J.D. Power: Buyer Satisfaction Declines Under Burden of 2010 Emissions Rules

Satisfaction with model-year 2011 trucks suffered as a result of technology added to comply with 2010 federal emissions regulations, which resulted in customers’ reporting more problems with the trucks, a recent J.D. Power and Associates’ survey found.

Overall customer satisfaction with heavy trucks fell to 737 points out of 1,000 in J.D. Power’s 2012 survey, compared with 751 the previous year, the research firm said, citing an increase in reported problems this year over 2011.

“This year is the first year we got feedback from the 2010 engines,” Brent Gruber, director of J.D. Power’s commercial vehicle practice, told Transport Topics. The study last year focused on 2010 trucks, which were mostly with engines produced in 2009 that did not have to meet the 2010 standards, he said.

“Following the revised [Environmental Protection Agency] regulations in 2007, there was an increase in problems and a decline in customer satisfaction, and we anticipated the same thing would happen with the introduction of 2010 EPA-compliant engines,” Gruber said in a statement.

EPA’s 2010 standards significantly reduced the allowable amounts of both particulate matter and nitrogen oxide compound emissions from new heavy-duty diesel engines. Manufacturers have used selective catalytic reduction, exhaust gas recirculation or both to meet the standards.

“The new, more complex engines are resulting in more problems and downtime,” Gruber said in the statement.

J.D. Power surveyed 1,725 owners of 2011 heavy-duty trucks for its study. Freightliner Trucks ranked highest in customer satisfaction in the on-highway segment, while International Trucks, produced by Navistar International Corp., ranked lowest.

The research firm found that the Freightliner and Volvo brands had the fewest problems, along with the highest dependability and reliability, resulting in the highest satisfaction rankings.

Gruber credited those results to the experience that Freightliner parent Daimler AG and Volvo parent Volvo Group have in Europe. The European Union mandated emissions limits in 2008 that were similar to EPA’s 2010 standards.

“The truck brands of European companies have fewer problems . . . because they have been using the technology for years in other markets,” Gruber said in the statement.

Trucks brands owned by U.S. companies, on average, had 22% more engine- and fuel-related problems than European brands.

Though the survey is a holistic look at every aspect of a brand’s trucks, engines have the highest weight in J.D. Power’s analysis.

“Engine is a very critical component in terms of customer satisfaction,” Gruber said, “so there’s a strong correlation between engine performance and overall satisfaction.”

Daimler stated it was glad to see its Freightliner trucks perform so well.

“We believe that the recent industry acclaim for our products is further proof that our low cost of operations, proven EPA 2010 engine strategy and overall reliability are critical to our customers’ future success in an evolving market,” said David Hames, general manager of marketing and strategy at Daimler Trucks North America.

Freightliner also ranked highest in the vocational truck segment.

Volvo ranked second in the highway segment.

“Our customers continue to report excellent fuel efficiency and performance with fully certified EPA 2010 Volvo engines, which leverage Volvo’s globally proven SCR technology,” Volvo spokesman Brandon Borgna said.

Navistar’s International ranked lowest of the five on-highway brands in the survey but second in the vocational list.

“Navistar is very aware of customer satisfaction metrics, and we remain committed to delivering high-quality products and services that exceed the demands of our customers,” spokeswoman Karen Denning said.

Navistar has communicated with its customers about problems, and the company’s trucks already have shown uptime improvements that were not reflected in the J.D. Power report, she said.

As for vocational trucks, Denning said, customers “recognize the entire value of our brand,” including dealers and support services.

Paccar Inc., which makes Kenworth Trucks and Peterbilt Motor Co. trucks, declined to comment on the survey.

Kenworth ranked fourth in both the on-highway and vocational trucks, and Peterbilt ranked third in both lists.

Emissions regulations usually cause a cycle in which satisfaction drops in the years following the mandate, then increases, before dropping again when the next mandate is implemented, Gruber said.

“So while there’s obviously a benefit to the environment, there’s a negative side to that, and that negative side to that is in terms of drops in customer satisfaction and drops in quality,” he told TT.

Gruber predicted that he will see the same pattern from the 2010 regulations until 2014 regulations, concerning greenhouse-gas emissions and fuel economy, take effect.

Mack Trucks Inc. did not return a request for comment. Its vocational trucks ranked the lowest, while its on-highway trucks were excluded from that list because of a small sample size in the survey.

Editor’s note: After this story went to press, Mack spokeswoman Kimberly Pupillo told TT: “We don’t have access to their data because we don’t subscribe to the survey, but the reported results are not in line with the formal or informal feedback we’re getting from our customers and dealers.”