2014 Audi Q5, Q7 Deliver Total Quality Honors

In recognition of the award-winning performances from the 2014 Audi Q5 two-row premium crossover, the three-row Q7 and the A5 Coupe, as well as high marks for the rest of the lineup, Strategic Vision recently named Audi the top premium brand in the 2014 Total Quality Index. Strategic Vision's writers specifically called out "Audi's unique exterior styling and interior appointments" as key factors in the 2014 results, and although the four-rings brand actually tied Jaguar for first place on Total Quality Index, the big-cat crew managed exactly zero category winners.

Among the segment leaders from Audi, the 2014 Audi Q5 earned the Total Quality Award in the "Near Luxury Utility" class, the Q7 did the honors in the "Luxury CUV" category and the A5 finished in a statistical dead heat with the 2014 Chevy Corvette in the Premium Coupe segment.

Now, at first glance, these kinds of results for Audi may surprise some people. After all, while the 2014 Audi Q5 did receive an honorable mention in the J.D. Power 2014 Initial Quality Study, also released last month, the brand as a whole ranked 11th overall in that report and no other vehicle was recognized in the segment-by-segment top-three rankings. The difference?

According to Daniel Edwards, founder and executive chairman of Strategic Vision, it has to do with relying on a "holistic" approach to quality as opposed to Power's focus on the numbers. Per Edwards: "Quality is much more than simply counting problems and watching for the horse race. When we declare Total Quality rankings, you’re seeing results of something meaningful and predictive, which are the result of measuring what matters to the customer. We use discriminating survey scales that capture the contraction of values and emotions: Love-it, Delightful, Excellent, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory, a Failure and Hate-it.”