September 23, 2003

Japanese autos rated best values

San Diego, California — Japanese manufacturers, led by Toyota and Honda, were at the top of 11 segments (one a tie) in Strategic Vision's 2003 Total Value Index (TVI). European marques, led by Audi, were at the top of 5 categories (one a tie). Domestic brands captured three first place spots and Hyundai won two.

Two European products, the Audi TT Roadster (817) Mini Cooper (814) were the highest scoring vehicles. The rest of the top 10 came from European and Japanese manufacturers. Each was sold with incentives far below the industry average of 61 percent.

"The domestics keep pace on immediate economic issues like price and warranty," says Strategic Vision vice president Daniel Gorrell, "but they fall behind import manufacturers on expectations of reliability, durability and resale value. This tends to undermine buyers' sense of trust in the domestics and forces them to offer more incentives to sell their vehicles."

Vehicles that scored the highest had an incidence of incentives well below the industry average, says the San-Diego-based research firm. The index measures whether or not buyers believe they got their money's worth, by correlating all economic issues against the quality of the ownership experience.

More than 63,000 buyers rated the following vehicles the best values in their segments:

	Small Car	Hyundai Elantra
	Compact Car	Hyundai Sonata*
	Mid-Size Car	Honda Accord Sedan
	Larger Car	Mercury Marauder
	Small Specialty Coupes	Mini Cooper*
	Medium Specialty Coupes	Honda Accord Coupe*
	Near-Luxury Car	Audi A4 Sedan
	Luxury Car	Lexus GS 300/430
	Convertible (<$30,000)	Toyota Camry Solara Convertible
	Roadster/Convertible (>$30,000)	Audi TT Roadster
	Minivan	Honda Odyssey
	Small SUV	Honda Element
	Medium SUV	Nissan Murano
	Large SUV	Toyota Sequoia*
	Near Luxury SUV	Lexus RX 300*
	Luxury SUV	BMW X5/Infiniti FX45 (TIE)
	Compact Pickup	Subaru Baja
	Full-Size Pickup	Chevrolet Avalanche 1500
	Heavy Duty Pickup	Dodge Ram 2500/3500

* 2002 Total Value Award Winners (RX 300 won Luxury SUV in 2002; Near Luxury SUV added for 2003

Both immediate economics (value for the money, affordability, price/deal offered, warranty and standard equipment level) and expected economics (durability, future trade-in, mileage, economical to own and reliability) go into the Total Value Index calculation. All these scores are considered in the context of the total perceived ownership experience.

"Consumers don't measure value just in dollars and cents," says Dr. Darrel Edwards, Strategic Vision president. "It's what you get for your money. Thus you can't calculate value without the quality, including the emotional response, buyers perceive in the complete ownership experience."

Lexus (784) remained the top-scoring brand, and Suzuki was the most improved brand. Nissan Motor showed the most improvement of the full-line corporations, moving it ahead of Toyota in Total Value.

"Those companies that put their money into product development that delivered overall quality fared better than those that put their resources into incentives," says Gorrell. "The domestics are at a disadvantage until they get hot new products into dealer showrooms."

Buyers participating in the study purchased their new vehicles between October 2002 and March 2003. They had at least 90 days of ownership experience before they were queried. All Total Value Award winners had to be 2003 models.

The top ten scoring vehicles are:

Model	TVI	U.S.Median Price	% Incentives
Audi TT Roadster	817	$38,500*	42%*
Mini Cooper	814	$23,000	2%
Lexus GS 300/430	812	$41,600	27%
Acura RSX	811	$23,000	19%
Audi TT Coupe*	805	$38,500*	42%*
Honda Accord Sedan	803	$23,000	19%
Audi A4	800	$32,000	34%
Lexus ES 300	798	$34,900	23%
BMW Z4	797	$43,000	16%
Infiniti G35	793	$35,000	15%
Mercedes Benz SL	793	$100,000	5%

* Weighted average for TT Coupe and Roadster

Strategic Vision measures buyer satisfaction as consumers define it: the complete ownership experience, including the emotional response. The firm has calculated its Total Quality Index annually since 1995, and Total Value Index since 1996. Additionally, the firm's Problem Impact Measure gauges the impact of defects on buyers' perception of quality. A Customer Delight Index that calculates the dynamics that make vehicles exceptional debuted in January of this year.

Founded in 1986, the company conducts research in consumer and constituent decision-making for diverse companies. Clients include various auto manufacturers, as well as many Fortune 100 companies and governments worldwide

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