JD Power 2007 Mercedes beats Lexus in USA

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hawk20

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Amazing news: -
Mercedes-Benz jumped from 25th (2006) to 5th (2007) overall in the recently released JDP Initial Quality Survey!! Of note, the all-new S, the facelifted E and the SL-Class models all won best in class awards.

The S-Class had the fewest problems of any car in the industry with 72 problems per 100 cars, beating Lexus for the first time.

Mercedes-Benz showed dramatic improvement in the nameplate rankings, largely on the strength of these best in class winners: the S-Class (which ties for the award with the Audi A8 in the large premium car segment), the E-Class, and the SL-Class. The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was also one of the study’s most improved models year over year.

http://www.jdpower.com/articles/article.aspx?ID=259

Each year, the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS)SM surveys consumers who have purchased new model-year vehicles and have owned them for at least 90 days. The 2007 IQS measures consumer satisfaction with vehicle design and mechanical quality: design quality to gauge how the vehicle works (i.e., control operation and layout) and mechanical quality to determine how the vehicle is assembled and functions. Awards are given to the top-ranked models in 19 vehicle segments, as well as to assembly plants that produce vehicles with the fewest reported defects.

Dr Dieter Zetche, Head honcho at Mercedes set the target to overtake Lexus as soon as he took over. Lots of hard work to improve reliabilty and customer satisfaction appears at last to be bearing fruit.

 
This really is excellent news.

A superb achievement I'd say.
 
Mercedes have not beaten Lexus as you claim.The top 3 overall are:

1)Porsche 91 problems per 100 cars
2)Lexus 94
3)Lincoln 100

However the MB rise in position was the best (along with LR) and the S-class was the best model.

Initial quality over the first 90 days of ownership seems of limited value
to me. For example why ask someone about design quality, if they thought it was bad they wouldn't have bought the vehicle in the first place!
In general people seldom question their decision making decisions so soon, indeed they filter out information that causes cognitive dissonance.

adam
 
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Mercedes have not beaten Lexus as you claim.The top 3 overall are:

1)Porsche 91 problems per 100 cars
2)Lexus 94
3)Lincoln 100

However the MB rise in position was the best (along with LR) and the S-class was the best model.
adam

I am sorry but I have quoted correctly. Here is the link to the JD Power Press Release.
http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/pressrelease.aspx?id=2007088

And here is what it says: -
Mercedes-Benz and Toyota models capture three segment awards each. Toyota models that receive awards are the 4Runner, Sequoia and Tacoma. Mercedes-Benz models that earn awards are the E-Class, SL-Class, and the S-Class.
The S-Class ties with the Audi A8 (total) for having the fewest quality problems in the industry, with just 72 problems per 100 vehicles.

The S class did in fact come out top with least faults, as I reported.
 
This really is excellent news.

A superb achievement I'd say.

I think that is right. And it never ceases to amaze me how an individual can alter a big organisation. Dr Z put his main emphasis on this target to equal or better Lexus in the IQS ratings. And here it comes. In less grandiose ways I have seen individuals make these sorts of changes and a real difference in a department or a group they work in. A new Head teacher can transform a school. A new head of the Service department can change our view of a dealer.

Anyway as you say excellent news. Time to put on the Janice Joplin record
Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes benz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-g7Q7hXn7o&mode=related&search=

 
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Initial quality over the first 90 days of ownership seems of limited value
to me. For example why ask someone about design quality, if they thought it was bad they wouldn't have bought the vehicle in the first place!
In general people seldom question their decision making decisions so soon, indeed they filter out information that causes cognitive dissonance.

adam

These questions are loaded. Design quality refers to many things people take into consideration .... "my useless Audi armrest " which are not obvious on the showroom floor. The simplistic nature of a report does not expose the extremely difficult task of wording and designing a question.

If someone did not like the design then it would seem to indicate buyers remorse or many annoying design flaws.
 
I think that is right. And it never ceases to amaze me how an individual can alter a big organisation. Dr Z put his main emphasis on this target to equal or better Lexus in the IQS ratings.

Actually, believe it or not, IIRC, this target was put in place when Mr Schrempp was still at the helm, when he realised things were going pear shaped!
 
Actually, believe it or not, IIRC, this target was put in place when Mr Schrempp was still at the helm, when he realised things were going pear shaped!
Can you actually give a link to support that view? If he did I missed it but DR Z made it his major mission and made it happen.
 
No, you said in the title of the thread "JD Power 2007 Mercedes beats Lexus in USA" which is incorrect. Lexus where 2nd and Mercedes 5th. See page 4 http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pdf/2007088.pdf
I did not say you had quoted incorrectly (although in fact you've used no quotation marks) indeed I mentioned the S-class was the top rated car.

adam

Yes and Mercedes did beat Lexus in the large luxury car class (with the S class), the mid sized luxury car class (with the E class coming first and with the SL winning its class too. Finally the S class came first overall (equal with the Audi) as the car with least faults in all classes. That is what I said and that is what JD Power said in its Press releases.
 
I am very biased, but after six weeks with the new S class, I would have no hesitation in voting it best luxury car.
It has obviously given no troule in its first 3000 miles, but it is simply the most stress free way of making a swift, safe road journey.(and at 40mpg!)
I really am suprised at how much better than the already good E class it actually is, despite sharing the same engine and transmission.
 
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No Link, but I definately remember reading about how MB was making quality top priority back in 2004 or so, which was when JS was still in charge.

Can you actually give a link to support that view? If he did I missed it but DR Z made it his major mission and made it happen.
 
Here's something from 2005 :-

Quality has improved over the past year, and Schrempp insists that Mercedes vehicles are in excellent shape when they leave the factory. But the division still needs to get better at integrating the electronic gadgetry it crams into its cars--and dealing with all those high-maintenance customers whose complaints clog a number of websites. One U.S. owner who paid $80,000 for a 2004 model vented recently about driver headrests that adjust themselves, climate-control devices that randomly set temperature, and electronic driver aids that take over the car while he is driving. Schrempp concedes that Mercedes owners have the final say on what constitutes a fault, although at times he seems befuddled by complaints about such seemingly inconsequential matters as cup-holder size and air-conditioner velocity. "One issue we have now is the climate control in a car," he says. "Many American customers want to feel cold air in the face. And we said possibly that's not the most healthy thing to do. [But] we have found out that if the customer wants it, you should get it."

Whether the customers are right or not, making them all happy may have cost Mercedes as much as $500 million last year in upgraded components and post-production testing. Schrempp says the money is well spent. "We are doing more than you would normally have to do," he says. "After all, we're talking about Mercedes." He expects the problems to be cleared up by 2006. "In another 12 months you're not talking about quality anymore."

full article here
 
Amazing news: -
Mercedes-Benz jumped from 25th (2006) to 5th (2007) overall in the recently released JDP Initial Quality Survey!! Of note, the all-new S, the facelifted E and the SL-Class models all won best in class awards.

The S-Class had the fewest problems of any car in the industry with 72 problems per 100 cars, beating Lexus for the first time.

Mercedes-Benz showed dramatic improvement in the nameplate rankings, largely on the strength of these best in class winners: the S-Class (which ties for the award with the Audi A8 in the large premium car segment), the E-Class, and the SL-Class. The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was also one of the study’s most improved models year over year.

http://www.jdpower.com/articles/article.aspx?ID=259

Each year, the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS)SM surveys consumers who have purchased new model-year vehicles and have owned them for at least 90 days. The 2007 IQS measures consumer satisfaction with vehicle design and mechanical quality: design quality to gauge how the vehicle works (i.e., control operation and layout) and mechanical quality to determine how the vehicle is assembled and functions. Awards are given to the top-ranked models in 19 vehicle segments, as well as to assembly plants that produce vehicles with the fewest reported defects.

Dr Dieter Zetche, Head honcho at Mercedes set the target to overtake Lexus as soon as he took over. Lots of hard work to improve reliabilty and customer satisfaction appears at last to be bearing fruit.


That still sounds like 72% with problems :eek:
 
That still sounds like 72% with problems :eek:

No sorry it isn't. Think about it this way. One car could have 72 problems. The other 99 cars could have no problems at all. That would still give you a count of 72 problems per hundred cars. OK?
 

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