RIDE-CT.com

J.D. Power

and Associates

Customer Satisfaction Study

Survey Results Stifled

 By Sore Manufacturers

By Bud Wilkinson

     Nobody likes a sore loser, and there were at least several crybabies in the cluster of red-faced, irate and whining motorcycles manufacturers after J.D. Power and Associates released its annual customer satisfaction survey just five days before Christmas 2006.

     The bike builders – J.D. Power declines to identify them by name – were red-faced because they had fared so poorly with buyers and they whined from the embarrassment of having the results made public even though they had agreed to the information’s release and knew in advance what the potential outcome might be.

     For many years prior to 2006, J.D. Power had kept the results of what it formally calls the Motorcycle Competitive Information Study a well-guarded secret. Only the bike makers got to know what actual buyers thought of their products, and they reserved the info for internal use only.

     In 2006, though, the California-based research company convinced the manufacturers to allow the public to find out how they stacked up. It wasn’t exactly a breakthrough concept for J.D. Power. After all, the company had been routinely releasing similar data on cars for years as well as on dozens of other products, ranging from cells phones, digital cameras and dishwashers to pharmacies, airlines and banks.

     Victory was the runaway winner for 2006 among owners in the areas of product, quality, cost of ownership, sales and service. BMW, Honda, Suzuki and Triumph did well, too. Ducati and Harley-Davidson owners expressed decidedly less satisfaction with their expensive purchases, while Buell, Kawasaki and Yamaha brought up the rear.

     The instantaneous reaction was predictable. Kill the messenger. Faster than a rear wheel loses traction on a patch of sand, some manufacturers shifted into crybaby mode, while Victory predictably began touting its win.

     Fast-forward to just more than a week ago when J.D. Power was due to release its results for 2007. First, the press release was delayed one day, and then a second, as language was polished to please everyone involved. Finally, a watered-down and essentially useless report was issued a week ago Friday, a day after RIDE-CT’s deadline for last Saturday’s column.

     The 2007 report, funded by six of the 10 brands covered in the study, contained no model-specific information whatsoever.

     The sore losers had prevailed. 

     “It was basically a call that we had to make,” said a disappointed Tim Fox, research manager at J.D. Power, confirming that his company succumbed to pressure from the bike makers to withhold the data from the public.

     “If we continue on the same path that we did last year, we don’t get enough support to even do the study. We’re not in the business to lose money. Without manufacturer support, we can’t put together a study that’s even valid.”

     What J.D. Power did release was a broadly stated document that revealed that overall customer satisfaction with new motorcycles has been trending up for he past five years and that owners exhibit great brand loyalty, which can hardly be considered big surprises.

     A solid 68 percent of the 8,796 owners who participated in the study said that they “definitely will” recommend their brands to other riders. That’s a huge difference from car owners whose brand loyalty only sits at 35 percent.

     “A motorcycle is not the same type of purchase as an automobile,” Fox noted. “Motorcycle owners really take ownership of the brand that they purchase. We see that

across all brands, but Harley is on a little higher pedestal.”

     That’s not surprising in itself, but is eye-opening in that motorcycle owners in the 2006 study put Harley in last place under the category of quality along with sister brand Buell.

     The 2007 study also showed that satisfaction with the sales experience hasn’t improved dramatically over the past five years, it has remained relatively flat, and that service problems continue to be a concern.

     More than 20 percent of owners of new bikes (although we don’t know what brands) had to take them in for repairs. And when they discovered the fix was done improperly the first time 22 percent said the dealer created a new problem – up from 16 percent in 2006.

     Engine troubles accounted for 40 percent of the problems, with owners citing excessive heat, unusual noise, excessive vibration and hesitation or dying as the most common complaints.

     “Our goal with this study, first and foremost, is to help the industry improve,” said Fox, suggesting that the study does do that even when it’s just used internally by the manufacturers.

     But withholding the info this year after releasing it a year ago because of disingenuous manufacturers seems unfair to riders, especially when satisfaction rankings have been available for motorcycle helmets for the past nine years, with Arai being rated No. 1 every year.

     “We try to put the research out there for consumers to help them make better decisions. We do that on the auto side very well,” said Fox. “It took years and years to get where it is now. Maybe that’ll be the case here, too.”

     What would the results have looked like had J.D. Power released brand-specific data for 2007? We’ll never know for sure, but Fox did provide a clue. “My gut feeling is that there would have been some movement. How much? I don’t know.”

     My hope is that once the word of J.D Power’s reversal becomes widespread nationally that upset riders will rise up and shame the motorcycle makers to the point they agree to go public with the survey results next year, instead of being sore losers, which caught J.D. Power somewhat by surprise.

     “I thought we were going to get a little more support from the industry in general to continue the study in the format that we did last year,” said Fox.

(Oringinally published December 29, 2007 in "The Republican-American")

   Victory Tops J.D. Power

     Nobody likes a sore loser, and there were at least several crybabies in the cluster of red-faced, irate and whining motorcycles manufacturers after J.D. Power and Associates released its annual customer satisfaction survey just five days before Christmas 2006.

     The bike builders – J.D. Power declines to identify them by name – were red-faced because they had fared so poorly with buyers and they whined from the embarrassment of having the results made public even though they had agreed to the information’s release and knew in advance what the potential outcome might be.

     For many years prior to 2006, J.D. Power had kept the results of what it formally calls the Motorcycle Competitive Information Study a well-guarded secret. Only the bike makers got to know what actual buyers thought of their products, and they reserved the info for internal use only.

     In 2006, though, the California-based research company convinced the manufacturers to allow the public to find out how they stacked up. It wasn’t exactly a breakthrough concept for J.D. Power. After all, the company had been routinely releasing similar data on cars for years as well as on dozens of other products, ranging from cells phones, digital cameras and dishwashers to pharmacies, airlines and banks.

     Victory was the runaway winner for 2006 among owners in the areas of product, quality, cost of ownership, sales and service. BMW, Honda, Suzuki and Triumph did well, too. Ducati and Harley-Davidson owners expressed decidedly less satisfaction with their expensive purchases, while Buell, Kawasaki and Yamaha brought up the rear.

     The instantaneous reaction was predictable. Kill the messenger. Faster than a rear wheel loses traction on a patch of sand, some manufacturers shifted into crybaby mode, while Victory predictably began touting its win.

     Fast-forward to just more than a week ago when J.D. Power was due to release its results for 2007. First, the press release was delayed one day, and then a second, as language was polished to please everyone involved. Finally, a watered-down and essentially useless report was issued a week ago Friday, a day after RIDE-CT’s deadline for last Saturday’s column.

     The 2007 report, funded by six of the 10 brands covered in the study, contained no model-specific information whatsoever.

     The sore losers had prevailed. 

     “It was basically a call that we had to make,” said a disappointed Tim Fox, research manager at J.D. Power, confirming that his company succumbed to pressure from the bike makers to withhold the data from the public.

     “If we continue on the same path that we did last year, we don’t get enough support to even do the study. We’re not in the business to lose money. Without manufacturer support, we can’t put together a study that’s even valid.”

     What J.D. Power did release was a broadly stated document that revealed that overall customer satisfaction with new motorcycles has been trending up for he past five years and that owners exhibit great brand loyalty, which can hardly be considered big surprises.

     A solid 68 percent of the 8,796 owners who participated in the study said that they “definitely will” recommend their brands to other riders. That’s a huge difference from car owners whose brand loyalty only sits at 35 percent.

     “A motorcycle is not the same type of purchase as an automobile,” Fox noted. “Motorcycle owners really take ownership of the brand that they purchase. We see that

across all brands, but Harley is on a little higher pedestal.”

     That’s not surprising in itself, but is eye-opening in that motorcycle owners in the 2006 study put Harley in last place under the category of quality along with sister brand Buell.

     The 2007 study also showed that satisfaction with the sales experience hasn’t improved dramatically over the past five years, it has remained relatively flat, and that service problems continue to be a concern.

     More than 20 percent of owners of new bikes (although we don’t know what brands) had to take them in for repairs. And when they discovered the fix was done improperly the first time 22 percent said the dealer created a new problem – up from 16 percent in 2006.

     Engine troubles accounted for 40 percent of the problems, with owners citing excessive heat, unusual noise, excessive vibration and hesitation or dying as the most common complaints.

     “Our goal with this study, first and foremost, is to help the industry improve,” said Fox, suggesting that the study does do that even when it’s just used internally by the manufacturers.

     But withholding the info this year after releasing it a year ago because of disingenuous manufacturers seems unfair to riders, especially when satisfaction rankings have been available for motorcycle helmets for the past nine years, with Arai being rated No. 1 every year.

     “We try to put the research out there for consumers to help them make better decisions. We do that on the auto side very well,” said Fox. “It took years and years to get where it is now. Maybe that’ll be the case here, too.”

     What would the results have looked like had J.D. Power released brand-specific data for 2007? We’ll never know for sure, but Fox did provide a clue. “My gut feeling is that there would have been some movement. How much? I don’t know.”

     My hope is that once the word of J.D Power’s reversal becomes widespread nationally that upset riders will rise up and shame the motorcycle makers to the point they agree to go public with the survey results next year, instead of being sore losers, which caught J.D. Power somewhat by surprise.

     “I thought we were going to get a little more support from the industry in general to continue the study in the format that we did last year,” said Fox.

(Oringinally published December 29, 2007 in "The Republican-American")

   Victory Tops J.D. Power

2006 Satisfaction Study

By Bud Wilkinson

     It never hurts to do research before buying a new motorcycle, and J.D. Power and Associates has quietly been studying customer satisfaction among owners of well-known motorcycle brands for the past nine years.

     Leading the pack for the 2006 model year? Victory.

     BMW, Honda, Suzuki and Triumph scored well, too.

     Bringing up the rear? Buell, Kawasaki and Yamaha.

     Harley and Ducati were sandwiched in-between.

     J.D. Power questioned 6,916 riders who bought new 2006 models, obtaining feedback in September and October 2006 in the areas of Product, Quality, Cost of Ownership, Sales and Service. The brands were given one to five “power circles” in each category, with five being “Among the best.” A four-circle rating was considered “Better than most,” while three circles signified “About average” and two circles indicated “The rest.” 

     Product – covered the areas of comfort and convenience, cockpit and controls, looks and styling, engine and transmission, and ride and handling.

     Victory was the lone brand to get five circles. BMW, Ducati and Suzuki got four; Buell, Harley, Honda, Triumph and Yamaha got three; and Kawasaki two.

     Quality – covered post-purchase problems.

     Having the fewest problems and getting five circles were Honda and Suzuki. BMW and Victory got four; Ducati, Kawasaki, Triumph and Yamaha got three; and Buell and Harley got two.

     Cost of Ownership – covered initial cost, cost of insurance, maintenance and repair costs, including parts, and the cost of accessories.

     Buell, Kawasaki, Triumph and Victory all got five circles. Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha got four; and BMW, Ducati and Harley, again, got two.

     Sales – covered the buying experience, including the sales personnel, the sales process and delivery.

     BMW and Harley excelled in this category and got five circles each. Victory got four; Ducati and Triumph got three; and Buell, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha got two.

     Service – covered service department accessibility, personnel, and the quality of work performed.

     Victory was again the lone brand to get five circles. BMW and Harley got four; Ducati, Honda and Triumph got three; and Buell, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha got two.

     With three “Among the best” and two “Better than most” ratings, Victory was the runaway winner in the J.D. Power study, the results of which were released five days before Christmas.

     “Victory has done a fantastic job in the short time that they’ve been in existence,” said Tim Fox, research supervisor at J.D. Power in Troy, Mich.

     Fox explained that up until now the motorcycle results weren’t released publicly. The policy was changed to get “manufacturers to pay attention to the results a little bit more.”

     With three below average ratings each, Buell and Kawasaki were clearly the least satisfying brands among owners.

     To these unscientific eyes, what stands out in the motorcycle survey is how it differs remarkably from J.D. Power’s better-known car survey, which has Japanese makes routinely outperforming American brands.     

     Among motorcycles makes the American-made Victory stood out with a Japanese bike, Kawasaki, at the bottom of the heap. Granted, the other distant-finisher, Buell, is also American-made, but it’s hardly a mass appeal nameplate.

     That German-made BMW and Japanese-owned Honda as well as Japanese nameplate Suzuki and British-made Triumph scored well probably isn’t surprising but the fact that Harley fared so poorly in both Quality and Cost of Ownership seemingly verifies that mystique is a huge trump card when riders go shopping.

     Harley’s showing could be because Harley owners are more critical, Fox said. However, unlike in the automobile arena, where all makers appear to strive to improve the quality of their products, motorcycle builders generally aren’t doing likewise.

     “The thing that stands out primarily in my mind is that the industry has not changed,” Fox told RIDE-CT. “Quality has improved slightly, but, from an ownership standpoint, we haven’t seen a great amount of improvement.”

     Besides surveying owners about their motorcycles, J.D. Power also tracked rider satisfaction with helmets last year. The five top-rated brands were, in order, Arai, Scorpion, Shoei, Icon and Nolan. Finishing below the industry average were Bell, Fulmer, HJC and Vega.

     J.D. Power also reported that helmet shoppers are increasingly using the Internet to gather info before buying. The study found that 29 percent of customers researched helmets online in 2006, up from 9 percent in 2002.

     With three "Among the Best" and two "Better Than Most" ratings, Victory was the runaway winner in the J.D. Power and Associates' customer satisfaction study for 2006. 

(Photos courtesy of Victory)