Korean cars dominate quality study

Korean vehicles experience the least amount of problems of new cars on sale, based on observations from 76,256 owners in the US.

In the 2019 JD Power Initial Quality Study released today, luxury car-maker Genesis ranked as the brand with the least number of problems, the second year in a row it has nabbed top spot.

Based on a 233-question survey that quizzed buyers about any problems or issues experienced with all facets of car ownership, Genesis finished ahead of fellow Korean car-makers Kia and Hyundai, in second and third respectively.

The study comes out just days before the Genesis brand launches in Australia with two luxury cars, the G70 mid-size sedan and the G80 large sedan.

Cars are scored based on problems experienced per 100 vehicles, with Genesis average 63/100. Kia had 70/100, Hyundai 71/100. The higher the score, the worse the car ranks.

In order, the top 10 was rounded out by Ford (83/100), Lincoln (84/100), Chevrolet (85/100), Nissan (86/100), Dodge (90/100), Lexus (90/100) and Toyota (90/100).

When it comes to a single model with the least amount of reported problems, the Porsche 911 took the honours.

According to the JD Power quality study, the vehicle brands rounding out the bottom five were Volvo (114/100), Alfa Romeo (118/100), Mitsubishi (121/100), Land Rover (123/100) and Jaguar (130/100).

Tesla and Fiat were not included in the survey due to 'unrepresentative' and 'small' sample sizes respectively, according to JD Power.

While problems with infotainment systems still rate among the highest of any category for owners, the rate of issues with infotainment has dropped since 2018. Other take-outs from the survey include the rise in issues with driver assistance systems.

New and redesigned vehicles launched in 2019 also had more reported problems, an average of 103/100, while unchanged models had an average problem level of 91/100.

JD Power notes that "all European brands are below average" while the Korean and Japanese brands fare a lot better.

JD Power spokesperson Dave Sargent said car brands are improving the quality of their infotainment systems but that "...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."