Although the J.D. Power and Associates survey is not the end all, be all of actual automotive quality, it is a fairly good indicator. As such, the latest news doesn’t bode well for Chrysler with Fiat placing dead last in J.D. Power’s survey of UK vehicles.
According to the latest J.D. Power and Associates survey of vehicles in the United Kingdom, Fiat placed last in customer satisfaction. Fiat took the 28th spot out of 28 nameplates, sharing the bottom five with Citroen, Kia , Chevrolet and Mitsubishi .
The news isn’t good for Chrysler as it is looking to Fiat to improve its overall image. Chrysler’s vehicle quality has been bemoaned for the last several years, with Fiat’s reputation in the U.S. not much better. Fiat’s poor quality was one of the factors that originally forced the Italian automaker off our shores.
It remains to be seen if Fiat’s low J.D. Power scores will translate over into U.S. models, but there is still time to improve the quality of U.S.-bound vehicles. The first products of the Chrysler-Fiat alliance aren’t expected to hit the U.S. market for another 18 months. Chrysler inked a strategic alliance with Fiat on April 30th.
