Forecasting Consumer Satisfaction for Vehicle Ride Using the Mahalanobis-Taguchi Gram-Schmidt Technique

Abstract:Consumers assess and perceive quality and performance at the vehicle level, but important cost-effective decisions at the sub-system or component level must be made by the producer in order to economically satisfy consumer needs by providing affordable products. Consumers evaluate vehicle attributes such as ride, handling, roominess, braking, and acceleration. These vehicle level attributes are influenced by factors at all levels of the vehicle architecture, and these factors are often correlated. The goal of this research is to efficiently forecast consumer satisfaction measured as a function of available vehicle level performance data. This article presents the application of the Mahalanobis-Taguchi Gram-Schmidt technique to identify a reduced set of useful variables for vehicle ride.