Auto Makers Pay for Awards
GM is running ads touting awards on 15 of its cars from Consumers Digest (not to be confused with Consumers Reports). What GM fails to disclose is that it paid Consumers Digest for the right to mention the awards in the ads. Don't you think the financial incentive had something to do with the awards in the first place?
According to the Wall Street Journal Consumers Digest typically asks auto makers $35,000 for the first award and $25,000 for each subsequent award.
J.D. Power & Associates announces quality awards based on surveys of thousands of new-car owners and auto makers pay as much as $300,000 for copies of a survey and the same amount to use the awards in ads. J.D. Power makes up enough awards in narrow categories (like best quality in first 30 days of ownership) so every auto maker gets awards thus maximizing income. The company's financial ties to the industry mean its reports are as meaningless as those of Consumers Digest.
Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety said "When they start taking money from car companies, there is a conflict of interest,"
