UsedCarNews.com
July 1, 2019
Korean Brands Lead in Quality Rankings
TOP QUALITY: Barry Ratzlaff, right, vice president of customer satisfaction for Hyundai Motor America and Omar Rivera, middle, Hyundai’s director of quality and service engineering, accept the trophy from Robert Mansfield, senior director of global automotive at J.D. Power for Hyundai Santa Fe’s win as the top ranked midsize SUV in J.D. Power’s 2019 U.S. Initial Quality Study. The Korea-based manufacturer finished second overall for mass-market quality.
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Vehicle quality remains near a historic high, but progress slowed in the past year. This marked the irst year without improvement since 2014, according to the J.D. Power 2019 Initial Quality Study (IQS). More brands worsened than improved over the past 12 months. “Automakers continue to make progress in areas like infotainment that attract a lot of consumer attention,” said Dave Sargent, J.D. Power’s vice-president of global automotive. “However, some traditional problems crept up this year including paint imperfections, brake and suspension noises, engines not
starting and the ‘check engine’ light coming on early in the ownership experience. “Also, more people are having issues with their advanced driver assistance systems, which are critical for building consumer trust in future automated vehicles.” Initial quality is measured by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100) during the irst 90 days of ownership, with a lower score relecting higher quality. In this year’s study, only 13 brands improved, while 18 worsened. The industry average remained unchanged at 93 PP100. Korean manufacturers continue
to lead in quality improvements and the gap is growing between them and the rest of the world’s brands. Sixteen of 18 models from Genesis, Kia and Hyundai rank in the top three in their respective segments. These vehicles tend to perform especially well in the areas of infotainment and other electronic components. “Our performance in the highly respected IQS study and our overall commitment to quality are a testament to the entire company’s dedication, including design, engineering, manufacturing, service, ield teams and our dealer partners, to deliver the highest quality vehicles
to our customers,” said Barry Ratzlaf, Hyundai’s vice president of customer satisfaction. “We are proud to maintain our quality leadership and will not relent in our pursuit to constantly improve the quality of our vehicles.” Genesis ranks highest in overall initial quality with a score of 63 PP100. Kia (70 PP100) places second and Hyundai (71 PP100) third. This is the second year in a row that the three Korean brands are at the top of the overall ranking and it is the ifth consecutive year that Kia is the highest-ranked mass-market brand. Continued on page 9