I agree that reliability trumps 6-sigma/lean initiatives when it comes to customer satisfaction. While important to a company’s survival, 6-sigma/lean does not fully address the reliability issue as it relates to product design and manufacture. Customers purchasing big ticket items expect product quality from day one through a reasonable product lifetime.

My personal experience with GM vehicles has convinced me that they are unable to produce a reliable product. My family was a “GM family” growing up. Auto repairs were a way of life. After purchasing a few GM vehicles and completing numerous repairs, I bought a Japanese (gasp) vehicle. No repairs, no problems for over 100,000 miles. I have not purchased a GM product since – and likely never will.

I believe that this trend has taken hold in the appliance industry as well. Our new house was equipped with Amana/Maytag/Whirlpool appliances – same company, different branding. The dishwasher failed on the first cycle and was replaced. The handle broke after 4 years of service. The washing machine failed after 2 years and again after 3 years. The convection oven failed 3 times in five years with total repairs costing $350. This dismal performance is enough to make the Maytag Repair Man cry. I will never again purchase appliances from Amana/Maytag/Whirlpool. I just hope the company recognizes the path it’s on before it’s too late.

Dear Mr. Harrington,
Thank you for highlighting the most important reason why the "Big 3" are now the "Detroit 3". It is incredible that so many years of declining market share have failed to wake up the Detroit 3 to the real reasons for their decline. We hear about the lack of "exciting" products, health care costs, UAW issues, pension costs, fuel prices, etc etc etc. All of those are "issues" - but NONE of them explain the Big 3 market share going from 90+% 30 years ago to less than 46% today. In fact, 2009 marks the first year that Asian manufacturers have higher U.S. Market share than Ford, GM, Chrysler combined. The reason that fewer and fewer American buy "Detroit 3" products is the miserable experience they have when vehicles begin to accumulate mileage. While the Detroit 3 touts their closing the gap in 3MIS surveys (and this is great) -- they have a LONG way to go when it comes to RELIABILITY.

For the past 10 years I've been driving Honda and Toyota products after some miserable experiences with Ford/Mercury products once they reached 40K miles. I have been thrilled with my Toyota and Honda experiences (products AND dealer experience). A year ago I convinced my wife to give Ford another chance to try and support the Detroit economy and industry. Well...at 5K miles, my Escape broke down on I-80 in Pennsylvania in the middle of nowhere....A wire harness was severed because it was not secured properly in assembly. I also have excessive wind noise, climate controls that do not move easily, a radio that sometimes shuts itself off, and a sync systems that works 10% of the time with my iphone.

During the congressional hearings, I didn't hear a single member of congress ask the Detroit 3 what they were going to do to become competitive in Reliability!!! The data is in front of everyone - but it just seems to be ignored.

You are right we need more effort on Reliability improvement. Regarding metrics - I would caution the use of MTTF as an indicator of Reliability performance. For most components, by the time MTTF is reached, more than 70% of the components will have failed (due to the skewness of most failure time distributions). We need to focus on the time until the initial wearout failures occur (B1, B5, etc.). Designs must be achieved that are robust against typical use environments for MORE than 40K miles.

I agree that reliability has been the thing that has kept me buying foreign cars. I also agree with the comment about Matag. My wife and I bought a Matag washer and dryer in 1979 shortly after our wedding. After 30 years they were still working well but I thought they were getting near the end of their life, so we bought new ones from Matag. What a mistake. We have to fight with them not to smell (the washer) and the lint escapes around the dryer screen and gets caught in the exit hood. These units require much more maintenance and attention than the old ones. They do use less electricity and water however. I'm sure we will not be brand loyal next time but investigate more completely who makes the best before we buy. Maytag has not kept its leadership role in quality like I had wished.

So far this year, I know of a Toyota owner who had an oil hose that leaked and drained almost all the oil from the engine. Car was less than one year old and the seal was bad. I assume you are familiar with the Tundra rust issue and the Toyota floor mat problem. I have a friend who has a Camry that will nothing but slide at every icy street crossing (He is getting ready to trade it for a Chevy-dealer was no help). I worked for a Honda supplier and watched them "fix" assembly problems and ship the product. I have another friend who lost a carburator in a Honda Civic hybrid that was less than 6 months old and Honda would not warranty the problem. I think you are behind the times when you tout foreign vehicle reliability.