Topic: Let's RUMBLE .... as Ford Tumbles and Toyota Rebounds in recent JD Power Survey

[CatsEye68]

QUOTE

"Clearly, consumers are interested in having new technology in their vehicles, but automakers must ensure that the technology is ready for prime time," David Sargent, J.D. Power's vice-president of global research said in a statement. "There is an understandable desire to bring these technologies to market quickly, but automakers must be careful to walk before they run."
New technology was likely responsible for Ford's declining quality. The brand dropped from fifth place in 2010 to 23rd this year.
Ford launched its My Ford Touch voice-activated dashboard system on the Ford Edge and the Ford Explorer in the 2011 model year. The system allows drivers to control climate, navigation, entertainment and other features by voice. Ford said earlier this week that 73 per cent of owners with My Ford Touch say they're satisfied with it, but the company has acknowledged it's been difficult for some buyers to use. Ford says it has made some software updates to make the system easier to use and is now offering workshops at dealerships to help owners.

In Lutz's new book he talks of how Buick almost ended up with something along the same lines during the development of the 2005 Lacrosse:

Here, the "experts" had decided that the brand's focus would cater to the needs of the elderly. Toward this end, a system called "Quiet Servant" was conjured up. To my amazement, I was shown an interior mock-up featuring no instrument panel and no visible controls whatsoever. It was to be the world's first car operated entirely by voice command. Speed, gas level and other relevant information were projected on the windshield.

"Folks," I said, "this is nuts!"

"No, no!" they insisted. They had shown a video to older people, where the fictitious driver merely said "headlights" or "left turn signal" or "radio" and the car instantly delivered. And, at the end of the video, 75 percent had expressed a strong preference for this miraculous system. But I'd learned to be skeptical of research in which subjects are shown an ideal, simplified system of a new technology where everything just works. Real life never quite lives up to the fantasy. Still, I agreed to drive a prototype.

I will never forget that drive through downtown Milford, Michigan, and the engineer sitting next to me probably won't forget it either. At his urging, I asked for "more cold air". "No, no!" he said. "You have to scroll verbally! First say "climate control". When the car says "climate control", you say "blower". When the car repeats "blower" you say "one up". Same with temperature." Of course, it wasn't that easy, and a comedy of errors ensued. So fixated did I become with the marvels of voice input technology that I casually cruised through two red lights, nearly causing an accident each time. Quiet Servant should have been called Quiet Assassin!

The new system officially died the next morning.

While MFT sounds like it is several steps ahead of this debacle-in-the-making, I suspect some of the symptoms remain.

[rrocket]

^^Lutz loves making up stories.  Classic.  So after he (allegedly) cruised through the first light, he didn't think better of it and (allegedly) did it again??  Classic Lutz fable.....

Lutz has never made up a story he didn't love.....

[CatsEye68]

Ah, I knew the goodwill and harmony couldn't last...

[rrocket]

Ah, I knew the goodwill and harmony couldn't last...

Oh c'mon....you can't seriously believe that everything Bob Lutz says is true!  That's one of the reasons he's so beloved.  He's a car guy and he's great at telling a good yarn.  I like his stories....some of them are funny as hell...especially in the way he  tells it.  But if you think he doesn't embellish much of the stuff he says, you're gullible.

Shall I list all the whoppers he's told about the Volt?   

Or...one of my favorites: “Bankruptcy is totally out of the question. We have never contemplated it.”

Bob Lutz is a good guy...sometimes he just can't help himself when he's got an audience....

[CatsEye68]

Well, perhaps you'd prefer this account from 2004, when the original Lacrosse was introduced:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041031/news_mz1d31buick.html

"They were trying to do the LaCrosse concept car for production," Lutz recalled. "But that LaCrosse was only about yay high." Lutz held the palm of his hand about 3 feet off the ground.

"A production version of that needed to be about yay high," he continued, raising his hand another foot or more. "So they were taking those beautiful proportions and yanking them all out of whack. The greenhouse was totally out of proportion to the rest of the car.

"A lot of people internally weren't happy. The dealers who had seen it didn't think they could sell it, so they weren't happy. And frankly, neither was I."

The LaCrosse originally was intended to be a showcase of advanced technology for GM, with features like the bizarre "Quiet Servant" talking car system. Voice commands would prompt the car to ask confirming questions; most voice functions, however, had to be backed up with redundant controls.

"The steering wheel looked like the keyboard of a MacIntosh, it had so many buttons and functions," Lutz said. "I'm looking at that, and thinking, 'Do we really expect Buick's typical buyer, who is close to retirement age, to relearn how to drive a car for the Digital Age?'

"I told the project engineers, instead of trying to build the 'HAL 9000 car,' why don't we just try to build the best-quality, quietest, most luxurious car we can?"

So, well into its development cycle, Buick did a hand-brake turn with the LaCrosse, toward a new direction. The new mission statement delayed the car 14 months from its original planned launch.

Lutz personally presided over nearly every detail on the car -- including approving an extra $500 per car worth of sound-deadening features.

"I'd rather put $500 worth of quality into the car than give away the $500 in incentives," he said.

If he's spinning a yarn, it's a long, long one since he's been consistent in his story for the last 7 years at least.

[rrocket]

^^^^My argument was not with the system being a POS...it's with Bob risking life and limb by running 2 red lights and almost causing an accident or two.  Embellishment at its finest!!

You know...this is the same Bob Lutz who likely has more spacial awareness than all of us combined from his many hours logged in his fighter jets.  Yet I'm to believe his brain went to "mush" and he ran not one, but TWO stoplights during a test drive??


Sorry...I don't think Lutz is an air-head like that.......

BTW...anyone who parks these in his garage is OK by me!!   

[ajay]

Automakers are sacrificing quality for gadgetry.
Technology takes toll on new car quality
Quote
But the company acknowledges that My Ford Touch is complex and has been difficult for some buyers to use. Owners have also complained that the system takes a long time to boot up. It also has many glitches, including failing to recognize voice commands or properly link up with mobile phones.
 
"We expected mixed quality results this year, after closely listening to our customers. This same feedback now shows that we largely are back on track after addressing near-term quality issues," Ford's Fields said in a statement Thursday.
J.D. Power didn't single out Ford, but said automakers need to be make sure technology is easy for people to operate while they're driving.