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AGAIN, I
just bumped into some interesting items found in the
much-respected, US-based Consumer Reports surveys on
cars sold in the US.
At least
five models from each car company had been tested before
the results went to press.
Surprisingly, American-made cars mainly churned out in
Detroit garnered some of the lowest scores, with
Japanese automobiles scoring high on virtually all
fronts.
Consumer
Reports looked into the reliability, performance, fuel
economy, comfort, interior fit and finish and ergonomics
of 262 vehicles tested.
Honda
was tops with an overall score of 78, followed closely
by Toyota (75) and Subaru (72). BMW, Mazda, Nissan and
Volkswagen were tied at 71.
The
overall score for each automaker is based on the average
overall scores of its vehicles in road tests made and
its average predicted-reliability score from the Annual
Car Reliability Survey, which details the problems
subscribers have experienced with almost 1.3 million
vehicles.
In the
road tests/analyses of Subaru and Toyota models done by
Consumer Reports, some models scored midpack or lower
but were very reliable overall.
Of the
Ford vehicles tested, the percentage recommended jumped
to 64 percent from 54 percent last year due to improved
reliability.
I can
only raise a glass to Consumer Reports of the US for its
independence of mind. It doesn’t mince words, calling a
spade a spade if the situation warrants it.
Of
course, America, being First World, adds to that
unassailable stature of the consumer-oriented agency.
Meaning, so fierce is the competition in the
US
that quality always comes first, or your product is
doomed. In
First World standards, the lemon car is nonexistent.
There
has been a frenzied, although unfelt, rush for premium
on quality on home shores ever since there was a
proliferation of car companies here during the last 15
years or so.
While it
is almost SOP for a car company to usually bank on its
track record in hoping to score one bestseller after
another, it cannot afford to rest on its laurels lest it
finds itself nose-diving unceremoniously in popularity.
Quality
should never be compromised as producing an
under-achiever, even inadvertently, in the name of
pressed-down prices is a crime against humankind.
But
while that being so, sadly, many of our countrymen still
hanker for used vehicles and continue to troop to
Subic every now
and then to try to acquire an imported used automobile.
The
reason is simple: they come in really cheap in Subic.
Never
mind if the vehicle being acquired is of dangerous
proportions as its condition is perennially suspect.
Most of
the time, the branded becomes a false badge of security
since the truth is, what you are buying in
Subic is a
potential road hazard, a.k.a. a moving coffin.
Price
becomes the common denominator, the chief reason a used
vehicle is being bought. Compared with a brand-new
vehicle, an almost similar model being sold at every
Subic bidding can be had at almost one-fourth the listed
price in the show room.
While
Filipinos generally love cars, they have this uncanny
habit to haggle for the cheap. Most often, they end up
with cheap but lacking-in-quality vehicles.
With the
rice crisis seemingly here to stay a little longer, who
cares about quality?
But the
ugliest sight in
Subic though is
the movement of unscrupulous persons and groups out to
continuously score one over our car companies
legitimately doing business under the rules of the
land. These same persons/groups allegedly and
consistently defraud the government to the tune of
millions of pesos in unpaid taxes.
It is
said that the government loses no less than P2.8 billion
annually in unrealized duties and tariffs to these
suspected smugglers—some of them anyway—reportedly
disguised as importers of used vehicles and other
motorized equipment. How many times have instances been
cited that under those crates of used vehicles are
concealed luxury cars, finding their way into Manila
show rooms minus the benefit, allegedly, of taxes due
the government?
The
saddest part is, the government is proving to be inutile
in its campaign to rid Subic of this malady and getting
itself clobbered yearly, revenues-wise.
About
time this has got to end, or we’d be doomed to perpetual
perdition under a climate of uncertainty in an era of
sagging morale and shrinking confidence levels.
****
Pee
stop. The
smashingly successful Magical Mystery Tour principally
authored by who else but Danny “Sir John [Lennon]” Isla
for media persons last week can best be described in one
line: Your mother should know that Lady Madonna did
something the night before happiness is a warm gun made
Buffalo Bill run for his life in the wilds of El Nido,
Palawan. |
