South Korea's Kia and Hyundai muscled their way up the car rankings of 2015 the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study as drivers take note of the sustained improvement in those brands.
Porsche led the rankings, considered as the leading measure of quality in the auto industry, for the third straight year, but Kia landed in second place while Hyundai was ranked fourth. It was the first time Kia led all non-premium brands in initial quality. Both brands are owned by Hyundai Motor Company.
In a press release on its website, Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive quality at J.D. Power, said the rise of Kia and Hyundai reflects the increasing competition among automakers to improve their offerings.
"We're seeing other brands, most notably Korean makes, really accelerating the rate of improvement. Leading companies are not only stepping up the pace of improvements on existing models, but are also working up front to launch vehicles with higher quality and more intuitive designs," he said.
While Korean cars have risen in the rankings and is enjoying a boost, Japanese brands, which have long enjoyed the reputation for quality, have slid down the rankings. Only four of the 10 surveyed posted an improvement, while only Nissan's Infiniti cracked the top five. Collectively, Japanese brands are considered below average, the first time in 29 years, the study said. Overall, there was a 3% improvement in initial quality from last year.
The study said car makers are struggling to keep up with advances in technology and growing expectations among consumers on how these should be integrated into cars. It added that entertainment and connectivity systems remain the most problem-prone area for a third consecutive year, with voice recognition and Bluetooth pairing continuing to top the problem list.
J.D. Power and Associates study is based on the survey of 84,000 drivers and the problems they encountered in the first 90 days with their vehicles.
