products. Yet its 3-Series comes as a somewhat unexpected victor in the Near Luxury class, because the luxury car was in its final year of production when the study was conducted. An even bigger surprise was GM's solid showing, said Dan Gorrell, the partner in charge of Strategic Vision's automotive research. The automaker won or tied for first in five vehicle categories, including Small Specialty Vehicle over $25,000, which was topped by the popular Chevrolet Corvette sports car. But the choice of the Pontiac G6 as best Medium Car, acknowledged Gorrell, "will be controversial." While the new sedan has received mixed reviews and generated sluggish sales, the G6 "still resonates with some people," he explained. Similarly surprising was the choice of the aging GMC Sierra 2500/3500 series truck as tops in the Heavy Duty Pickup category. Due to fast-falling sales, GM is rushing to replace its full-size truck models. There's likely to be less controversy over the TQS results in the Best Corporation category. Nissan was named best among full-line producers - taking in both the Nissan and Infiniti brands. Collectively, they were named best in five different categories, including the Nissan Murano, which was picked as best Medium Crossover, and the Infiniti FX35, which was chosen top Near Luxury SUV. If the automaker pulled off any surprise, it was grabbing top honors in the Full-Size Pickup category with its Nissan Titan. The Japanese manufacturer had some initial quality problems with products, such as the Titan, produced at an all-new assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi. But Gorrell said buyers were willing to overlook such defects in favor of delight factors, such as the pickup's spray-in bed liner and cargo rail system. Unlike BMW, Nissan's strong showing in the Total Quality Study is a relatively recent thing, noted Gorrell, and it reflects the long-troubled automakers aggressive turnaround program, which put an emphasis on strong product. "Nissan," Gorrell emphasized, "offers a blueprint for the domestics (Big Three) on how to come back." Year of the Car - for Japan This was supposed to be "the year of the car," according to Detroitautomakers, but the U.S. manufacturers simply didn't deliver, the new TQS would suggest. Their Asian rivals dominated the annual study. Ford did hit a home run with its newly redesigned Mustang, and its Five Hundred sedan tied with Nissan's Maxima in the Large Car category. That gave Ford the satisfaction of knowing it outranked Chrysler's well-received and strong-selling 300 series, if only by a couple points. Gorrell noted that if it were sold as a separate product, the HEMI-powered 300C version of Chrysler's sedan would have easily topped all comers in the Large Car category. Chrysler got another setback in the minivan category, which it long owned. Top honors this year went to the redesigned Honda Odyssey. Once a laggard in both quality and customer satisfaction, Hyundai picked up two best-of honors, for the Tucson, in the Small SUV column, and for Small Car, where its Accent model pulled off a three-way tie with the Ford Focus and Mazda3. Scion is a new face in the TQS winner's column, scoring big with the boxy Scion xB - tying for top honors in the Small Multi-Function Vehicle category. Along with the Chrysler PT Cruiser, said Gorrell, the xB's success suggests that consumers are looking for new and different designs blending emotional styling with solid functionality. SUVs sliding out of view? Until recently, that was how the TQS results would have described sport-utility vehicles. "Ten years ago," recalled Gorrell, "when we studied SUVs, the emotional metrics measured off the chart." But suddenly, things are changing, and conventional, truck-based utes generated little more than yawns this year. The market seems to be moving towards more edgy crossovers, such as the Nissan Murano and Infiniti FX35, said Gorrell. And the shift, he stressed, is being driven by emotions, and not by rising gasoline prices. Mercedes-Benz was a name notably absent from this year's TQS. That appears to reflect some "miserable" quality problems, said Gorrell, adding, "The reputation of reliability problems is starting to spread." Also missing in this year's best-of list was Volkswagen, which Gorrell said reflects both quality issues and aging product. Unlike traditional quality surveys, the Total Quality Study is designed to account not only for defects - so-called things-gone-wrong - but also things-gone-right, such as a good sales and service experience, and unexpectedly delightful vehicle features.