Perceived Quality Attributes Framework and Ranking Method.
Perceived quality (PQ) is one of the most important product attributes in the automotive industry that defines successful automotive design. This paper presents a new approach regarding PQ assessment by examining PQ decomposed into a structure with the top-down approach to the level of basic (“ground”) attributes, covering almost every aspect of car quality perception from the engineering viewpoint. The paper proposes a novel method for PQ attributes relative importance ranking, resulting in the PQ balance of the vehicle, within the given conditions. The proposed method helps to reach the equilibrium of the vehicle’s quality equation from the perspective of design effort, time and costs estimations. The authors introduce the Perceived Quality Framework (PQF), which is the taxonomy system for PQ attributes and the core of the attributes importance ranking method. The research outcomes are based on findings of qualitative exploratory study that includes the European and North American premium and luxury automotive manufacturers. To validate the proposed method, an industrial pilot study was performed with one of the automotive companies to examine the PQ attributes importance ranking obtained from automotive industry professionals. The results can significantly improve PQ assessment during all stages of product development.