I was expecting a less-than-warm...

I was expecting a less-than-warm reaction to my story from GM"s world HQ in Detroit. But it didn"t come, and neither was there any response from UK division Vauxhall, which has in the recent past sold some pretty unreliable cars. But I did get a call from a concerned senior Detroit auto guy who now finds himself working out of mainland Europe for "the General". He explained that things are changing - across the globe, the world"s number one motor corporation is slowly but surely improving quality. "Indeed, GM is producing great results in quality, and will not rest until it reaches world-class levels in all areas, both measured and perceived," he assured me. To back up his claims, he supplied me with a three-page list of notable and not-so-notable achievements his employer has made in this area. It said the quality gap between GM and the market leaders has shrunk by more than 50 per cent in the past four years, although it doesn"t state exactly how far it still lags behind the likes of Toyota, Mazda and Honda.

I"m happy to give those who can be bothered at GM a right of reply, not least because I"ve found it hard over the years to find any GM employee who does seem concerned. But I"m still not convinced; names such as Vauxhall and Cadillac, never mind sister firms like Saab and Daewoo, simply don"t say quality. And why is it that the Japanese companies who are allied to GM - Subaru and Suzuki - are so far behind the Far East"s quality kings? It doesn"t make sense. Only last week, Warranty Direct rated the Saab 9000 as the third most faulty car it knows of, and Subaru"s Impreza as the eighth worst. What"s more, the Impreza was by a mile the most expensive model in the world to put right, with an average repair cost of н‚бЈ1,623. Meanwhile, the 9000 was the seventh worst, with an average garage bill of н‚бЈ459.57.

Yet credit where it"s due. At another GM division, Vauxhall, the 1998-onwards Astra is reckoned to be number three in the pecking order, after the Mazda MX-5 and Renault Clio, when it comes to cars which need the least workshop repairs. Again, I"m not personally convinced, because I simply can"t believe that the humble Astra has developed fewer problems than the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Mazda 323 or even the Ford Focus in recent years.

But what do I know? You heard the man from Detroit - GM will not rest until it reaches world-class levels in all areas. That means the new Astra needs to be as well built as a Toyota, as imaginatively designed as a Mazda, as clever as a Honda, as legendary as a VW Golf and as driveable as a Focus. We"ll see.