Consumer perception of US and Japanese automobiles: a statistical comparison via consumer reports and J.D. Power & Associates data

Abstract

Consumer reports (CR) and J.D. Power & Associates (JDP) produce annual reports on cars made by US and Japanese auto-makers that are widely used by consumers in the US in making their purchase decisions. In the mainstream media, US and Japanese cars have been compared, but no systematic statistical analysis of this exists to the best of our knowledge. Further, the two sources, CR and JDP, have also not been compared for any potential correlation. In this paper, we carry out statistical tests to determine whether: i) strong correlation exists between these two sources; ii) whether US and Japanese cars have undergone any trends in the last 10 years. Our key findings are: i) CR and JDP are not strongly correlated; ii) although Japanese cars still outrank US cars, the latter are fast closing the gap in perceived quality, while the former are fast losing ground on brand image.