Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have seen their automobiles’ reputation for quality get a big boost with J.D. Power, a famous car quality evaluation organization. J.D. Power placed Kia Motors at the top of its order list in terms of quality and upgraded Hyundai Motor to third on the list.
Kia Motors beat Porsche and other carmakers to claim the top position in a quality study conducted by the U.S.-based global marketing information provider J.D. Power.
Kia, the sister company of Hyundai Motor, ranked the highest in this year's Initial Quality Study (IQS). It was the first time in 27 years that a standard brand has topped the rankings.
Hyundai ranked third among all brands in the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS) and second among non-premium automakers in the study. Additionally, J.D. Power awarded both the Accent in the small car segment and the Azera in the large car segment with the highest initial quality honors.
Some of the motor car publications in the U.S. such as the Car and Driver quipped that the “students have become teachers,” writing about the upgraded qualities of the Korean auto makers’ various car models such as the Accent, Soul, Sportage and Grandeur. A total of 11 models made the top-three on the list. “Man bit Dog,” said Automotive News when writing about the improved quality of cars of those Korean automakers.
The articles may seem outrageous, but it is not so when realizing that the surprising improvement came only in the past 10 years since Chairman Chung Mong-koo decided to focus on quality management to improve the quality of the automakers’ cars.
He had to make the decision to give the top priority to quality improvement following his shocking trip to the U.S. in 1999 soon after taking the helm of Hyundai Motor Group. He heard many U.S. dealers complain that they could not sell both Hyundai and Kia cars due to the poor quality of the cars, urging him to make better cars to be able to sell them in the U.S., where cars from all over the world compete for sales.
Kia ranks highest in initial quality with a score of 83 PP100, the first time in 27 years that a non-premium brand has topped the rankings. It is also the second consecutive year that Kia, which ranked second in 2015, has led all non-premium makes in initial quality. Porsche (84 PP100) ranks second among nameplates, followed by Hyundai (92 PP100), Toyota (93 PP100) and BMW (94 PP100).
General Motors receives seven model-level awards, followed by Toyota with six and Hyundai Motor and Volkswagen AG, each with four.
Hyundai Motor models that rank highest in their segment are the Hyundai Accent; Hyundai Azera; Kia Soul; and Kia Sportage.
New-vehicle quality improved 6 percent, double the 3 percent rate of improvement in 2015 and the largest increase since 2009, according to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Initial Quality StudySM (IQS), released today.
The study, now in its 30th year, examines problems experienced by vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership. Initial quality is determined by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality.
Quality improves across all eight problem categories measured in the study, with 21 of the 33 brands included in the study improving their quality in 2016 and one remaining the same. “Manufacturers are currently making some of the highest quality products we’ve ever seen,” said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive quality at J.D. Power. “Tracking our data over the past several years, it has become clear that automakers are listening to the customer, identifying pain points and are focused on continuous improvement. Even as they add more content, including advanced technologies that have had a reputation for causing problems, overall quality continues to improve.”
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