In our humble opinion, General Motors builds plenty of high-quality vehicles. In fact, we’d wager that The General’s new line of products is of as high or even higher quality than the competition (read: foreign brands). Unfortunately, not everyone would agree.
A Harris Interactive poll, the results of which were released Wednesday, posits that car owners still view American-made cars as inferior. Of the 2,634 adults polled, a whopping 35 percent said they find the quality of such vehicles inferior to those of imported cars; by contrast, 24 percent said they find import brands inferior to domestics, while 42 percent responded in saying that the quality is about the same.
Make of that what you will, but keep in mind that the wording of the Harris poll has been brought into question, as it asks participants to judge quality among “American made vehicles”. Whether that is meant to refer solely to cars actually manufactured in the United States or those made by the Big Three (in general) is not clear. With the Chevrolet Sonic being built in the U.S. while the Cadillac SRX is assembled in Mexico, the possible cause for confusion is highly noticeable, given that consumers are aware of the manufacturing locations (which we’re not convinced they are). In other words — take the poll and its results with a few grains of salt.
Meanwhile, the poll also found that a third of owners expressed interest in a hybrid vehicle, with 23 percent saying that their interest in such a car has increased for a year ago, even in light of declining gas prices from the time the survey was administered last May. Most consumers, however, take home a non-hybrid car, since hybrids and plug-ins represent a minuscule percentage of all new cars sold.
Do you think GM, and perhaps all other automakers, will be able to overcome the (ironic) negative stigma associated with “American-made” cars as it relates to U.S. consumers (because the Chinese love American stuff)? Talk to us in the comments.
Comments
That’s their loss, American cars are just as good or better than any import. And they provide American jobs and profit American corporations. I will never buy another foreign vehicle.
Once upon a time Japanese cars were considered to be inferior. And at the time they were. But they overcame that with hard work and paying attention to what was being said, and correcting the issues. Once upon a time Korean cars were considered to be inferior. And at the time they were. But they overcame that with hard work and paying attention to what was being said, and correcting the issues. See the trend? It’s America’s turn in the penalty box and to be honest, they pretty much earned their spot fair and square. All they need to do is apply the same strategy and wait their turn. Of course while they linger, it’s Power Play on the ice and scores are being racked up left right and centre.
It’s ironic though, that I feel that ALL European vehicles are inferior…go figure…
At the end of the day no car manufacturer can rest, they all must innovate or go out of business. The perception of the American car buyer is still one that relies on past understanding, but foreign makes have been more consistent in there messaging to consumers, thus the top 3 Japanese makers are still relied on for quality products. Consistent product and messaging has built strong brand equity, brand equity is what lacks with American makes… That is the real story…
Well that’s because most people don’t know about cars and hear about how foreigns were better and don’t do that research themselves
As long as decisions on minor, but important, details are deferred to cost considerations, and inferior materials or outright elimination of useful items are allowed to be incorporated into American designs, the inferior legacy will continue to haunt
Case in point, I drive the Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon
Arguably one of the finest examples of American design and engineering to be had
It is an amazing vehicle
My friend drives a Toyota Prius
His car has a passenger grip handle
Mine does not
Why would such an obviously needed feature be left out of the Caddy but be in the Prius
They gotta get over cheap
I agree some of those American-made cars are just crap. You know like Hyundai Kia Honda Toyota Nissan mopar. My last two cars were imported and I love them 98 Z28 Camaro and a 2006 Grand Prix GXP.
As long as many people rely on Consumer Reports for automotive reviews, American cars will be judged as inferior. Even their reliability statistics are skewed, I believe, because they are based on data collected from subscribers, a self selected sample that in general views American automobiles as poorly made.
30 years of greater perceived and actual reliability perception has lost many potential buyers to Honda etc.
Recovering those buyers will not happen overnight as many of them keep their cars a decade. Rarely do they turn them over every four years.
Both GM and Ford Europe understood and responded to Japanese products a decade or two before their US counterparts.
Little wonder the US arms now rely on Europe for product solutions.
This “poll” lacks credibility, but its right about Americans thinking that American branded cars are inferior.
The Big 3 have completely deserved their reputation after as much as 30 years of building cars that were in some ways inferior to foreign brands. So they cant expect that to change rapidly in just a few years, especially in places like California. However people’s perception has already started changing in just two years.
People often point to Hyundai and its rapid transformation in perception, I tend to disagree with such notions. Hyundai was a nobody with no expectations and no consumer base to tell everyone how bad their cars were. Many americans have never owned a Hyundai, almost every american has owned an american branded car at one point. A better example is the japenese auto industry, and a more recent one is Audi, who just in about a decade went from junk to world-class.
My prediction is that if the Big 3 keep rolling out the best cars at the pace of 2011, then they will on top or at least tied in perception.
It’s pretty much the big 2 now, excluding Chrysler. I root for both GM and Ford, but Chryslers are terrible. They played a big part in ruining the American auto industry’s reputation, and they are no help to fix it.
While Chrysler is no longer American, when talking about American’s perceptions, you have to include Chrysler since the majority of Americans still consider Chrysler American.
As for their cars, I think the Durango/Cherokee is an excellant platform. The 300 is still holding up and I think is the best full size rwd car you can get for the price. If I was picking a minivan id still pick the aging Chrysler minivans over Sienna or Odyssey. The dart looks to be promising attempt at a small car.
But yes Chrysler is unable to make the kind of dramatic turnaround that Ford and GM have done and will probably never return to prominence.
It really depends on what you consider “foreign”. Like the article mentions, many GM vehicles are made outside the USA. Silverados, Camaros, the Spark, the list goes on from there and the quality is worse in every case. The Subaru is made in IN, and their quality is second to none. If it’s made here, it will likely be better, but GM digs its own grave by building cars outside the country for sale in the domestic market.
Rob, I understand the frustration. Still, GM, Ford, and Chrysler still make most of their cars in the US. For GM, they only make Theta-platformed cars, the XTS, Impala, Camaro, Regal, Avalanche, and select pickups outside the US, but still in North America. The new Encore and Spark are made in Korea. It sounds like a lot, but with GMs massive lineup, it’s not bad.
JustinF, Chrysler has actually made the biggest comeback in the shortest time. I have driven several of their new cars, and I am very impressed. Not nearly as many quality or reliability issues as before.
Babersher, in my opinion, Hyundai and Kia are the same junk as they always were, just with a facelifted exterior design. Still junk
Building cars globally is necessary for a global automaker to function. We cannot begrudge our auto industry for not building EVERY car here when it is not financially sound to do so. I consider a companies country by where its profits go, not where they build. Thats why Chrysler is no longer american to me, not when Chryslers recent profit went to shoring up Fiats losses and keeping the factories in turin running,
“People often point to Hyundai and its rapid transformation in perception, I tend to disagree with such notions”
I am not as impressed with Hundai/Kia as the much as the general public seem to be, however, to say that they are the same junk as before would be going to far. Forget driving and mechanicals, just look at the interior and exterior, you can facelift all you want, but the attention to detail and better design execution represents a broader change in the whole company. Hyundai/Kia have come a long way and gotten better, but they still cannot be compared to Ford and GM transformation.
I think it is changing. It is a good thing that about 42% thing they’re up to par. Do we have numbers from the 90s? I bet they were flipped and saying they weren’t up to par, but that foreign automakers were much better than American automakers. So i think it’s changing slowly
Here’s a real story that shows how perceptions are slowly changing in favor of American cars. I bought a 2012 Chevy Equinox about ten days ago. Got a really good deal, what with the Total Confidence pricing and waiving my right to “Love it or return it”. Before I made the deal, a good friend of mine was visiting, and he went with me for test drive and talk to salesman. He once owned an 83 Blazer which he hated and now drives only Toyotas. He just bought a Tacoma, and his wife drives RAV4. My friend urged me to go with a Toyota, and I obliged him by taking him to a brand new Toyota dealer to look at cars (The dealership was a beautiful new bldg., bright lights, nice waiting area for service – they beat Chevy for buying experience, but I digress). Ultimately, went back to buy my Equinox.
Here’s the punch line : My friend exclaimed, when we opened the hood, “This is a GM car?!!?!!” And when he drove it around the block, he said immediately”This is a four cylinder? The four cylinder on the Tacoma shook and rattled in the test drive (he got the six)” Now he wants me to convince his wife to trade in the RAV4 for an Equinox (she swears by Toyota).
Sorry for the long comment here, but (with my help), Chevy may just have won over a customer who left them nearly thirty years ago.
Thanks for sharing, Dan. Very inspiring!
Subaru quality next to none, HA… Subaru is a Japanese manufacturer plain and simple… They are litteraly the reason I do not buy from Japanese manufacturers. My Subaru was plagued with issues that drove me crazy, I would never ever own a Subaru again… I had a buddy that swore buy them, my Subaru was very nice but was in the shop way more than any GM car I have since owned…
Judging an entire company by one bad car is exactly why these perceptions are so difficult to change. Everybody makes a bad car now and then. Everybody. There’s some poor shmuck out there that bought the lemon Rolls. The more cars you build, the more lemons there are and when you produce as many as GM the percent can be smaller than some other brands, but still have more bad cars. My point was that they are built HERE. Don’t tell me that we can’t have all our final assembly here, the global market doesn’t mean that process has to be outside the US. It would not only narrow the trade deficit, but it would be a big boom in both jobs and revenue for the Midwest which needs both desperately.
My GM, pontiac buick caddy dealer lost his francise in the 2end round of cuts, now he sells kia. i still get my oil changed there under my old purchase contract. he retained several mechanics, they all say internally, when it comes to Kia, you get what you pay fore, they are nice when the’re new but,!!!
So my HHR was made in Mexico by GM who is a US manufacturer and company. In my mind GM is US company thus I am supporting US jobs…
I’d file this under “duh” GM quality is still very poor. 2000 Grand Prix, purchased new, trans service at 30K, trans fails at 72K. 2002 Chevy Venture, new, 3.1L intake manifold failure just outside of warranty (same failure on 3.8L 2000 GP). 1998 GMC pickup, new, RWD, trans failure at 55K. Shall I write a chapter on Cadillac- “Northstar” motors with head gasket failures? I have more stories.
Look at the new Chevy pickups running around with one daytime running light, the other one burned out- I see one most every day. Too many stories to be anecdotal, GM quality sucks and it has caught up with them.
Did you try a “new GM” car, a car built by GM after 2009, if you do, youll be pleasantly surprised by jump in quality.
And GMs problems caught up to them in 2008-09. Now they are solving and recovering from those problems.
Well, it’s too late for that. We had to move on from GM brands (my dad, and one aunt were GM retirees too!). Too many people have experienced what I have over the last 10 -20 years- can’t take that chance with my family’s money. GM has got to learn quality is an engineering & investment issue, not an advertising program.
Michael, have you actually experienced a vehicle from the New GM? Any launch vehicle starting with the 2010 model year, for instance…
A light that’s burned out those things don’t happen anymore. Next you’re going to tell me there’s dirt in the air filter.
When I see a pattern of defects like this, that tells me they have an electrical design issue, or mostly likely an inferior components problem (bean counters). DRLs should last 5-7 years in my book. New trucks shouldn’t be running around with one eye out. Have not seen this on any other truck brand.
It breaks my heart that GM quality is so bad, I wish they took it seriously. I don’t they are and the buying public feels the same way- a lot of it based on experience.
I’ve never seen nor owned a GM truck (or any other GM product) with a burnt-out headlight. Seen and owned plenty of Volos with the issue, though.
A lot of the 2000-2007ish trucks and things like the Tahoe have an issue were on of the daytime running lights would be burnt out or at least not working. I have seen this. However, I have seen, and talked with many people who have seen, a massive increase of quality in GM in the recent years. Anyone who says otherwise just isn’t paying attention.
Rob, exactly all vehicle manufacturers have issues, my point exactly. And all the more reason to support GM or Ford when purchasing. I personally have had the best luck with quality in the GM cars I have owned in the last 10 years.
Of the three domestics Ford was the first to change their ways. Then GM. Chrysler still has a long way to go.
My first car when I moved here was a 1987 Chevy Nova. I knew it was a Toyota but wanted a Hatchback. We’re imports ourselves and our Euro roots are showing. We left domestics after that because they weren’t making the product we liked and trusted.
Wifey still loves her Ford era Volvo but I’m back and very pleased that my money stays in my adopted country.
Since 1980 I have owned 12 GM cars. All of them we’re designed with lights that could be replaced. When a light burns out at home do you blame the contractor that built the house.
I agree with Metacomet. The problem with GM vehicles today, aside from the lack of body styles, is that they tend to cut corners on the little things. Unfortunately for me, and apparently other customers like Metacomet, these turn out to be big things — deal breakers. I think there are a lot of us.
Speaking of cutting corners, I have not yet seen a non-American vehicle with remote-start from the factory… while GM offers it on pretty much every single model.
GM apparently assessed the desires of the public and determined that remote start is more important than comfort while actually driving. It’s also apparently more important than providing a solid, fixed roof rack on a vehicle that one could also use for long-distance commuting. The marketing types have determined that there are many more people who cannot wait to get into their vehicle to start it compared to the number of people who are interested in vehicle flexibility and efficiency — active people who are not lazy and actually do things like cycle or paddle. No need for efficiency if you think its OK to needlessly burn fuel while you’re not even in the car. Got it.
Or they realized that remote start, in hot or cold weather conditions, is a large part of comfort that’s capable of heating and cooling the cabin for a brisk 5 minutes before the occupants get to the car and run heat or AC full-blast, resulting in greater efficiency during the drive. And the fact that the vehicle has been idling for a few minutes (shutting off automatically after 5) makes for a more efficient drive with less pollution thanks to the “propped” warm-up cycle of the vehicle’s components. That said, a roof rack shouldn’t be out of the realm of factory accessories.
I had considered the hot/cold climate issue and a warmup or cool down period for the interior, but really, are you going to start your car from inside the house or from a distance? Probably not. You’re more likely to start it a few seconds before you grab the door handle. But suppose we take it as a given that starting from outside the car is practical, I do remember being advised years ago (when living up north where there is snow) that it is better to start the car and drive easy rather than let it idle to warm up. I can’t image that the latter actually burns less fuel unless the driver is gunning it from a cold start. But, whether true or false, remote start is really a luxury item in my view, not really corner-cutting.
Corner cutting is when you exclude the studs beneath the rain gutter stripping used to affix a rack accessory. You do this (e.g., Buick) despite the car’s Opel origin, which includes the studs and the capability of adding said accessory. This can be found on other European makes and some Japanese models. Apparently the American market has been assessed by Marketing and deemed to be too sedentary for it to be profitable to add an expense that amounts to about 4 bolts, even though the rack itself could be sold (as it is in Europe) for several hundred more.
I start my Grand Prix GXP from the house. Remote starter was an after market thing. The first factory installed remote start was 2003 Malibu.
Yeah everybody loves a nice rack.
I had a 1982 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera with a diesel engine and automatic transmission that I drove for 176,000 miles. . It got around 30 mpg which I appreciated. Loved the diesel, a GM engineered diesel engine – not a converted gas engine, but felt so cheated because of the fact that I had to have the high pressure fuel pump rebuilt four times due to a poorly specified plastic thruster washer that it contained and had to have the transmission rebuilt three times because it hadn’t been designed to handle the torque of the diesel. I swore off GM because of my experience with the Ciera.
I had a 1986 Toyota Camry whose only problem was the fuel pump located in the gas tank making noise at 135,000 miles. It was otherwise a solid, trouble-free car. I got about 27- 30 mpg. I had the fuel pump replaced and drove the car for another 7,000 miles before trading it in for a Plymouth Voyager.
The 1995 Voyager served my growing family’s needs but toward the end started to develop leaking seals in the transmission and head gasket. I had that vehicle for only 120,000 miles. It got around 25 mpg.
My next car was a 1996 Chrysler Concord that my daughter totaled at 106,000 miles (she wasn’t hurt). I loved that car. It was luxurious for me. It handled well at speed and around town. I had no problems with the car and it got around 27 mpg.
My next car was a 2002 Prius. Drove it for 132,000 miles and averaged 45 mpg over the life of the car. Although I felt that the handling wasn’t suited for our highway driving, I loved the idea of the hybrid and how well the concept was engineered. My first truly computer controlled car. I had no mechanical (or otherwise) failures. A well-built car. I sold it privately after 8 years and bought a 2010 Prius to replace it.
The 2010 Prius gave me 5 mpg more (50mpg) than the 2002 Prius and was roomier and better suited for highway speeds. The build quality was perfect. It, too, was trouble-free in the 29,000 miles I drove it.
But then came the Chevy Volt in 2012 – my present car and third computer-controlled car. I love my electric car! I’ve put on 6,000 miles so far. The car is a road car, way better than the 2010 Prius and equaling what I remember of my Concord. This car is impressively well designed and well-built. Aside from the handling which is great, the seating is perfect for long road trips (much better than either of the Prii). It’s a fun car to drive with plenty of torque when needed. I currently average over 80 mpg over the now 6,000 miles (41 mpg for the 2,600 miles when the engine ran) and have increased my electric range to 50 miles before the charge sustaining mode kicks in. About 45% of my driving is under 50 miles per day so that the ICE never has to fire up. With my electric rate totaling 20 cents per kWh, my cost for a complete recharge is $2.18, assuming a 10% loss in the supplied charger. Not too shabby, considering a cost of $5.12 for equivalent ICE usage over that distance.
My only complaint with this car is with the back-up camera. To use an engineering term, it sucks! There isn’t enough contrast. The resolution is bad. It has a hyper sensitive AGC that reacts too severely to light, especially at night when it practically shuts down due to the light from the license plate lights reflecting off the bumper beneath the camera. It seems that a junior engineer with no real-world engineering experience was handed the task of designing the camera system – and his boss didn’t check up on him.
Because of my past experience with GM, I elected to lease my Volt. Based on my experience so far, I look forward to buying a 2015 Volt and keeping it for a long time (assuming the camera fiasco has been corrected). I’m hooked!
The sentiment isn’t surprising, as, for a while, Detroit simply didn’t get it (right when the energy crisis began). They took a long time to respond to consumer sentiment, and while there were some bright spots (such as the Ford Taurus, which made everyone sit up and take notes when it came out), by and large, the mainstream public switched from Detroit to the Japanese. However, given the foibles that Honda and Toyota given been beset with over the last 2-3 years, that could change. Nature abhors a vacuum, and if the Japanese cannot retain their spot at the top, either the Koreans or Detroit will step in to take their place.
GM cars are junk..
American cars are Junk, and the american automaker pays a lower salary than any Import made in this country.. So why would i buy one? “Don’t say because of the big wigs” i can care less if GM makes money, they don’t care about the community, and they pay less than half what the Honda plant pay’s in Marysville Ohio..
Then you can say, well the parts manufacturers in the USA supply GM, nope again.. they get the parts from Mexico, Canada, and China.. Toyota Camry is more american than any american car made..
If you want to support your country, support your blue collar worker.. The White Collar workers at the Corp center can care less about the 12.00 an hour line workers in Detroit and flint..
Last toyota i owned went 379K miles, was in the dealership twice.. once when i bought it, once when i traded it in..
Current GM i own has been in the shop for 52 days (and counting) and i have only owned it 5 months..
it has 18K miles on it.. Alas.. Junk!