LORDSTOWN Survey: GM plant's quality drops

GM's quality worsened but remained ahead of Ford and DaimlerChrysler.
THE VINDICATOR
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- The quality of cars produced at the Lordstown Assembly Plant slipped last year, which General Motors is attributing to changes in the cars.
The number of problems reported by owners of new Chevrolet Cavaliers and Pontiac Sunfires built there increased by 18 percent, says the J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Survey, which was released Tuesday.
Dan Flores, a GM spokesman, said problems seemed to have gone up because of interior and exterior changes for the 2003 Cavalier and Sunfire. These included a new engine, interior components and designs to the front and rear.
Such changes add new parts to the car and call for revisions in the manufacturing process, Flores said.
He said the company isn't announcing its quality target for the new small-car models that will be built in Lordstown next year after a $500 million plant renovation, but GM will expect the quality to be world-class.
The J.D. Power survey is based on responses from people who have owned vehicles for 90 days.
More numbers
The quality of the Lordstown cars had been improving in recent years.
In 1999, the survey showed 182 problems per hundred vehicles built at Lordstown. That number had fallen to 124 in last year's report but rose to 146 in the new report.
The leaders in the compact car category this year are: Toyota Prius, 81; Toyota Corolla, 102; and Mitsubishi Lancer and Toyota Echo, tied at 120.
The highest in the category was the Subaru Impreza at 191.
GM's overall number increased to 134 this year from 130 last year. It placed fifth out of the 14 automakers listed.
GM remained the top domestic automaker in this year's survey. It listed Ford with 136 problems and DaimlerChrysler with 139.
Flores said GM knew it would be a challenge to improve on last year's number because it had many plants launching new models or significantly changed models. About 44 percent of GM's vehicle production came from models undergoing such a launch.
What's planned
GM will continue to introduce new products, even though that makes it harder to post improved-quality numbers, Flores said.
"Certainly, we are not pleased with our overall performance, but it's a challenge we'll have to manage because we're going to continue to be aggressive in the marketplace," he said.
Flores said, however, that GM's quality has improved greatly in recent years, and the company is working to convince car shoppers that the quality issues of 20 years ago are gone.
GM had the top-ranked plants in North America. Oshawa No. 1 in Ontario, Canada, which makes the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, reported 87 problems. The Lansing Grand River plant in Lansing, Mich., which makes the Cadillac CTS, had 88 problems.
The top-ranked plant in the world was a Toyota plant in Tahara, Japan, which makes Lexus models. It had 63 problems.
J.D. Power said this year's survey was the first time since 1998 that the auto industry didn't show improvement from the previous year. The industry average was 133, the same as last year.
shilling@vindy.com