DEARBORN, Mich. (Agence France-Presse) — U.S. automakers have tweaked quality for decades, but buyers do not give them credit, and consumers think of imports more highly than they should, Morgan Stanley said Tuesday.
The New York investment firm said stock prices for U.S. car builders could be unfairly deflated by consumer perceptions that quality is not up to snuff, while some foreign automaker stocks may enjoy an unfair premium.
“Those enjoying better quality reputations than deserved” are mostly European or Asian brands, Morgan Stanley Managing Director Stephen Girsky said at the annual Automotive News World Congress.
Range Rover, Volkswagen, Audi, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are the most over-rated brands in the study.
Morgan Stanley compared the real and perceived quality of 34 brands offered in the United States and found that most of the General Motors, Ford and Chrysler brands are better than U.S. consumers think. Ford’s Mercury brand cars and sport-utility vehicles suffer most from poor reputations.
Mr. Girsky said that other unfairly disparaged nameplates are: Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln and Ford Division brands; General Motors’ Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac brands; and Chrysler Group’s Chrysler and Jeep brands.
The study relied on J.D. Power and Associates’ popular quality studies for the U.S. market. Mr. Girsky said only four brands have undeservedly high quality reputations: GM’s Pontiac, Chevrolet and Saturn; and Chrysler’s Dodge brand.
Mr. Girsky said misperceptions over quality could be a significant “market share risk” to the performance of some future hot sellers offered in the United States. When asked about Mercedes-Benz for example, Mr. Girsky pointed to its inflated reputation for quality as a reason for caution among investors.
Despite their perennial industry-leading quality scores in J.D. Power and Associates surveys, Toyota and Lexus still do not get the respect they deserve.
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