JD Power Says Korean Cars Beat US and Europe in Quality

Ask the average car buyer who makes the most reliable vehicles, and they&#;ll likely start with Japanese automakers, followed by the Germans and the Americans, and ending with the Koreans. Going by the results of this year&#;s JD Power Initial Quality Survey, though, that&#;s all wrong. &#;It&#;s almost the complete reverse,&#; says Dave Sargent, who oversees Power's vehicle quality research. The change in fortunes rides largely on how automakers have handled two big technological trends: proliferating infotainment screens and advanced driver assistance features.

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The ranking, based on the number of problems owners of new vehicles report in the first three months, puts Genesis, Hyundai&#;s luxury brand, in the number one spot, with 63 problems per 100 vehicles. Kia and Hyundai are right behind, making for an all-Korean top three. The next three slots go to the Americans&#;Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet&#;with Lexus and Toyota after them. All these brands score better than the industry average of 93 problems per 100 vehicles. Below that bar, you&#;ll find the Europeans, including Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Volvo, and Volkswagen. In the bottom two spots are Land Rover and Jaguar. A spokesman for those two brands, both owned by India&#;s Tata Motors, said that the addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto has reduced complaints around infotainment issues, and that it's working to improve those scores. A Mercedes-Benz representative notes that this JD Power survey "doesn&#;t reflect the total ownership experience," but that it's helpful for "fine tuning" its work. After this article was published, a Volkswagen spokesperson said "The ranking was heavily influenced by launch issues for the Jetta," which had five recalls in its first few months on sale. "We are working diligently to resolve those issues. When it comes to infotainment systems, we have a positive gap to the industry average.&#;

The results don&#;t surprise Sargent. &#;This is not a one-year phenomenon,&#; he says. The Korean automakers have consistently improved their cars&#; quality in recent years, especially around the infotainment systems that offer a combination of navigation, music, and voice calling features. The Korean manufacturers offer relatively simple systems that do the basics well, even if they skimp on next-generation ideas like gesture controls. That matches Consumer Reports&#; most recent infotainment system ranking, which listed Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia among its favorites. It gave the top score to Tesla, which JD Power doesn&#;t include in its rankings, due to a lack of data.

The &#;problems&#; that consumers report tend to fall into two buckets. Some are defects that affect individual cars, like a headlamp that goes out. Others are related to the design of a vehicle, like a hard-to-use voice recognition system for doing things like placing calls and set navigation destinations. Today&#;s cars have far fewer defects than their predecessors did a decade ago, Sargent says, and mass manufacturers match the luxury brands on that count.

So drivers are more focused on the things that bug them about their vehicles. That exposes the luxury automakers to criticism, Sargent says, because they offer more features that may not work perfectly or be easy to understand.

This year&#;s survey found a small increase in what Sargent calls &#;traditional problems&#; like bad paint jobs and brake and suspension noises. That may be because, as car sales have slowed, vehicles are spending more time in the elements before going home with a customer&#;an effect known as &#;lot rot.&#;

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Two decades ago, Korean brands Hyundai and Kia were considered little more than compromise purchases for people who didn't have the cash or credit score to afford a car from Japan, Detroit or Europe. Today, according to vehicle quality tracker J.D. Power, Toyota and BMW and other stalwarts of quality and reputation are chasing Hyundai, Kia and Hyundai luxury brand Genesis for the fewest glitches and design flaws.

The three Korean brands, which are all controlled by the Hyundai Motor Group, have the fewest problems per 100 new vehicles, according to to J.D. Power's initial quality ranking.

The Genesis luxury brand, launched by Hyundai in after previously selling a Genesis brand sedan in Hyundai showrooms, topped the list with 68 problems per 100 cars. Genesis&#;a lineup up of two cars with a third on the way&#; beat the previous top-ranked luxury brands Porsche (with 79 problems per 100) and Lexus. This honor continues a string of third-party endorsements for the two-year-old Hyundai luxury spinoff. Earlier this, Genesis year also led Consumer Reports&#; list of top-ten brand rankings.

Power&#;s Initial Quality Study (IQS) measures complaints from owners in the first three months of ownership. Power has found over the decades that brands and models that score high on its IQS ranking also end up ranking high on its Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), which measures quality/customer complaints over three years of ownership. Hyundai, for example, recently scored third in Power&#;s VDS.

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Hyundai scored 14 fewer problems per 100 vehicles this year versus , moving from sixth last year to third this year.

Besides build quality, Hyundai and Kia (which share a technical development center in Ann Arbor, Michigan), have succeeded on developing one of the best telematics systems in the industry. Hyundai&#;s BlueLink and Kia&#;s UVO systems have proved easy to use, and other companies have lost ground in this study because their connected-car smartphone interface systems have trailed leaders like Hyundai and Kia.

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The Genesis-Kia-Hyundai trifecta of leadership may take some consumers by surprise, but their improvement is part of a broader improvement in quality in the industry, as well as a steady climb in quality at the Korean automakers.

The industry average of 93 problems-per-100 vehicles is a four-point improvement over last year. &#;There&#;s no question that most automakers are doing a great job of listening to consumers and are producing vehicle quality of the highest caliber,&#; said Dave Sargent, Vice President of Global Automotive at J.D. Power. &#;That said, some vehicle owners are still finding problems. As vehicles become more complex and automated, it is critical that consumers have complete confidence in automakers&#; ability to deliver fault-free vehicles.&#;

One of the biggest benefits of improved quality for consumers, besides fewer trips to the mechanic, is longevity of ownership. Twenty-five years ago, automakers built cars to last 100,000 miles before major parts and systems would need to be replaced. Today, it is very common to find a wide array of used cars offered through websites like Autotrader.com with 180,000 and 200,000 miles.

While the Koreans cleaned up on brand rankings, there were other notable results for Detroit, European and Japanese brands.

The top ranked car in the survey is the Porsche 911 with just 48 problem per 100 vehicles. Toyota Corolla is the top ranked compact car. Kia Sorrento is top-ranked mid-sized SUV. Chevy Silverado is the top ranked light-duty pickup. Nissan Altima is the top-ranked mid-sized car and the Hyundai Tucson is the top-ranked small SUV.

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