J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Trim Masters, Inc. Ranks Highest in Overall Seat Quality for a Fourth Consecutive Year
Although Automotive Seat Suppliers Continue to Make Strides in Seat Quality, Customer Satisfaction Levels Remain Low
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 13 -- Trim Masters, Inc., a joint venture between Johnson Controls, Inc. and Toyota Boshoku, ranks highest in overall automotive seat quality for a fourth consecutive year, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.
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Trim Masters, Inc. ranks highest among seat suppliers included in the study with a seat quality score of 3.4 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). Trim Masters supplies seat systems for the Toyota Avalon, Toyota Camry Sedan, built at the Georgetown, Kentucky plant (assembly line one), and the Lexus RX 330, built at the Cambridge, Ontario plant. The Toyota Camry accounts for 41 percent of Trim Masters' model mix and has the fewest reported problems (2.0 PP100) among Trim Masters-supplied vehicles.
"Trim Masters performs particularly well in the areas of forward/backward adjustment controls, lumbar support adjustment broken/not working, recliner adjustment broken/not working and headrest adjustment broken/not working," said Allison LaDuc, senior research manager of automotive product quality at J.D. Power and Associates. "Forward/backward adjustment controls, in particular, is the No. 1 seat problem cited by new-vehicle owners and should therefore be an area of focus to supplier and manufacturers alike."
NHK Spring Co., Ltd. follows Trim Masters in the ranking with a seat quality score of 4.2 PP100, and Integrated Manufacturing and Assembly, LLC (a joint venture between Lear Corporation and Comer Holdings LLC) ranks third with a seat quality score of 5.0 PP100.
While owners report the most problems with the forward/backward adjustment controls of the seats in their new vehicles, they also report a high number of problems with the lumbar support adjustment controls. Poor/uncomfortable lumbar support, which has traditionally been the most reported seat problem for several years, has been broken out into two specific problem areas in the 2006 study: lumbar support adjustment broken/not working and lumbar support adjustment controls difficult to understand/use. Although the lumbar controls being difficult to understand/use is the second most commonly reported seat problem, a broken or malfunctioning lumbar adjustment is very rarely reported as a seat problem.
"By looking at the lumbar support functions as design issues as well as defects, it becomes clear where exactly the problem lies," said LaDuc. "Knowing that the issues customers have with lumbar support have not necessarily been due to malfunctions in the system, but more due to an unsatisfactory design, can be extremely beneficial."
Looking at the vehicle overall, seats are the highest-rated component area when it comes to quality, however when it comes to satisfaction, seats are the second-lowest-rated vehicle component. The lowest levels of seat satisfaction are attributed to the rear seats and third-row seats, both for comfort and ease of operation. Audio/entertainment/navigation receives the lowest satisfaction ratings from new-vehicle owners.
"Overall we see that owners who have seat-related features (heated seats, cooled seats, memory seats, etc.) on their vehicle report relatively high seat satisfaction scores. However, the majority of the vehicles on U.S. roads today are not equipped with the latest seat features," said LaDuc. "Therefore, upgrading seating systems on more vehicles in the market could have a positive impact on seat satisfaction. Of course, the downside is that more features could also lead to the potential for more problems. It appears that regardless of the increased problems experienced through defect/malfunction or design issues, the advantage to consumers of these features in added comfort, etc., outweighs the quality issues."
The 2006 Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 63,607 new-vehicle owners who purchased a 2006 model-year vehicle. The study provides seat manufacturers with quality and satisfaction information related to seat systems. New-vehicle owners are asked to rate the quality of their vehicle seats and seat belts based on whether or not they experienced defect/malfunction or design problems during the first 90 days of ownership.
Seat Supplier Quality Ranking Problems per 100 Vehicles (Lower score reflects better quality performance) Trim Masters, Inc. 3.4 NHK Spring Co., Ltd. 4.2 Integrated Manufacturing and Assembly, LLC 5.0 Setex, Inc. 5.2 TS Tech Co., Ltd. 5.2 Toyota Boshoku 5.6 Intier Automotive Seating 6.6 Industry Average 6.6 Lear Corporation 6.7 Johnson Controls, Inc. 6.8 Tachi-S Co., Ltd. 7.2 Total Interior Systems-America (TISA) 7.2 Automotive Technology Systems, LLC 7.4 Faurecia SA 9.0 About J.D. Power and Associates
Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered 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 responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 290 offices in 38 countries. Sales in 2005 were $6.0 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.
J.D. Power and Associates Media Relations Contacts: Karla Tucker Syvetril Perryman Troy, Mich. Westlake Village, Calif (248) 312-4344 (805) 418-8103 karla.tucker@jdpa.com syvetril.perryman@jdpa.com
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