WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (Sept. 16, 2003)—Owners of non-luxury Japanese and South Korean vehicles tend to be less satisfied with their original equipment tires than those who own comparable European and domestic vehicles, according to a study by J.D. Power and Associates Inc.
The study, the 2003 Original Equipment Tire Satisfaction Study, is consistent with a five-year trend not only in the general car and compact van segments, but also within popular segments such as compact cars, midsize cars and compact vans.
“Compared to other non-luxury makes such as Chevrolet, Volkswagen and Chrysler, the vast majority of non-luxury Asian makes—even those with high vehicle satisfaction, including Honda and Toyota—have lagging OE tire satisfaction levels,” said Jeff Zupancic, director of tire practice at J.D. Power.
He said satisfaction scores for individual tire brands are lower when the tires are on Asian makes compared with the same tire brand on a similar domestic car.
The study is based on the experiences and opinions of more than 30,400 owners in the first two years of new-vehicle ownership. Overall satisfaction takes into account tire durability, traction, appearance, ride and handling.