POWER: How J.D. Power III Became the Auto Industry's Adviser, Confessor, and Eyewitness to History

by Bill Thorness, Sarah Morgans, Bill Griffeth (Foreword)

No other individual has had as broad an impact on the auto industry during the past fifty years as Dave Power. Dave’s persistence in getting auto executives to listen to customer concerns was key to the across-the-board rise in car quality, and the influence of his J.D. Power and Associates rankings has permanently raised the bar on customer satisfaction. Enhanced with anecdotal quotes from Dave as well as dozens of industry insiders, POWER is a compelling study of an intelligent, polite, market-research wonk who unblinkingly spoke truth to power, and ended up making customer satisfaction a watchword not just in automotive but in all manufacturing and service industries. Foreword by CNBC's Bill Griffeth From Publishers Weekly Authors Morgans and Thorness offer an ode to the founder of J.D. Power and Associates, Dave Power, a "regular guy" who became a world-renowned business leader as he developed the internationally recognized standard of excellence in the automotive industry. Dave founded the market research company on the basic idea that "the customer's opinion matters"—a radical thought back in 1968. The authors cover a lot of territory in this book, including how Dave won over each automotive manufacturer: Mazda and Toyota early on, forging on to General Motors, followed by Volvo, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi. One of the most impressive aspects of Dave's career is his ability to patiently and strategically keep his business model current, creatively expanding into the European market, embracing the Internet, and predicting the emergence of the automotive Megastore years before it became reality. The book's appeal is broad—there's something for everyone from car buffs to marketing students, with especially valuable insight as to how Dave positively harnessed the power of media coverage.

399 pages, Hardcover

About the author

Bill Thorness's most recent book is All Roads Lead to Rome: Searching for the End of My Father's War a memoir where the author crosses continents and history to retrace his father’s steps on the battlefields of World War II. All Roads Lead to Rome (December 2024, University of Nebraska Press) was named an Independent Book Awards 2025 finalist.

A Seattle-based author, editor and freelance writer, Bill currently focuses on travel, lifestyle and history.

Visit Bill's website billthorness.com and read his Substack newsletter Annotations.

Memoir:
All Roads Lead to Rome: Searching for the End of My Father's War

Join his Goodreads book group related to WWII, focused on the First Special Service Force, the subject of his memoir.

Cycling:
Bill's bicycling guidebook, Cycling the Pacific Coast: The Complete Guide from Canada to Mexico (Mountaineers Books, 2017) was the culmination of three years of research and writing. His first cycling book, Biking Puget Sound: 60 Rides from Olympia to the San Juans, (Mountaineers Books, 2014) is the second edition of his popular cycling guide that was first published in 2007.

Gardening:
Bill also is the author of two gardening books: Cool Season Gardener: Extend the Harvest, Plan Ahead, and Grow Vegetables Year Round (Skipstone Press, 2013) and Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden (Skipstone Press, 2009).

Other work:
Bill is also the co-author of the biography POWER: How J.D. Power III Became the Auto Industry's Adviser, Confesor, and Eyewitness to History (Fenwick, 2013).

Bill gives presentations on edible gardening regularly around the Northwest, and is active in many gardening organizations, including Master Gardeners, Plant Amnesty and the King County Seed Lending Library.

He writes for regional print and online publications and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Northwest Editors Guild, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and the Authors Guild.