Alpine Electronics and Visteon Corporation Rank Highest in Quality Among Factory-Installed Audio
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Alpine Electronics and Visteon Corporation Rank Highest in Quality Among Factory-Installed Audio Systems
Multi CD Changers See Growth in the Market
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 23, 2001
AGOURA HILLS, Calif.—Alpine Electronics and Visteon Corporation take home top honors for product quality, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2001 Audio Quality ReportSM released today.
Of the ever-increasing number of possible audio system configurations available—such as cassette players, CD players and MP3s—only two configuration segments represent more than 20 percent of the market and thus are eligible for special recognition in the report. Vehicles equipped with AM/FM/cassette/single CD players are the most common type, representing 35 percent of the market, followed by AM/FM/single CD without the cassette at 25 percent.
Alpine Electronics ranks highest in audio quality of factory-installed AM/FM/cassette/single CD players, and Visteon Corporation ranks highest in audio quality for factory-installed AM/FM/single CD player systems.
Within the AM/FM/cassette/single CD player category, Alpine has the fewest number of problems on average, with only 2.8 problems per 100 systems and is followed by Fujitsu Ten and Visteon, respectively. Alpine supplies AM/FM/cassette/single CD players to Acura, Honda and Jeep.
Visteon Corporation, which supplies AM/FM/single CD players for Ford, Mazda and Mercury, leads this category in quality with only 3.5 problems per 100 systems and is followed by Alpine Electronics and Mitsubishi Electric, respectively.
"Both Alpine and Visteon have earned audio quality awards in the past and continue to perform well in this study," said Sheryl Catsburg, research manager with J.D. Power and Associates. "These companies are successfully implementing the voice of the customer into their product planning and design."
As a whole, consumers indicate high levels of satisfaction with the sound systems in their vehicles, reporting an average satisfaction score of 8.42 out of 10.00. Consumers express the greatest degree of satisfaction with the number of radio stations their audio system can store in its memory and least satisfaction with the amount of storage space for cassettes and CDs.
Of the 13 possible sound system problems included in the report, radio reception and sound system control problems are the most frequently reported specific issues.
"While demand for cassette players continues to decline, consumers show an increased demand for multi-disc CD changers," Catsburg said. "Audio suppliers are responding to this demand by offering the CD changer component with various receiver/playback combinations.
Although owners of systems with multi-CD changers report the most problems, they also express the highest level of satisfaction with their audio system, according to the report.
"Audio suppliers need to continue to address problems such as CD changers not working properly, CDs skipping during play and CDs that won’t load or eject from the player," Catsburg said.
Among other emerging technologies, there is also consumer interest in satellite radio, MP3 playback capabilities and navigation systems.
"Audio suppliers are working very hard to make these options available and affordable for consumers in the near future," Catsburg said.
The 2001 Audio Quality Report is based on the responses of more than 82,000 owners of new cars and light trucks who indicate their new vehicles are equipped with a factory-installed stereo systems. The survey was conducted among these consumers after three months of ownership.
Headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on actual responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates can be accessed through the Internet at www.jdpa.com. Media e-mail contact: john.tews@jdpa.com or michael.greywitt@jdpa.com.
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