(June 22, 2017) COSTA MESA, Calif. — Kia ranked highest in overall initial quality for a second consecutive year with a score of 72 PP100 in J.D. Powers 2017 U.S. Initial Quality Study, released on June 21. Initial quality in this iconic study is measured by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100).

Genesis (77 PP100) ranked second overall followed by Porsche (78 PP100). Ford and Ram (86 PP100) tied for fourth.

MinI is the most improved brand, with owners reporting 33 PP100 fewer problems than in 2016. Other brands with strong improvement include Ram (28 PP100 improvement), Acura (19), Volvo (18) and Ford (16).

The parent company receiving the most model-level awards for its various brands was Hyundai Motor Co. which includes Kia models (five model-level awards), followed by General Motors and BMW, each with four.

Hyundai Motor Co. models that ranked highest in their respective segments were the Kia Cadenza; Kia Forte; Kia Niro; Kia Sorento; and Kia Soul.

General Motors models that ranked highest in their segments were the Chevrolet Silverado; Chevrolet Silverado HD; Chevrolet Sonic; and GMC Terrain.
   
BMW models that ranked highest in their segments were the BMW 2 Series; BMW 4 Series; BMW X6; and MINI Cooper.

Other models that ranked highest in their respective segments were the Chrysler Pacifica; Ford Expedition; Ford Mustang; Infiniti QX80; Lexus GS; Mercedes-Benz GLA; Nissan Frontier; Porsche 911; Porsche Macan; and Toyota Camry.



J.D. Power found that new-vehicle quality is at its highest level ever, improving a significant 8% from last year. Initial quality is measured by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership, with a lower score reflecting higher quality. In this year’s study, quality improved across seven of the eight categories measured, with 27 of the 33 brands in the study improving their quality compared with 2016.

“Automotive manufacturers are responding to consumer feedback and producing vehicles of the highest quality,” said Dave Sargent, vice president, global automotive at J.D. Power. “The industry has improved significantly in each of the past three years. Today’s vehicles have more things that could go wrong but fewer things that actually do go wrong.”

Following are some of the study’s key findings:

    • Early warning bells for autonomous technology: The only category to worsen this year is features, controls and displays. The largest increases in problems are for cruise control (primarily adaptive cruise); lane departure warning; collision avoidance/alert systems; and blind spot warning.

These features comprise some of the building blocks of autonomous vehicles, and an increasing number of consumer-reported problems sounds warning bells for automakers and suppliers. Consumers will need to be convinced that these systems are foolproof before they will give up driving control to autonomous vehicles.

    • Domestic brands continue to show improvement: The “Detroit Three” outperformed import brands for the second year in a row, but for only the third time since the study was first published in 1987. In 2017, domestic brands receive a score of 93 PP100 compared with 99 PP100 for import brands. Last year, domestic brands also had fewer problems (103 PP100) compared with import brands (106 PP100).

“The Initial Quality Study continues to demonstrate the critical importance of automakers responding to consumer feedback regarding vehicle quality,” Sargent said. “Any automaker that stands still will quickly start to fall behind. For consumers, the great news is that significant improvements are occurring in all model segments, meaning that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a quality vehicle.”

Audio/communication/entertainment/navigation (ACEN) remains the area where new-vehicle owners experience the most problems. However, this category shows the most improvement since 2016 with a score of 22.8 PP100, or 2.7 PP100 better than last year.