Ridgid is #1 In 2008 For The Drill / Driver Industry According to JD Power

September 12, 2008 in Power Tool by Atikam | 2 comments

The JD Powers & Associates 2008 Cordless Drill/Driver Study is out and the results are in. This study measures customer satisfaction with cordless drills/drivers by examining six key factors (listed in order of importance): drill performance (including drilling and driving power, performance under heavy use and maneuverability in tight spaces); ease of use (including balance, weight and grip size and feel); battery performance; price; versatility of the battery platform in supporting other power tools; and warranty. The study is designed to provide information to help customers with purchase decisions, as well as to assist drill/driver manufacturers in their efforts to improve satisfaction.

“Even though the housing and construction market is slowing down, power tools still represent a $9 billion industry in North America,” said Dale Haines, senior director of the real estate and construction practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “According to The Freedonia Group, demand for power tools in North America is projected to increase over the next several years, totaling $10.2 billion by 2011. With this growth on the horizon, both consumers and manufacturers of power tools can benefit from understanding what is particularly satisfying to customers.”

Among the ten brands ranked in the study, Ridgid ranks highest in customer satisfaction with a score of 784 on a 1,000-point scale, demonstrating strong performance in all factors that drive customer satisfaction, and performing particularly well in the warranty and price dimensions.

“Ridgid performs consistently well across all aspects of the study and truly differentiates itself in the highly competitive cordless drill/driver market through warranty and price,” said Haines.

DeWalt and Hitachi follow Ridgid in the rankings with scores of 779 and 774, respectively. DeWalt performs particularly well in drill performance and versatility of the battery platform, as well as in ease of use. Hitachi performs particularly well in battery performance.

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  1. Stu H’s avatar

    Stu H on September 12, 2008 at 11:04 pm

    All I gotta say about this is… JD Power & Associates is a Market research company… someone paid them for this study. I find it hard to believe that a big box store (read as: generic) brand beats all comers? C’mon give me a break. This is at the bottom of the original story and says it all:
    ——
    About J.D. Power and Associates
    Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually.
    ——
    That is a lot of fancy sounding services they provide.
    …. So discounting the generic tool it looks like Yellow is the winner :)

  2. john’s avatar

    john on October 10, 2009 at 12:14 am

    That comment is ridiculous. Why do you believe Ridgid is a generic brand. Yes, Ridgid is sold in Home Depot, but Dewalt is sold in Lowes. Both pretty “big box” huh? Also, all of the R&D/industrial design behind the Ridgid tools is done by private companies, just as Dewalt is. There is nothing generic about the Ridgid line. It outperforms the “Yellow,” meaning that orange is in fact the winner. No hard feelings though; yellow only lost by 5 points. A loss none the less, but at least they kept it close.