Bookmarking Auto on Info pagesSupporting Auto on InfoHome or Site Layout or Site Map or Site Index or Quick Jumps or Search Engine Directory or The MartAuto News, Analysis and Editorial Into the Depths: General Motors Obtains Record Share of Consumer Reports' 'Worst of the Worst'

 

 

AutoOnInfo.net  March 2008

Into the Depths: General Motors Obtains Record Share of Consumer Reports' 'Worst of the Worst'

By James B. Bleeker

Models by General Motors Corporation account for 18 of the 31 entries on Consumer Reports' 2008 Worst-of-the-Worst used car list for model years 1998 to 2007. The following table provides a breakdown by auto manufacturer of the Worst of the Worst, which for most of the previous years Consumer Reports has termed the Much Worse Than Average.

 

Table I: Number and Percentage of Entries in CR's 2008 List of the Worst of the Worst, by Manufacturer
Auto Manufacturer Number of Entries Percent of Entires
General Motors Corporation 18 58.1%
Volkswagen AG 4 12.9%
Chrysler LLC 3 9.7%
Nissan Motor Company 2 6.5%
Ford Motor Company 2* 6.5%
Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz) 1 3.2%
Kia Motors Corporation 1 3.2%
All Others 0 0%
* One is from Ford's North American group and one is from its Land Rover division. Ford hopes to dispose of the Land Rover division shortly.
Source: "Worst of the Worst," Consumer Reports, April 2008, p. 85

 

General Motors' 58.1% share of the Worst of the Worst is more than 4 times the second largest share. The following chart helps depict this relative dearth of quality.

This year's 58.1% share for GM also sets a record for the years 1997 to 2008. The following chart plots GM's fractional shares of the Much Worse Than Average for these years and extrapolates these points to 2015 with a linear regression of degree one.

Consumer Reports' publication of the Worst of the Worst comes at a time (1) when GM is attempting to convince U.S. consumers and much of the news media that the quality of its products have improved in some meaningful way and (2) when GM appears to be experiencing some success at convincing what remains of its customer base of such improvement.

The following chart depicts GM's historical U.S. market shares and its 2008 year-to-date U.S. market share.

From the chart it may be seen that General Motors' 2008 year-to-date U.S. market share is unchanged from its U.S. market share for all of 2007. This suggests that it has been somewhat successful at convincing the remnants of its previous customer base that some arguably meaningful improvement in quality has occurred.

Only time will tell whether GM's growing share of the Worst of the Worst will have an impact on its attempts at persuasion.

 

Source for 2008 entries of the Worst of the Worst: "Worst of the Worst," Consumer Reports, April 2008, p. 85

Sources for GM's fractions of much-worse-than-average for 1997 to 2006: "CR Bad Bets," Consumer Reports, April 2007, p. 81, "CR Bad Bets: Be Especially Careful," Consumer Reports Cars: Used Car Buying Guide 2006, p. 26, Consumer Reports, April 2005, p. 81, Consumer Reports, April 2004, p. 81, Consumer Reports, April 2003, p. 88, Consumer Reports, April 2002, p. 74, Consumer Reports, April 2001, p. 74, Consumer Reports, April 2000, p. 74, Consumer Reports, April 1999, p. 69, Consumer Reports, April 1998, p. 72, and Consumer Reports, April 1997, p. 68

 

Related Onsite Web Pages
Table and Chart Summary of the 2008 Reliability and Durability Updates
Table and Chart Summary of the 2007 Reliability and Durability Updates

 

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