Survey Shows American Brands Trail Asian, European Cars in Reliability

摘要

Fisher contends that the results reflect a difference in the way upper management in each continent addresses technical and cost issues. "Corporate philosophy is not just about Toyota," he said. "There are other manufacturers from Asia that have the same philosophies." The differences most clearly manifest themselves in powertrain and electronics, Fisher said. Toyota, for example, still doesn't use turbo-powered, small displacement engines in its flagship Camry sedans. Moreover, the company has been slower to adopt eightand nine-speed transmissions. The Toyota Sienna and Toyota Highlander just started employing the eight-speeds, but even then, did so slowly as a way of working through any potential technical issues.