Abstract: Car ratings are assigned after assessing the mechanical quality and design quality of the cars. Many companies carry out surveys in order to provide car ratings. Among these, Initial Quality Study (IQS) of J.D. Power and Associates is a significant one.
Car Ratings By Quality is becoming more and more essential day by day, as it is being found that the decision of the prospective car owners heavily depend on these ratings. The reason behind this dependence is that, in today's fast life, the people do not have much time to spend on making a decision, but at the same time they want to buy a quality car, which will require minimum repairs.
There are many companies that provide car-rating services. They assess the cars by their quality and accordingly assign ratings. Among these companies, which carry out surveys and assign car ratings, J.D. Power and Associates is a significant one.
Every year, J.D. Power and Associates, carries out a survey among the car owners. This study is known as J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS). For this study, survey is carried out among the people who have bought new model-year cars and have used them for at least 3 months.
These Initial Quality Studies emphasize on various aspects of car quality. The Initial Quality Study (IQS) of the year 2007, concentrated on the following issues:
IQS tried to assess the mechanical quality of the cars and also the quality of the vehicle design.
For assessing the quality of vehicle design, the control operations and layout of the cars were studied.
For assessing the mechanical quality of the vehicles, the study concentrated on the functions of the cars. The study also focused on the process, through which the cars were assembled.
Findings of Initial Quality Study 2007 are the following:
1. The study revealed that quality of the cars has maintained a steady level since 2006.
2. IQS 2007 revealed that the car owners want modern cars with such technology, which is easy to understand and easy to use.
3. The vehicle company, which received high ratings by showing dramatic improvement in quality, was Ford Motor Company.
4. Mercedes-Benz also received high rating by introducing improved car models.