South Korean Brands excel in US Vehicle Quality Survey, Japanese Brands miss the mark

The Japanese automakers seem to be losing the gleam as the recent US survey of new vehicle quality saw the scores of auto brands of Japan fall below average for first time in 29 years while the South Korean brands, Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp outshone all others.

In a US survey of new vehicle quality, the South Korean auto brands namely the Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp have taken the top slots. However, surprisingly the ace Japanese auto brands performed below the industry average for first time in 29 years.

The survey conducted by the J.D. Power & Associates tested vehicles for initial quality and was released on Wednesday. The survey recorded Hyundai and its affiliate Kia leading the industry by the widest margin ever. Also, Kia topped all non-premium brands in initial quality for the first time in the history of this study.

Renee Stephens, J.D. Power Vice President stated,” This is a clear shift in the quality landscape. For so long, Japanese brands have been viewed by many as the gold standard in vehicle quality. We’re seeing other brands, most notably Korean makes, really accelerating the rate of improvement”.

The initial quality survey asks consumers to report problems in the first 90 days of new-vehicle ownership. The survey then calculated problems reported per 100 vehicles, the Korean brands recorded 90, Europeans 113, and the Japanese and Americans each at 114.

Individually calculated, Volkswagen luxury car Porsche was the top brand for the third year in a row, topping the list with 80 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Kia at 86 and Tata Motor’s Jaguar at 93. The last slot was taken by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Fiat brand with 161 problems per 100 vehicles.

J.D. Power further informed that only four of the 10 Japanese brands in the study posted an improvement while the rest could not keep pace with the industry.

Further, J.D. Power noted that the Entertainment, electronics, voice recognition and Bluetooth pairing were the most troublesome areas.