Misgivings About Metrics: With quality scores up and gaps closing between brands, are reliability surveys relevant?

摘要

WHEN J.D. POWER & ASSOCIATES RECENT- ly announced a first-place tie between the Buick and Jaguar brands, overtaking Toyota and Lexus in its closely watched Vehicle Dependability Study, many industry observers were left scratching their heads. "It's like I woke up in Bizarro Land this morning," wrote one poster on an auto fansite. "Jaguar on top of ANY dependability study?!" Others noted the poor finish for Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion brand, which placed near last, while the Lexus and Toyota marques were second and third, respectively.