Nissan quality improving, according to J.D. Power

A top executive at Nissan North America Inc. says the latest J.D. Power awards show the company is making progress on vehicle quality.

J.D. Power and Associates on Wednesday released its Initial Quality Study, which measures new vehicle quality after 90 days of ownership. On a list that ranked various brands by the number of problems reported per 100 vehicles, Nissan ranked 13th of 37, with the number-one ranking - a spot occupied by Porsche - representing the brand with the fewest reported problems. Last year, Nissan ranked 18th on the list.

In addition, the company's Infiniti brand ranked 8th this year, moving up one spot from last year.

The survey also ranked the top three vehicle models in various market segments. Nissan's Maxima ranked third among large cars, while the Xterra was third in the compact SUV category. Infiniti's M-Series tied for second among midsize premium cars.

J.D. Power doesn't release its full survey to the public, but Doug Betts, senior vice president of total customer satisfaction at Nissan North America, cited two other statistics that showed improved performance. Betts said that last year the company had only three vehicles that exceeded their segment average, while this year eight exceeded that benchmark.

Betts also said the data show that quality at Nissan's new plant in Canton, Miss. - which had some quality problems after opening in 2003 - had reached a level of parity with its manufacturing facility in Smyrna.

The vice president said one of the biggest factors leading to improved quality has been the company's effort to encourage "cross-functional work", a priority of Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. The idea is to put together teams from different parts of the company to work on specific problems.

Nissan North America is moving its corporate headquarters from California to Nashville, and Betts said the move will help foster the collaboration sought by the company. "The fact that we have this big move coming is going to make that even easier to do now," he said.

Nissan North America's manufacturing headquarters was already in Tennessee, but the move will bring the company's administrative headquarters, including areas such as marketing, sales and finance, to the state.

The J.D. Power survey also handed out plant quality awards, but none of the three winners in North and South America were Nissan facilities.

2006              Complaints Per    2005
Rank    Brand     100 Vehicles      Rank
1      Porsche       91              32
2      Lexus         93               1
3      Hyundai      102              10
4      Toyota       106               7
5      Jaguar       109               2
6      Honda        110              12
7*     Cadillac     117               5
       Infiniti     117               9
9      GMC          119              13
10*    Acura        120              15
       Chrysler     120              19

*=tie