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July 4, 2016
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Domestic Vehicles Top Quality Rankings
TOP TRUCK: The Chevrolet Silverado HD led its category in the J.D. Power Intial Quality Survey. The survey is one of two quality rankings that saw vehicles from the domestic manufacturers outperform those from the foreign nameplates.
By Jenny King
Rush - Dated Material
DETROIT – Domestic automakers have topped the competition in two recent quality studies. For the second time in the 30year history of the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, U.S. domestic brands together have lower problem levels than all their import counterparts combined. All three U.S. domestic automakers posted year-over-year quality improvements. According to the Power study, the industry average as a whole improved significantly from year to year, with 105 defects per 100 cars in 2016 compared with 112 per 100
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in 2015. “It has become clear that automakers are listening to the customer, identifying pain points and are focused on continuous improvement,� said Renee Stephens, J.D. Power vice president of U.S. automotive quality. “Even as they add more content, including advanced technologies that have had a reputation for causing problems, overall quality continues to improve.� Domestic automotive manufacturers won more Total Quality Awards than their foreign competitors, according to the latest results of Strategic Vision’s Total Quality
Impact (TQI) measure. Vehicles from Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Tesla combined for 16 winning vehicles, compared to 15 winning models from abroad. After almost a decade of lopsided defeats, American manufacturers have prevailed over imports for the second time in four years. The other big news fr0m the J.D. Power study is that Kia unseated Porsche to top the rankings. The study, released June 22, showed Kia leading the industry with an average 83 defects per 100 vehicles. Porsche’s score was 84 per 100.
This was the first time in 27 years that a non-luxury make surpassed a luxury brand, Stephens told members of the Automotive Press Association here in June. Even as the non-premium brands add to their audio-communicationentertainment-navigation (ACEN) content, their owners reported lower problem rates than those in premium brands. ACEN systems have been a source of dissatisfaction and confusion as they have increased in complexity and function. Owners have responded well to simpler design and presentation of systems like ACEN. Continued on page 15
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6/27/16 4:12 PM