Pacifica will boost FCA's quality rating, Marchionne says

The launch of the Windsor-built 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan will help lift Fiat Chrysler Automobiles out of the basement in terms of vehicle quality rankings, CEO Sergio Marchionne said Tuesday.

“I think we’ve learned the hard way that external evaluations are perhaps more relevant in the way in which we look at quality from an internal standpoint,” Marchionne said during a conference call to discuss the carmaker’s third-quarter results. “That’s been put in place. It governed the launch of the Alfa Giulia, but more importantly it governed the launch of the minivan.”

The carmaker used “third-party agencies” in the development of the new minivan, said Marchionne.

“These third-party agencies were very instrumental in bringing out suggestions and changes to the way even in which the product was configured initially to make sure we met customer expectations.” he said. “I do expect that benefit will work its way through the rankings.”

FCA, which has long struggled with quality issues, received low marks in Consumer Reports’ annual reliability survey, released earlier this week.

“Fiat-Chrysler continues its turbulent voyage,” said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ director of automotive testing. “The Fiat 500L, the most trouble-prone new car for the past two years, is now only the seventh most troublesome.

“No Fiat or Ram vehicle managed even an average reliability rating. Only the Chrysler 300 sedan, Dodge Grand Caravan minivan, and Jeep Patriot SUV managed an average or better score.”

Fisher said Marchionne’s comments suggest the automaker is moving in the right direction.

“He’s saying the right things,” said Fisher.

Although quality rankings of the Pacifica will have to wait until next year’s survey, it did receive a positive review from a test drive conducted by the magazine earlier this year.

“It’s quite an impressive vehicle,” said Fisher. “It’s very competitive with the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey in the way it drives and performs.”

Consumer Reports reliability rankings are based on a survey that analyzes the magazine subscribers’ experiences with new vehicles over the past three years.

That feedback is used to predict future reliability.

The Pacifica, noted Fisher, is the most “significant” vehicle for FCA because it is the first vehicle to be developed in-house, and not derived from a Fiat or Alfa Romeo platform.

“It’s been developed differently from other vehicles,” he said.

Marchionne said the Pacifica signals the carmaker’s shift away from relying solely on engineers in product development.

“We’ve had to learn the hard way, that perhaps having engineers, although not necessarily associated with either design or manufacturing, assess the quality of work of other engineers may not have been the best way out,” said Marchionne.

“We’ve moved away from this. I think we’re in a much better place now than we’ve been in a long time,” he added.