Consumer Reports Surprise: Acura 'Shocked' At Low Ranking; Ford, Chevy, GMC Do Well

[Perian]

Link: http://wardsauto.com/ar/acura_consumer_reports/

By Christie Schweinsberg
WardsAuto.com, Jan 9, 2008 2:44 PM

Consumer Reports’ 2008 Car Brand Perception Survey shows the usual suspects, Toyota and Honda, atop the heap, but finds Honda’s upscale marque in the basement – which shocks brand officials.

“In a nutshell we would disagree with the assessment that Acura would fall that low in any survey,” an Acura company spokesman tells Ward’s. “Our research shows Acura is ranking high in technology aspects and brand awareness and those types of things.”

Rankings are based on a blind telephone survey conducted last month to judge how consumers perceive industry brands on performance, safety, quality, value, performance, environmental friendliness, design and technical innovation.

Data collected from 1,720 U.S. adults found Toyota and Honda brands are perceived as the best by a wide margin. Ford, Chevrolet and GMC were third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

On an aggregate basis, Toyota and Honda earned scores of 189 and 146. Acura received eight points, finishing below Audi (14 points), Mitsubishi (21 points) and Mercury (22 points).

“We didn’t get a lot of feedback on Acura,” says Ed Farrell, associate director for the magazine’s survey team. “All these questions were unaided. The first lead-off question is, ‘When you think of cars available for sale in America, what cars do you think of?’”

Farrell says respondents then were asked questions relating to attributes, such as “When you think of performance, what car best typifies to you performance?”

In many categories, Acura “didn’t come up as a single mention,” Farrell tells Ward’s.

The Acura spokesman says a dearth of new model launches last year could have been a factor in the poor survey result. But he also believes the small sample size and the survey’s methodology are “not indicative of the real world and especially not indicative of luxury buyers.”

Full article at link.

[Perian]

I'm looking forward to seeing the Queen Mary, Queen Mary II and the new Queen Victoria come in together for the first time tomorrow in NY Harbor.

Perhaps the automotive version of these large ships as seen in Consumer Reports is turning around...

[91 s-10baja]

Originally Posted by Perian

I'm looking forward to seeing the Queen Mary in NYC tomorrow with the Queen Victoria.

Perhaps the automotive version of these large ships is turning around...

Witty!! that was funny

[tomcat_cool17]

ONly 1720 were surveyed? Come on CR. I never got called. I love how the numbers can be manipulated to say what they want. That is such a small group to get this kind of information from.

[jbartley]

lack of new offerings? how about acura's models just suck en general? ha ha.

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by tomcat_cool17

ONly 1720 were surveyed? Come on CR. I never got called. I love how the numbers can be manipulated to say what they want. That is such a small group to get this kind of information from.

If it was completely random, it should be large enough to be accurately extrapolated to the general population.

[2002 Caddy]

Originally Posted by tomcat_cool17

ONly 1720 were surveyed? Come on CR. I never got called. I love how the numbers can be manipulated to say what they want. That is such a small group to get this kind of information from.

Con-sumer reports has ALWAY used VERY suspect statistics in all of their quality surveys... The rag is nothing more then a random number generator written by a bunch of hacks who know less then nothing about cars...

For example how come the PT Cruiser is near the top of their "best cars" and the Neon is near the bottom of the worst cars... when these two cars share common engines and a common chassis...

LOTs of examples like this...

Use this mag to help pick your dishwasher soap... anything more then that and you are making a BIG mistake.

and 1700 is not big enough to tell you anything... You take the 1700 and you divide that by about a dozen makes, then divide that by about 10 models then you divide that by 5 model years and you get a result about as meaningful as asking three or four buddies at work... Hey Joe, you like your new TL... Oh its crap and in the shop all of the time... sorry to hear that...

[cincygoblue]

Originally Posted by tomcat_cool17

ONly 1720 were surveyed? Come on CR. I never got called. I love how the numbers can be manipulated to say what they want. That is such a small group to get this kind of information from.

Actually, 1720 is probably significantly significant. How many people do you think they poll for Presidential Races? It's usually around this #.

And the fact that you are on this board, means you are not "typical" of an American consumer. Neither am I. Of course enthusiasts will know more and have deeper opinions, but I believe this survey. I'm sure it's as the spokesman said though. Luxury buyers will have a deeper knowledge of luxury brands. The average American may not. What this means is that it would be harder for Acura to grow or expand with new cars for the general public than for Toyota, simply because the awareness and reputation is not there.

[HoosierRon]

I'll bet Oldsmobile got more mentions than Acura.

[SUPERBADD75]

Acura is not getting with the program, that's the problem. their flagship is a V6 car with AWD and is barely larger than the next car down the product line, yet it costs $15k more! they need to offer RWD, V8 power in their top line cars, and above all they need to stand apart from Honda more. Hondas are great cars, but they're not luxury cars, and to a lot of people Acuras aren't much more than Hondas with leather and more gadgetry. honestly, i never thought Cadillac would get it together before Acura did, but it's happening. i have seen quite a few RDXs on the road though.

[Bggriffi]

Originally Posted by jbartley

lack of new offerings? how about acura's models just suck en general? ha ha.

I'll agree that the RL and MDX suck, but there is no way you're convincing me that the TSX, TL, and RDX do. These three are always praised for being fun to drive.

[Ambalanche]

This is exactly why I don't pay CR any attention at all. I would like to see GM high on their lists if for no other reason than so the sheep will have the liberal holy grail to follow.

[skylark68]

Lack of a V-8 and RWD is hampering Acura. Plus, the dealership network is fairly small. In fact, while people on this board complain about the appearance of Cadillac dealerships in some locales, on I-45 South in Houston, there is an Acura dealership that looks like it has been neglected since it took over a used car lot.

[gdsm3]

Originally Posted by Bggriffi

I'll agree that the RL and MDX suck, but there is no way you're convincing me that the TSX, TL, and RDX do. These three are always praised for being fun to drive.

whats wrong with the mdx? for it's size and weight it is one of the best performing midsized suvs/cuvs out right now, which is exactly why i bought one. and i do know what a fun to drive car feels like. i sold my bmw m3 to make room for our mdx. if anything i would have to say that compared to their competition the tsx, with its weak 4 cylinder, and the rl, with its old man styling, suck. all their other models are very competitive. acura needs to get off of it's fwd addiction to be seen by and contemplated by more of the general public. i just bought a new mdx before thanksgiving and to be honest i looked at everything else x5, ml, rx, enclave, srx heck i even looked at nonluxury nameplates before my wife and i even fathomed to look at an acura. acura makes really good cars, but for some reason they lack the drive to get the marketing they need to be seen in a better light.

[eaton53]

This is a really stupid survey. If someone was going to answer Acura, they'd be just as likely to answer Honda instead.

I'm not about to subscribe to that piece of trash to find out the full results, but I wonder if GM's combined brands were #1, since just Chevy had 110 and GMC had 102.