GENERAL MOTORS Cavalier quality rating improves

GM expects world-class quality with the new Chevrolet Cobalt.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
The quality of the Chevrolet Cavalier improved last year but still remained below average when compared with other cars in its segment.
The number of problems reported by owners of new Cavaliers dropped 7 percent, says the J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Survey, which was released this week.
The Cavalier tied for 11th among 15 cars in the compact car segment. Three other models also scored higher but had too small a sample size to be included with the others.
The quality of the Pontiac Sunfire, which is the twin of the Cavalier, improved 15 percent. It was ranked 10th in the same segment.
The rankings included Cavaliers and Sunfires made at GM's Lordstown complex and at a plant in Mexico.
Dan Flores, a General Motors spokesman, called the quality gains by both models impressive because they came in the last year of the models. Newer models benefit from having improved engineering and part design, which makes the cars easier to assemble.
Preparing for Cobalt
The Lordstown complex is undergoing a $1 billion overhaul, however, as GM prepares to launch the Chevrolet Cobalt from there in October.
Flores said GM isn't releasing its quality targets for the Cobalt but expects all of its new models to have better quality than the models they replace.
"Coming out of the chute, world-class quality is paramount," Flores said.
The quality study by the California consulting company is based on survey responses from people who have owned vehicles for 90 days. It ranks vehicles on the number of problems per hundred vehicles and includes a wide variety of problems.
Cavalier's number was 136, compared with 146 in 2002. Sunfire's number dropped to 129 from 151. The top-ranked car in that segment was the Toyota Corolla at 88. It was the only model below 100.
Excluding the Mexican plant, Cavaliers and Sunfires made at Lordstown had 135 problems per hundred, compared with 146 in 2002.
Improvements at Lordstown
The quality of Lordstown-built cars has improved significantly in recent years. In 1999, the survey showed 182 problems per hundred cars built there, though that number had fallen to 124 in 2001.
Overall, GM plants last year had a problems number of 120, compared with 134 the year before.
Other automakers also are continuing to improve as the industry average fell from 133 problems per hundred vehicles in 2002 to 119 last year.
While GM led the domestic companies in quality, Toyota led all manufacturers with an average of 101.
GM had the two top-ranked plants in North and South America, however.
Its Lansing Grand River plant in Lansing, Mich., topped the list. It produces the Cadillac CTS and SRX. Behind it was a plant in Hamtramck, Mich., which builds the Cadillac DeVille, Buick LeSabre and Pontiac Bonneville.
shilling@vindy.com