U.S. Goods Get Mixed Reviews In World Market

The quality of U.S. products gets a mixed review in from consumers across the globe, lagging behind Japanese and German goods, according to a survey.

The Bozell-Gallup Worldwide second annual quality poll found that 39.4 percent of consumers responding gave goods made in Japan the highest rating; followed by products made in Germany, 35.1 percent, and in the United States, 32.2 percent.

Only 40 percent of Americans rated domestic products as “excellent” or “very good” and 34 percent of Germans, compared with 75 percent of Japanese.

“There are two pieces of bad news in this survey for the U.S. manufacturers,” said Richard Burkholder, director of Gallup Worldwide. “First, U.S. companies, unlike the Japanese, have no strong regional advantage, and second, in most sophisticated markets of Europe, the United States trails Japan and Germany.”