The American marketing agency J.D. Power and Associates, which has been engaged in an independent study of the automotive market for thirty years, published in June 2016 its regular rating of the reliability of new cars, which are officially sold in the North American expanses.
During the study (from February to May 2016), the Americans interviewed 80 thousand car owners who bought their "iron horses" and operated them for three months, and based on the collected information, they calculated the number of breakdowns that occurred for each "hundred" cars of a certain brand (PP100 - Problems per 100 Vehicles). A total of 245 models were included in the rating, acting in 26 different segments.
It is worth noting that the average quality in the automotive industry increased by 6%, and the number of malfunctions amounted to 105 per 100 vehicles (versus 112 in 2015), while the highest growth rates were shown by American brands (by 10% at once).
In addition, for the first time since 2006, non-premium brands turned out to be on average more reliable than premium ones (104 complaints about 100 cars versus 106).
According to J.D. Power rating, infotainment and information systems, in particular Bluetooth and voice recognition technologies, have been the "pain points" of modern cars for several years in a row, but manufacturers have finally succeeded in integrating new "gadgets" without significant deterioration in quality.
For the first time in 27 years, a non-premium brand was at the top of the J.D. Power rating of reliability of new cars according to J.D. Power - this is Kia with 83 breakdowns per 100 "iron horses", which increased the quality of its products by 3 points. Last year's leader Porsche, showing 84PP100, moved up to the second line, and another Korean manufacturer, Hyundai (92PP100), closed the podium. An interesting moment is that Jaguar ("bronze medalist" in 2015) seriously worsened its position, dropping to 27th place.
In the rearguard of the rating in 2016 was the Smart brand, which received 216 complaints about 100 cars, and Fiat and Volvo performed slightly better - 174PP100 and 152PP100, respectively. Despite the fact that the outsiders changed their positions compared to last year, each of them showed a noticeable deterioration in quality.
Among the automakers that significantly improved their results in the final ranking of 2016 were also Nissan, Volkswagen, Jeep and Chrysler: the first two brands moved up 10 places, and the second two - by 11. But Infiniti, Ram, Honda and Mini showed negative dynamics, having noticeably worsened their positions.
If we take into account specific models, then the balance of power in the J.D. Power rating for 2016 (ie "the best in their segment") is as follows:
- City car - Chevrolet Spark;
- Subcompact car - Hyundai Accent;
- Subcompact premium car - Lexus CT;
- Compact car - Toyota Corolla;
- Compact premium car - Lincoln MKZ;
- Compact sports car - Buick Cascada and Scion tC;
- Compact premium sports car - Audi TT;
- Compact MPV - Kia Soul;
- Mid-size car - Toyota Camry;
- Mid-size sports car - Dodge Challenger;
- Mid-size premium car - Lexus GS;
- Midsize premium sports car - Porsche 911;
- Full size car - Hyundai Azera;
- Subcompact crossover - Kia Sportage;
- Subcompact premium crossover - Audi Q3;
- Compact crossover - Chevrolet Equinox;
- Premium compact crossover - Porsche Macan;
- Mid-size crossover - Toyota Highlander;
- Mid-size premium crossover - BMW X5;
- Full-size SUV - Chevrolet Tahoe;
- Full-size premium SUV - Lincoln Navigator;
- Minivan - Chrysler Town & Country;
- Mid-size pickup - Nissan Frontier;
- Large pickup - Chevrolet Silverado LD;
- Heavy-duty pickup - Chevrolet Silverado HD.
