By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writer




DETROIT - General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Co., the world's two largest automakers, had the top vehicles in 15 of 18 categories in a closely watched survey of 2005 models released Wednesday by research firm J.D. Power and Associates.


Toyota's Lexus SC430 was the highest-ranking vehicle for the second year in a row. Owners of the luxury sedan reported 54 problems per 100 vehicles, less than half the industry average of 118 problems per 100 vehicles. Suzuki Motor Corp. had the highest rate of problems per vehicle at 151 per 100 vehicles.

Overall, Toyota had the top vehicles for initial quality in 10 categories, including the Toyota Prius compact car, Toyota Sienna minivan and Lexus sedans in all three luxury car categories. GM had five winners, including the Buick LeSabre full-size car, Chevrolet Suburban full-size sport utility vehicle and GMC Sierra heavy-duty full-size pickup.

The survey, in its 19th year, is an important one for automakers, which often use the results in their marketing campaigns. J.D. Power and Associates questioned more than 62,000 people within 90 days of buying or leasing a 2005 vehicle. The survey measures 135 attributes, including handling, braking, engine trouble and vehicle design.

Automakers showed little improvement in overall quality in 2005, moving up just one notch from 119 problems per 100 vehicles in 2004.

GM's Hummer brand showed the most improvement from the 2004 survey, J.D. Power said. Hummer was last among vehicle brands in 2004 with 173 problems per 100 vehicles. This year, it had 110 problems per 100 vehicles.

Nissan Motor Co. had the most improved vehicle model with the Nissan Quest minivan. The Kia Spectra, Hummer H2 and Toyota Scion xA also showed marked improvement

GM Leads Five Segments, Takes Top Three North/South America Plant Awards in 2005 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study




Buick, Cadillac Continue to Perform Strongly
Best-Ever Five Segment Awards for GM
Top Three Premium Midsize Cars
Buick LaCrosse Highest-Ranked All-New Redesigned Launch Vehicle; Buick Century Highest in Initial Quality among Vehicles Built in North/South America
HUMMER is Most-Improved Brand
DETROIT -- General Motors manufacturing facilities led a successful list of award recipients in the 2005 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS). In addition to taking the top three spots for manufacturing plants in North/South America, GM’s brands such as Buick, Cadillac and HUMMER performed extremely well.
"We are pleased with our J.D. Power results this year, particularly our manufacturing facilities and certainly with the strong performance of our Buick, Cadillac and HUMMER brands," said Kevin Williams, GM North America vice president -- quality. "The J.D. Power results come on the heels of the Strategic Vision Total Quality Study in which we were also called out as an industry leader. In terms of quality, this has been a great week for GM's employees, suppliers, dealers, and customers."

Superior Plant Performance
GM's Oshawa 2 plant in Canada -- which produces the Buick Century, LaCrosse and Pontiac Grand Prix -- was recognized as the highest ranked in initial quality of any plant in North/South America.

GM's Oshawa 1, also in Canada, took second place, building the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo.

Detroit Hamtramck, which produced the Buick LeSabre, Cadillac DeVille and Pontiac Bonneville during the survey window, placed third. Hamtramck is gearing up production of the 2006 Buick Lucerne and 2006 Cadillac DTS.

For the fourth consecutive year, GM earned at least the top two plant awards in North/South America. This year, overall, GM plants took six of the top ten spots.

Five Segment Awards
GM's strong plant performance is complemented by five segment awards. Buick Century (Premium Midsize Car), Buick LeSabre (Full-Size Car), Chevrolet Malibu/Malibu Maxx (Entry Midsize Car), Chevrolet Suburban (Full-Size SUV), and GMC Sierra (Heavy-Duty Full-Size Pickup) all led their respective segments. The five awards represent GM's best-ever performance in number of awards received. In total, GM placed 12 vehicles in the top three of their segments.

GM Sweeps Highly-Competitive Premium Midsize Car Segment; Buick Century on Top In what Williams called the "the industry's most-competitive segment," GM took the top three spots in the premium midsize car category. Finishing first overall was the Buick Century, followed by the Chevrolet Impala and Pontiac Grand Prix in a tie.

Overall, the all-new Buick LaCrosse (Oshawa 2) was the highest-ranked all-new redesigned launch vehicle. Buick Century was the highest ranked vehicle built in North/South America (Oshawa 2).

Buick General Manager Steve Shannon said Buick's ranking allows his team to continue to challenge people to think differently about Buick and its quality story. "Oshawa 2 -- which is building the all-new Buick LaCrosse right now -- has been a strong plant for years and has kept Buick at the top of a number of quality rankings," he said. "This J.D. Power recognition for the plant, the Buick brand and its models is another proof point of Buick's world-class quality and the momentum we've been building for years."

HUMMER Most-Improved and Top 10
In addition to being the most-improved brand, HUMMER moved into J.D. Power's top ten brands overall with a 36 percent improvement over the previous year.

The newest HUMMER, the H3, has started production in Shreveport, LA. Initial units were shipped to dealers this week.

Looks whos #1 for midsize cars again.
http://www.jdpower.com/presspass/pr/images/2005069c.gif

GM did pretty damn good. They also took #1#2#3 in premium midsize

And why does Buick do so much better than Chevy or Pontiac?