Korea widens lead over Japan, Detroit in car quality

[TaiShang]

Korea widens lead over Japan, Detroit in car quality

By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press3:38 p.m. EDT June 17, 2015


Korean brands are winning the quality race as Japanese brands fall to below average for the first time in 29 years and a few domestic brands climb the ranks, according to the influential J.D. Power 2015 Initial Quality Study released today.

"This is a clear shift in the quality landscape," said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive quality at J.D. Power. "It was a historic shift."

"For so long, Japanese brands have been viewed by many as the gold standard in vehicle quality," Stephens said. "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."

It matters because 55% of buyers will stay loyal to a brand if they do not experience problems with their new car. That figure drops to 46% loyalty if the owner finds three or more problems.

"It can actually mean millions of dollars to automakers," Stephens said.

The Hyundai and Kia brands erased any quality doubts as they continued to widen their lead over the rest of the field with an 11% improvement in scores that measure problems and dislikes reported by new buyers in the first 90 days of ownership.

...

For the first time, European brands at 113 problems per 100 vehicles, outperformed the Japanese brands. BMW in particular is launching vehicles with top-notch quality.

Across the industry, the largest area of complaint centers around infotainment systems, pushing concerns about soils, scuffs and wind noise further down the list.

The top complaints for the third year: pairing phones and using voice recognition, which is now in 67% of new vehicles compared with only 57% two years ago.

...

Top brands in initial quality

1. Porsche is the top brand for third consecutive year and seven of last 10.

2. Kia is the highest non-premium brand for the first time; every vehicle improved and the lineup benefited from a better navigation system.

3. Jaguar drops a notch to third. Last year Lexus held the bronze position.

4. Hyundai's strong showing puts both Korean automakers in the top 5.

5. Infiniti is one of the most improved brands.

 

[AndrewJin]

I am reading about how POSCO moved up to a world-class steel giant, there is something every new industrial countries can learn from South Korea.

 

[大汉奸柳传志]

Korea is the new Japan..

 

[Aepsilons]

Korea widens lead over Japan, Detroit in car quality

By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press3:38 p.m. EDT June 17, 2015


Korean brands are winning the quality race as Japanese brands fall to below average for the first time in 29 years and a few domestic brands climb the ranks, according to the influential J.D. Power 2015 Initial Quality Study released today.

"This is a clear shift in the quality landscape," said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive quality at J.D. Power. "It was a historic shift."

"For so long, Japanese brands have been viewed by many as the gold standard in vehicle quality," Stephens said. "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."

It matters because 55% of buyers will stay loyal to a brand if they do not experience problems with their new car. That figure drops to 46% loyalty if the owner finds three or more problems.

"It can actually mean millions of dollars to automakers," Stephens said.

The Hyundai and Kia brands erased any quality doubts as they continued to widen their lead over the rest of the field with an 11% improvement in scores that measure problems and dislikes reported by new buyers in the first 90 days of ownership.

...

For the first time, European brands at 113 problems per 100 vehicles, outperformed the Japanese brands. BMW in particular is launching vehicles with top-notch quality.

Across the industry, the largest area of complaint centers around infotainment systems, pushing concerns about soils, scuffs and wind noise further down the list.

The top complaints for the third year: pairing phones and using voice recognition, which is now in 67% of new vehicles compared with only 57% two years ago.

...

Top brands in initial quality

1. Porsche is the top brand for third consecutive year and seven of last 10.

2. Kia is the highest non-premium brand for the first time; every vehicle improved and the lineup benefited from a better navigation system.

3. Jaguar drops a notch to third. Last year Lexus held the bronze position.

4. Hyundai's strong showing puts both Korean automakers in the top 5.

5. Infiniti is one of the most improved brands.

I'm definitely not surprised to see this since the Korean auto industry is impressive by all means. The kinds of products their producing via Hyundai (Santa Fe, Sonata, Genesys) and Kia are all 5 stars ! I've had the pleasure of driving a Santa Fe couple of years back , the ride is smooth, the view is great, interior decal is nice, exterior is also 5 star material. So I'm not surprised at all ! Japan has a lot to improve upon and with the recent recalls especially with the Takata air bags issue, definitely needs our qualitative improvement.

So, good job for South Korea and the Korean Auto Industry !

Korea is the new Japan..

Definitely they're doing great on all sectors: steel production, ship building, high end electronics, auto industry, military defense, research ! You name you -- you got it, the Koreans are great in. I credit that to their hard work ethic, dedication, and adaptability.

Korean excellence !

Behold, the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe ...!

 

[Legionaire]

I will never drive anything other than Japanese and German (not including Volkswage) vehicles.

 

[IR-TR]

Good. Their design is good too after they hired that German Peter Schreyer. BTW, why aren't there any Korean Pakdef members? Occured to me.

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

My family has been using Honda Camry since forever. The replacement ones is always a Honda Camry except that for the first time last year, my sister bought a little Korean Hyundai.

For me a car is to get from point A to point B. I never give a rats *** about how a car looks on the outside and have NEVER washed the outside of a car unless driving in the rain counts.

 

[Jlaw]

Korea widens lead over Japan, Detroit in car quality

By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press3:38 p.m. EDT June 17, 2015


Korean brands are winning the quality race as Japanese brands fall to below average for the first time in 29 years and a few domestic brands climb the ranks, according to the influential J.D. Power 2015 Initial Quality Study released today.

"This is a clear shift in the quality landscape," said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive quality at J.D. Power. "It was a historic shift."

"For so long, Japanese brands have been viewed by many as the gold standard in vehicle quality," Stephens said. "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."

It matters because 55% of buyers will stay loyal to a brand if they do not experience problems with their new car. That figure drops to 46% loyalty if the owner finds three or more problems.

"It can actually mean millions of dollars to automakers," Stephens said.

The Hyundai and Kia brands erased any quality doubts as they continued to widen their lead over the rest of the field with an 11% improvement in scores that measure problems and dislikes reported by new buyers in the first 90 days of ownership.

...

For the first time, European brands at 113 problems per 100 vehicles, outperformed the Japanese brands. BMW in particular is launching vehicles with top-notch quality.

Across the industry, the largest area of complaint centers around infotainment systems, pushing concerns about soils, scuffs and wind noise further down the list.

The top complaints for the third year: pairing phones and using voice recognition, which is now in 67% of new vehicles compared with only 57% two years ago.

...

Top brands in initial quality

1. Porsche is the top brand for third consecutive year and seven of last 10.

2. Kia is the highest non-premium brand for the first time; every vehicle improved and the lineup benefited from a better navigation system.

3. Jaguar drops a notch to third. Last year Lexus held the bronze position.

4. Hyundai's strong showing puts both Korean automakers in the top 5.

5. Infiniti is one of the most improved brands.

Actually JD Powers is really a joke in the west. Very few people pay attention to this. I mean if you have Porsche as the most reliable car, than you know this is pure bs.

And Jaguar is third? OK now I know it's real BS.

The survey is based on three months ownership. They should do this after six years.

The best source are car forums.

 

[ahojunk]

My family has been using Honda Camry since forever. The replacement ones is always a Honda Camry except that for the first time last year, my sister bought a little Korean Hyundai.

For me a car is to get from point A to point B. I never give a rats *** about how a car looks on the outside and have NEVER washed the outside of a car unless driving in the rain counts.

There is no Honda Camry but there is Honda Civic.
Is that what you meant?

 

[FaujHistorian]

I'm definitely not surprised to see this since the Korean auto industry is impressive by all means. The kinds of products their producing via Hyundai (Santa Fe, Sonata, Genesys) and Kia are all 5 stars ! I've had the pleasure of driving a Santa Fe couple of years back , the ride is smooth, the view is great, interior decal is nice, exterior is also 5 star material. So I'm not surprised at all ! Japan has a lot to improve upon and with the recent recalls especially with the Takata air bags issue, definitely needs our qualitative improvement.

So, good job for South Korea and the Korean Auto Industry !



Definitely they're doing great on all sectors: steel production, ship building, high end electronics, auto industry, military defense, research ! You name you -- you got it, the Koreans are great in. I credit that to their hard work ethic, dedication, and adaptability.

Korean excellence !

Behold, the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe ...!

First off all we must say it is "South Korea" we are talking about hahahah.

--- The other Korea aka NK is just good for producing dimwit dictators.


Ok back to the topic.

The two brands from "South" Korea are trying very hard to combine Japanese automakers reliability and looks of German autos.

Peace

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

There is no Honda Camry but there is Honda Civic.
Is that what you meant?

Sorry, Im a retard when talking about cars.

Its a Toyota Camry. Ive never actually ever bought a car, I just take the ones that my Bro and sis dont want after they get a new one.

Never ever had an interest in cars.

Whenever I need to go to areas with aweful traffic (like Sydney city area) I drive to the train station and take a train.

 

[macnurv]

I don't agree with most what is stated here regarding Korean cars, yes they had been making good sales and the biggest selling point is their price but still not as reliable as most of Japanese cars. If you do a side by side comparison, you will see that the Korean cars are giving you a more bang for your buck as far as infotainment, Accessories etc are concerned. The build quality have improved, but still there is long way to go for Korean cars.

For the first time, European brands at 113 problems per 100 vehicles, outperformed the Japanese brands. BMW in particular is launching vehicles with top-notch quality.

Across the industry, the largest area of complaint centers around infotainment systems, pushing concerns about soils, scuffs and wind noise further down the list.

The top complaints for the third year: pairing phones and using voice recognition, which is now in 67% of new vehicles compared with only 57% two years ago.

BMW indeed is one of the best premium car brand in the world and almost all of their products are top notch machines except for X1,2,3,4 which are like village idiots that don't fit anywhere.

It seems the survey was not very objective as it keeps on switching between different aspects, infotainment systems had become more complicated over the years, but in my experience they are gimmicks and have no real affect on the drive of the car. Most of these features availability is not a deal breaker but I would be more concerned about the safety features, dependability and over all build quality. There are various aftermarket infotainment options available.

Come to think of it, I never bothered to pair my phone with my BMW 5 series as I don't drive and talk. Few years back this feature was exclusive in premium brands but now pretty much all the cars have it.

Porsche is the top brand for third consecutive year and seven of last 10.

Yes, but if you're talking about 911.

Kia is the highest non-premium brand for the first time; every vehicle improved and the lineup benefited from a better navigation system.

Kia have improved their vehicle quality by leaps and bound, but still when ever I had driven one, I didn't exactly enjoy the drive.

Jaguar drops a notch to third. Last year Lexus held the bronze position.

What the heck is Jaguar doing in a reliability survey lol

Infiniti is one of the most improved brands.

Nissans, premium brand had produced some truly amazing machines in last few years.

My family has been using Honda Camry since forever. The replacement ones is always a Honda Camry except that for the first time last year, my sister bought a little Korean Hyundai.

For me a car is to get from point A to point B. I never give a rats *** about how a car looks on the outside and have NEVER washed the outside of a car unless driving in the rain counts.

Arghg, I think you're confused. Honda is a automaker and Camry is a vehicle model made by Toyota. The rest of your post makes me angry as a car guy LOL.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Keep in mind people this is only the initial 3 month survey. They also publish dependability surveys and they may not line up with this one.

Edit: 2015 Vehicle Dependability Study | J.D. Power

I think this falls more in line with what people suspect

 

[Aepsilons]

First off all we must say it is "South Korea" we are talking about hahahah.

--- The other Korea aka NK is just good for producing dimwit dictators.


Ok back to the topic.

The two brands from "South" Korea are trying very hard to combine Japanese automakers reliability and looks of German autos.

Peace

haha, yes, indeed! I remember back when I was working on my Master's Degree, i had a good friend and room mate who was a Korean studying in the same uni as i. The guy was wealthy he actually comes from a family that produces nuts and bolts as well as electric components for Hyundai Motors. Well anyways (before i go in a tangent, LOL) , back to the point --- whenever he and i would go out for dinner the conversations would start from : 1) hot girls we saw that week, 2) hot girls who we wanted to date that week, 3) me talking about how i missed family in Japan, 4) him talking about how he missed Korea, 5) him talking about Korean brands > Japanese brands....LOL...LOL!!!!

But seriously, the point is that Koreans are very very nationalistic and proud of their national brands and they have every right to be. I mean, they come from a country that was wrecked with war and devastation in the 1950s, rebuilt their country form ashes through shear hard work, sacrifice. My friend , tho he was extremely wealthy, drove a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. I admired that so much about him --- his : a) pride in Korean brands, b) pride in being Korean, c) dedication to Korea.

With that mental process and that kind of dedication --- I'm not surprised at all that Koreans will work hard to increase the quality of their products, thus their products perceptions abroad. So definitely, not surprised at all, and I'm happy for them. Definitely is a lesson for us Japanese how to be and to re-learn in how it means to sacrifice (self annihilation for excellence).

 

[Metanoia]

My family has been using Honda Camry since forever. The replacement ones is always a Honda Camry except that for the first time last year, my sister bought a little Korean Hyundai.

What's a "Honda Camry"?