Ram takes the top honour in J.D. Power's 2021 Initial Quality Study

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Ram has ranked the highest in overall new-vehicle quality in the J.D. Power 2021 Initial Quality Study (IQS), while third-place Lexus was tops among premium brands. The study also found that infotainment systems, and specifically smartphone integration, have the most problematic flaws in new cars, according to consumers.

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The U.S. study surveys owners of model-year 2021 vehicles after 90 days of ownership or lease, and this year had responses from 110,827 people. The 223-question survey is divided into nine vehicle categories, including powertrain, seats, driving experience, controls and displays, and others.

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The 2021 study showed a new-vehicle improvement of 2 per cent from the 2020 study, but it’s still 3 per cent lower than the average rate of improvement over the last decade. Quality is measured by the number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). A lower score means higher quality, and this year, the industry average is 162 PP100.

The study primarily names automaker brands, but among individual vehicles, the Nissan Maxima had the best score of any model, with just 85 PP100.

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In the study, 25 per cent of all problems cited were with infotainment. Previously, voice recognition was the top problem in every study, starting in 2011; but this year, the top complaint is Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, especially when operated wirelessly.

“Owners are caught in the middle when vehicle and phone technologies don’t properly connect,” said Dave Sargeant, J.D. Power’s vice-president of automotive quality. “This year there are many examples of smartphone technology not working as intended in new vehicles.” Sargeant added that the problem is shared with the tech companies supplying the systems, but automakers hear the complaints. “Owners don’t care who’s at fault; they just want their phone and their vehicle to talk to each other.”

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The study found that mass-market brands outperform premium brands, partly because premium automakers tend to use more-complex technology that can be problematic for some owners. Among premium brands, only Lexus and Genesis performed better than the industry average of 162 PP100.

Tesla is not officially ranked among other brands, because it doesn’t meet J.D. Power’s ranking criteria. Fifteen states require an automaker’s permission to survey its customers, and Tesla refuses it in all of them. Using surveys from owners in the remaining 35 states, J.D. Power gave Tesla an unofficial score of 231 PP100, an improvement of 19 PP100 from last year’s survey.

Automakers ranking above the industry average of 162 PP100, in order, were Ram at 128 PP100, followed by Dodge, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Kia, Genesis, Hyundai, Jeep, Chevrolet, Mini, Buick, Toyota, and Ford, which came in at 162 PP100.

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Automakers ranking below the average were Lincoln and Porsche tied at 163, followed in order by GMC, Honda, Jaguar, BMW, Infiniti, Cadillac, Mazda, Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Acura, Land Rover, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Volkswagen, Audi, and finally Chrysler, at 251 PP100.

The study also included Plant Quality Awards, which recognize factories that produce vehicles with the fewest defects or malfunctions, without factoring in design-related problems. The Platinum Award went to Toyota Motor Corporation’s Motomachi 2 plant in Japan, which builds the Lexus LC.

The Gold Award for the Americans went to Nissan’s Smyrna 1 plant in Tennessee, which builds the Murano; while the Gold Award for Europe/Africa regions went to BMW’s Dingolfing 2 plant in Germany, which makes the BMW 7 Series and 8 Series.