[wheelguy]

New Delhi: Global marketing information services company JD Power is closing down its business in South-East Asia including India due to unknown reasons, according to the sources familiar with the matter.

The America-based firm is best known for conducting customer-centric research for industries ranging from cars to marketing and advertising firms.

For automotive sector, in particular, the firm has conducted multiple annual surveys in the U.S. as well as in other countries which includes Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) and Initial Quality Study (IQS). While VDS is a measure of problems experienced after three years of ownership, IQS is a measure of problems experienced within the first 90 days of ownership. Other surveys include the APEAL survey, reflecting consumer's attitudes towards a vehicle's attributes, dealership service surveys, and customer purchasing experience surveys.

Founded by James David Power III, the firm made its debut into the auto market in 1969 with its first client Toyota Motor Company and after more than a decade it launched its first US Automotive Customer Satisfaction Study.

During his stint with the Ford Motor Company, where he worked for customer research, Power felt customer satisfaction data was too often overlooked. He then decided to establish a research company that entirely focuses on consumer responses for a variety of surveys and then awards car models rankings based on those surveys.

In the year 1988, the firm established a joint venture in Japan that later becomes a wholly owned subsidiary responsible for business in Asia Pacific. Seeing the rise, an office in Singapore was opened to broaden J.D. Power Asia Pacific's activities in the region.

Source: Et Auto

[Durango Dude]

May be no one (buyers) takes them seriously! Haven't heard of a JD Power survey results in a long time. It used to hold some weight a few years back.

[paragsachania]

With the onslaught of electronic and social media, buyers are now very cautious about expert reviews and they are part of many forums where they get complete details on buying and ownership experience, including Team-bhp.

The brands themselves also carry out social media campaigns regarding service costs and etc many times while we also see dissatisfied owners vent their ire and frustration all over social media too. It has been a fair game now that anyone would really care for published results from survey houses to make buying decisions.

Also, the car manufactures themselves know how to measure the pulse of the buyer by interacting with them through Twitter and Facebook pages.

[sridharj77]

The Age of the Information Broker is over! The Age of Fake Information is here

[Reinhard]

I guess car makers no longer see the need to pay JDP for surveys & social media is enough for them. Without large long term partnerships or a market (customers) that actively seek information or are willing to share expectations & feedback, businesses like JDP can't survive. So India business shutting down was not a surprise at all. I am slightly surprised that other ASEAN parts of the business are also being shuttered. I guess thats quite a few high profile MBA holders looking for jobs in India now.

[GTO]

Good riddance from bad rubbish is all that I can say! JD's rankings were absolute nonsense. Not surprising if you know who pays the company's bills? Why, it's the car manufacturers themselves. The most blatant "paid awards" that exist in the car industry. I will actually celebrate their exit from India.

Originally Posted by sridharj77

The Age of the Information Broker is over!

The Age of Fake Information is here

[motorworks]

This is fantastic news! Customers will be saved from nagging dealers and service centres who insist we give them the highest rating in JD power survey, no matter what!
I bought two cars from Hyundai in the last 1.5 years and the one major irritant in the whole experience was these constant pestering by service centres to provide the highest rating even if I visit the service centre for a very small issue. I have attended 2 phone calls for JD for both my Hyundai cars and the people who ask you the questions almost mimic robots! This whole thing is very artificial! In fact I was couriered a Bluetooth wireless speaker by a service centre and they sent a note saying thanks for buying a Hyundai and also added a footnote asking me to rate well in the JD power survey!

Last week I had gone to the service centre for a quick dry wash and even for that i was told that JD power would call me!

[GTO]

I've always insisted that JD Powers is the most bogus, useless ranking ever. Thanks to a Team-BHP Fan (who prefers to stay anonymous) for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

JD Powers has to be one of the biggest shams of all time.

Let me clarify that we dealers, at least the good ones, and the company care for almost all complaints, except for the most absurd ones. We have our own Happiness Score of customers and our service teams are also rewarded quarterly when we land in the top 3 of each zone. So customer focus is always there.

But let's talk about JD Power. It is an important position reputation wise, as well as an ego issue for the company.

So when JD Power says we will conduct a survey, they designate a time frame and ask for a list of customers who have had their first, second and third services. Amongst this list, they will call randomly in a particular time period.

So where is the sham? Here it is.

The company first selects the best dealers. Dealers who have utmost focus on their service section and have had excellent happiness scores and least complaints.

Then they choose the customers who have never given any major complaints in their service job cards. Just normal services. Normal running.

Now what happens is that, once these customers are selected, a program is run that whenever these customers go for a service anywhere, a STAR appears next to their name. This can be any kind of indicator used by any company. But we had a star.

So once a star is seen, the customer is taken extra care of. The vehicle is taken care of with extra care. The best mechanics are placed to work. This is all protocol. And the works manager then further updates the company service manager on the day's STAR customers.

This is how JD Power or for that matter any survey works. All a sham.