European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday March 17, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17 Vroom for More research insights into car Bojoh Holusha new York times l Ike to tinker with cars if so you Are fou times More Likely to buy a pickup truck than someone who never looks under the Only because you have to that makes you almost twice As Likely to own an imported car than someone who regards a twisting Road As a driving Challenge. These insights Are part of what makes j. D. Power & associates one of the Best known voices in automotive research. As an Independent Market research firm the Power organization has attracted attention both because of its concentration on the automotive Market and because of its rankings on new car Quality and consumer satisfaction with the Auto companies. Its insights into car buying habits Are drawn from a study on the subject that looks into hundreds of personality quirks. Unlike most Auto research which remains largely in the hands of the companies that have paid for it Power s conclusions Are published in a monthly newsletter the Power report on automotive marketing which is widely quoted. Not everyone agrees with Power s findings of course. Jose Dedeurwaerde the president of the american motors corp., has criticized the consumer satisfaction ratings which usually put . Near the Bottom of the Heap i have doubts about the Validity of the Power report he said recently. The methods of testing Are questionable he is not comparing apples to j. David Power Iii has been developing methods to take the pulse of the Auto buying Public since 1959, when he went to work for the Ford motor company. An occasional Flat a sound in his speech betrays his Worcester mass., origins but he has been operating his own company in Westlake City California since 1968. He contends that the location has been important in spotting automotive trends before his counterparts in Detroit. Sitting in his office in the Low Hills Northwest of los Angeles recently Power recalled the Early Days of his firm. We were doing a lot of work for Toyota in those Days he said. We were interviewing people who were buying Small cars then and we could see downsizing taking hold. We also did studies comparing front wheel drive to rear wheel drive in Small cars. Nobody in Detroit bought it but All the japanese companies the big three of course have All since realized the space saving advantages of packaging the entire powertrain in one end of the car and most new american cars Are equipped with front wheel drive. Some Detroit Auto executives say that two Oil shocks had More to do with the change than the japanese but All the american car companies and some european ones too now do business with Power. Power & associates has clearly prospered. The firm has grown from a handful of people to 85, most of them Erma Bombeck e be owned enough animals in our time to know they Are not Putty in the hands of their owners. They have minds of their own. There Are no such things As domesticate train and educate unless they want to be. These Are myths perpetuated by people who sell you animals in the first place. I used to be one of those people who watched animal documentaries on pcs and could t believe what i was hearing when William Conrad said the Blue footed Booby was flirting or a wildebeest was severely depressed. C Mon How could an animal feel human emotions and How did we know he was feeling them believe me they know. Why else would a Quail Board Republic flight 44 in Phoenix ariz., and Fly cargo class to Des Moines Iowa for the Beach for the Home cooking to join not surprisingly with backgrounds in economics and marketing. Parked alongside the building is a metallic Blue Jaguar xj-6, with Jap Iii on the License plate. Much of the firm s business is syndicated surveys in which the Power organization focuses on some aspect of automobile business and then Sells the results to the companies that form the Syndicate. The company also forecasts demand and Sells consulting services. About 85 percent of the firm s work is in the Auto Industry the rest is largely devoted to personal computers. One of the company s main undertakings is its annual consumer satisfaction Survey which is intended to determine How Well car buyers like their vehicles about a year after their Purchase As Well As the dealer who sold it to them. About 20,000 people filled out the Long mailed form for the most recent Survey providing detailed information on their car s initial condition problems after delivery and How Well the dealer handled any repairs. The 1985 Survey rated Mercedes Benz and Subaru at the top of the Heap with american motors and Peugeot at the Bottom. Imports dominated the higher rankings with Ford s Lincoln the Only Domestic nameplate to make it into the top 10. The Survey also disclosed that buyers of Large older design american cars such As the Chevrolet Caprice and Ford Crown Victoria Are the most satisfied with their purchases despite the generally Low rank of the Domestic manufactures and that buyers of Small sporty cars Are the least satisfied. According to Power the results of the Survey underscore a broader trend in the automobile business younger car buyers tend to be More demanding than older ones. The buyers of traditional american cars Are generally older than those who prefer Small sporty ones. An older Guy who is comparing a new car to his 76 Buick in t that hard to satisfy Power noted. But a younger person who Hasijad a Toyota or Honda is a much tougher indeed earlier research uncontested by Detroit showed the median age of a buyer of a japanese car was 35 years compared with 46 years for the buyer of a Domestic product. This tougher buying attitude coupled with the still growing number of manufacturers Selling cars in this country is changing the automobile Industry into one driven More by consumer desires than by the plans of general motors Ford and Chrysler. Icar buyer categories car buyers fall into six Basic categories according to a Survey done by j. A Power & associates in Early 1985. Below Are the categories along with the percentage and types of cars they buy. Category percentage description make i aut philes sensible centrists Comfort seekers Auto cynics necessity Drivers Auto phones 24% 20% 17% 14% 1 3% 12% know a lot about cars and enjoy working on them. Prize practicality. Favor options and luxury models. View cars As appliances. Prefer an alternative Way of travelling. Care most about safety Dodge Pontiac Volvo . Jaguar Mercedes Lincoln porsche . Oldsmobile Mercury source j. D. Power & associates the Beautiful Bird social scene because the Quail season opened in Arizona that very Day that s Why animals have always been a lot smarter than any human will admit. Owners of dogs for example Are so smug. They think they have their pets under control. To me my dog does t bite is an incomplete sentence. I cannot begin to Tell you the times i have been invited into a House where a dog galloped toward me put his paws on my Chest and pinned me to the door with saliva dripping on my Liz Claiborne Blouse while the owner is saying do you want Erma to think you have no manners Down boy i m supposed to Trust a dog who licks his underside All during dinner to have manners. A horse to whom you have just fed $50 Worth of Honey Flavoured Grain will step on your foot if he wants to. A vindictive Hamster will refuse to spin around All night on his exercise wheel if you take the squeak out. If you alter your cat expect him to sit on your to set for the rest of your life and look sullen. If you alter your dog never turn your Back on him again. I m telling you animals have the same intelligent life that we have. Do you know what we d do to a Chi a who scratched ridges in the door to be let out when the wind chill Factor is 22 below and when we stood there with the door open sniffed and walked Back into the living room by the fire no one understood recently when Pope John Paul opened the window of his study in St. Peter s Square and released in the rain two doves to symbolize Man s quest for peace and two seconds later the doves flew Back in and perched on a chair in his warm papal apartment. Embarrassed the Pope wagged his Finger at the doves and said they la Fly i say to this. Only if they feel like it. C 1986, los Angeles times Syndicate
