AUTO QUALITY GAP NARROWED : J.D. POWER STILL RANKS JAPANESE MAKES HIGHEST.Byline: Brian S. Akre Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. While the entire auto industry continues to make strides in quality, an annual ranking released Tuesday shows Japanese makes still have the fewest problems in the first three months of ownership. Japanese makes took five of the six top spots by category in the J.D. Power and Associates' survey of buyers of 1996 cars. They also won top honors in three of the five categories of light trucks. Models made by Toyota scored the most top rankings, led by the Lexus SC The Lexus SC series is a personal luxury coupé sold by Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota. The SC features a front engine, rear-wheel drive design and seating for up to four passengers. 300-400 with 45 reported problems per 100 cars and the Lexus ES The Lexus ES series is a family of mid-size luxury sedans produced by the Lexus division of Toyota since 1989. Now in its fifth generation, the series has been consistently built on the Toyota Camry platform with a V6 engine, automatic transmission, and front-wheel drive. 300 with 54. They were followed by the Subaru Impreza For the high-performance versions of the Impreza, see Subaru Impreza WRX and Subaru Impreza WRX STi The Subaru Impreza is a compact car that was first introduced by Subaru in 1993. and the Toyota Paseo The Toyota Paseo (known as the Cynos in Japan and other regions) was released in 1991 and was loosely based on the Toyota Tercel. It replaced the Toyota Corolla coupe and hatchback. It was available as a coupe and in later models as a convertible. . The only American make that got a top car ranking was General Motors' Oldsmobile 88 in the premium midsize category, at 70 problems per 100 cars. J.D. Power changed the format of the survey results this year. Last year it listed the top 24 cars and trucks and their scores without regard to category, and the top cars by price range. This year it released the top three cars and trucks in each of 11 categories, and the scores only for the No. 1 model in each category. It also declined to release the corporate averages, making comparisons by manufacturer impossible. Chance Parker, director of product research for the Agoura marketing firm, said the change was made to give consumers more model rankings in all categories. Among the top three vehicles in each category of cars, Japanese nameplates were represented 16 times, compared with two U.S. brands and no European makes. A few of the top Japanese makes, such as the Toyota Camry The Toyota Camry is a mid-size sedan assembled by Toyota in Georgetown, Kentucky; Altona, Victoria, Guangzhou, China and the original factory in Toyota City, Japan. In some markets, the top range Camry models are seen as executive cars. and Honda Accord The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. , are made in the United States. Among pickups, mini-vans and sport utility vehicles This page lists sports utility vehicles currently in production (as of April 2007), as well as past models. The list includes crossover SUVs, Mini SUVs, Compact SUVs and other similar vehicles. , Toyota took three of the top spots, while GM's Chevrolet and Ford each took one. J.D. Power noted a growing gap, however, between the quality of light trucks and cars. ``Clearly, we see mini-vans and sport utilities being marketed and being accepted as alternatives to cars,'' Parker said. ``The bottom line, however, is they are not yet delivering carlike levels of quality.'' The top-ranked sport utility was the pricey Toyota Landcruiser, with 70 problems per 100 vehicles, while Toyota's Previa mini-van and its Tacoma pickup followed in the light truck segments with scores of 76. CAPTION(S): Photo,Chart Photo: (Color) Toyota's Lexus SC300 was ranked No. 1in J.D. Power's premium luxury car category. Chart: Power survey Associated Press |
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