Quality isn't enough to nab buyers

It's the question Troy Clarke, president of General Motors North America, wrestles with as he tries to convert the automaker's rising quality ratings into higher sales.

The latest quality survey from J.D. Power was welcome news, especially for Ford, which led five categories. Many cars and trucks Detroit makes are as good or better than many imports.

That raises a frustrated question from the people who develop, build and supply Michigan's automakers: We fixed our quality, why don't people buy more of our cars?

They've worked years to reach this point. They want recognition, and they deserve it.

But they also want people to stop buying Honda Civics, Nissan Altimas and Toyota Camrys. That's not going to happen, despite high scores for models like the Cadillac CTS, Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and Chevrolet Silverado.

"Just having things not break is not enough," said Michelle Krebs, editor of Edmunds AutoObserver.com. "Look at the Pontiac G6 and Chevrolet Malibu. They are high-quality cars, but not exciting."

But GM's new Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia SUVs "satisfy all the consumer's needs and have good quality, but there's something above and beyond all that that makes them desirable," she said.

"Quality gets you on" customers' "radar, but you must have something more to win them over," said Jim Hall, vice president for industry analysis in the Southfield office of consultant AutoPacific.

That's where styling and design come in, Clarke said Wednesday, making a pitch for GM's revitalized line of midsize cars, including the 2008 Malibu and the award-winning 2007 Saturn Aura.

Buyers fled the domestic brands when the quality gap with Toyota and Honda was huge, said Csaba Csere, editor in chief of Car and Driver magazine.

"The gap is very narrow now, so quality is not an urgent reason to change brands," he said. "Styling, cost and innovation are reasons."

It comes down to needs and wants. Customers need quality and reliability. Meeting those needs gets you on their shopping list, but it won't pull them away from a reliable, high quality competitor.

"Quality is frequently a measure of things gone wrong," Clarke said. "We also have to provide things gone right. Things that delight the customer. Like the ambient lighting in the Aura. ... The first time they get in at night, it's, 'Wow. I love this.' "

The upcoming surprisingly stylish '08 Malibu could have that effect, Csere said. "It may be the most attractive family sedan on the market. In addition, the quality is good, the price will be good. It will be very interesting to see how that machine does in the market."

"The domestics cultivated a 30-year reputation for building junk," Hall said. "You don't get out of that in two or three years."

Matching or exceeding the competition's quality is the starting point, not the finish line.