“It’s a thousand little things that are done just an inch better at a time that adds up to getting a product that’s right at the top of the list,” Mike Hardie, director of global quality strategy at GM, said yesterday in an interview for Bloomberg.
General Motors saw themselves reaching the top of quality ratings as they overtook Toyota Motors Corp. The J.D. Power & Associates has asked consumers to point out all problems theyve experienced with their new vehicles. GM as a corporation had the best performance in the industry for the first time, beating the leader Toyota. The GMC truck brand trailed only the Porsche luxury car line. Chevrolet passed the Toyota brand. Eight GM models had the fewest problems reported within their segment. The next closest was Japanese Honda Motor Co. with three.
GM succeeded to adress customers complains about paint-job quality of Camaro models. The company decided to use female ostrich feathers to clean the vehicles before the paint was put on. Those little corrections in couple of places have ,according to GM officials, boosted customer satisfaction.
“It’s something that we know about the customers, and so we try to make sure that we have product that’s perfect for them so as their hand washes they don’t notice any defects anywhere.” Mike Hardie said to Bloomberg.
The most important job for GM is reaching high levels of customer retention. According to GM of every percentage point of retention company gains around $700 million in revenue.
The high quality level of General Motors vehicles is a process of listening to the customers and adjusting to their preferences. “It enables us to respond very quickly when there are issues but it also enables to take that feedback and feed it back into the vehicle development process,” Alicia Boler-Davis, GM vice president of global quality, said in an interview for Bloomberg.
Complaints about the location of GM’s door-lock buttons, for example, were noticed by customers. The company took care and solved the problem in its new line of Chevrolet Spark.
GM introduces 18 new vehicles in the U.S. this year to refresh its showrooms after its lineup grew stale following its 2009 bankruptcy reorganization. The new automobiles aim to improve the company’s revenue and U.S market share, which dipped to an 88-year-low in 2012.
General Motors shares closed at 1.03% loss at the last New York exchange session.
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