U.S. auto stocks Ford, GM and Chrysler have finished ahead of foreign automakers for the first time ever in the 2010 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study. US cars averaged 108 problems per 100 vehicles compared with 109 problems per 100 vehicles for imports. The following chart tracks initial quality for the past 12 years.
The study calls out Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) especially as having steadily improved for the past nine years and notes that the company has 12 2010 models, including Volvo, that rank in the top three in their respective segments. That’s more than any other maker. General Motors has 10 models in the top three in their segments as well.
Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM
) fell from 6th in 2009 to 21st in 2010, the largest overall drop of any automaker. Acura, from Honda Motor Corp. (NYSE: HMC) rose from fourth in the rankings to second, behind overall nameplate leader Porsche. Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz nameplate finished third overall, followed by Toyota’s Lexus and Ford. This is Ford’s first trip to the top five in the overall rankings.
Toyota’s recalls of more than 8 million cars reflect buyers’ concerns about the overall quality of the brand. However, a J.D. Power official said, “Toyota’s success was built on a well-deserved reputation for quality, and there is little doubt that they will do everything possible to regain that reputation.” The Lexus LS model showed the fewest problems of any model in the survey, just 55 problems per 100 vehicles.
In a departure from a usual pattern of new models having substantially more problems than established models, more than half of new 2010 models performed better than their segment averages. Carryover models, as a group, showed initial quality declines for the 2010 model year.
Bottom dwellers are led by Land Rover, with 170 problems per 100 vehicles. Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Jaguar, and Mini rounded out the bottom five. Volkswagen, with designs on becoming the global market share leader, needs to do better if it’s serious about unseating Toyota.
U.S. makers still need to work to dispel the belief that imported cars are built to higher quality standards than domestic brands. Historically that has been true for more than 20 years and one survey won’t make that fact go away.
