Japanese carmaker Toyota’s largest production units outside Japan are spread across United States Canada and due to voluminous demand for its products and also amicable business conditions. The Toyota assembly plant located in Ontario, Canada which chiefly makes models under its luxury brand Lexus, has been recognized by JD Power as top most production unit in the world. This ranking is based on high quality of cars manufactured at this unit with least defects and malfunction recalls. Toyota also makes the Lexus RX SUV at this Ontario plant which is revered worldwide for speed and power. Besides the Ontario plant, Toyota also received top ranking for its production units in Japan which produce Lexus models.
Toyota Logo
During the ranking procedure J. D. Power stated that manufacturers are compromising on quality when it comes to production of error free vehicles as in their race for volumes quality is getting compromised. Therefore Nissan’s plant in Japan got the ranking of 4th best on global level due to 19 defects identified per 100 vehicles while Toyota’s two Lexus plants which also made it to the rankings stood third with 18 defects per 100 units. None of Toyota’s United States based production units made it to the rankings as most of the vehicle recalls made due to mechanical defects were manufactured at these units. Though General Motors also faced a huge recall of vehicles this year its Ontario plant made it to the second position in rankings as it had low defects of 12 per 100 units.
The majority of problems have arisen due to adoption of technology at a very fast pace by international carmakers like Toyota which upgrades its vehicles every couple of years. Though carmakers charge a premium for features like Bluetooth enabled audio systems, automatic braking system, voice recognition commands along with sensors and cameras, several times drivers are unable to use them. Several times buyers complain about technology that do not understand like complicated navigational equipment or climate controlled air-conditioner that chills the car instantly or does not work at all. Toyota has faced several problems due to mechanical faults like acceleration gears and steering shaft defects. Besides these issues Toyota has also had to recall cars in recent months due to problem with airbags and seat heating systems.
A major problem faced by carmakers is the technological surge which is making it difficult for older generation to handle latest advancements like automatic gears, airbags, keyless entry, automatic locks etc. In general, buyers report around 116 problems on average within first 90 days of purchase which has more to do with their inability to understand new technology that may have been introduced in this car for first time. During first part of 2014, J.D. Powers carried out a survey of 86000 car owners and published this report based on their feedback and market reports about defects accepted and rectified by carmakers publically. Since last year’s winners were not available in first few positions readers of this report and buyers keen on buying quality products are assured that carmakers are constantly upgrading or making quality changes in their products.
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I am into the auto blogs field for quite a long time. Living my passion of reviewing cars.
Tagged: Toyota Cars India
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