Hyundai Fares Well in Auto Quality Survey

DETROIT (AP) _ A new survey measuring automotive quality backs up Hyundai Motor Co.'s impressive showing in a recent J.D. Power and Associates report, while General Motors Corp.'s brands were at

Monday, May 24th 2004, 9:54 am

By: News On 6

DETROIT (AP) _ A new survey measuring automotive quality backs up Hyundai Motor Co.'s impressive showing in a recent J.D. Power and Associates report, while General Motors Corp.'s brands were at or near the top in 11 of 19 vehicle categories.

Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti luxury brand and Mercedes-Benz scored the highest among individual nameplates in the survey being released Monday by San Diego-based marketing research firm Strategic Vision, which queries customers on a variety of quality issues and their satisfaction in the first three months of ownership.

Volkswagen of America, coupled with the Audi brand, was the top full-line corporation in total quality.

Strategic Vision surveyed roughly 40,000 new owners of 2004 models between October and November. Industrywide, total quality rose slightly from 2003 and has risen nearly every year since 1998. Strategic Vision began the survey in 1995.

Hyundai, a once-suspect South Korean brand, ranked 14th out of 37 brands in total quality experience in the new survey, up from 23rd last year.

Among brands that typically sell for under $23,000, Hyundai ranked second behind GM's Saturn nameplate but ahead of No. 3 Honda. Hyundai was at or near the top in three vehicle categories _ small car (Elantra, tied with Saturn Ion); compact car (Sonata, just behind Chevrolet Malibu); and small sport utility vehicle (Santa Fe).

In the closely watched J.D. Power initial quality study released last month, Hyundai was the most improved of 37 nameplates, scoring 29 percent better than 2003 and moving up 16 positions to rank seventh.

``This is the second part of the story,'' said Dan Gorrell, automotive partner at Strategic Vision. ``It's not just reliability. These Hyundai owners are exceedingly happy with their products.''

Meanwhile, GM models had the highest or nearly the highest score in 11 categories, including large car (Buick LeSabre, tied with Chrysler Concorde); sports car over $25,000 (Chevy Corvette); medium specialty coupe (Chevy Monte Carlo); near-luxury car (Cadillac Deville, just behind Infiniti G35 sedan); convertible over $30,000 (Cadillac XLR); mid-size SUV (Saturn Vue, tied with Nissan Murano); luxury SUV (Cadillac Escalade); full-size pickup (Chevrolet Avalanche) and heavy-duty pickup (Chevrolet Silverado).

Nissan, including Infiniti, saw every one of its models score higher than the average quality score in its specific segment. Nissan was followed by Honda (83 percent), Volkswagen (69 percent), GM (64 percent), Ford (61 percent), Chrysler (52 percent) and Toyota (47 percent).

Toyota's Lexus luxury brand, a fixture at the top of most quality surveys, remained in the top five in the latest Strategic Vision study, but the Toyota brand itself came in at 26th. Toyota was passed by brands such as Hyundai, Ford and Chevrolet.

``What this tells us is buyers appreciate the Toyota brand, but the models aren't going the extra step for those who want something a bit more stylish or more power,'' Gorrell said. ``They don't break, but there isn't much flair.''