Korean Cars Trump Japanese on Quality for First Time, Study Finds

Hyundai and Kia leapfrogged over the Japanese competition in J.D. Power’s 2015 Initial Quality Study.

For the first time in nearly three decades, the majority of Japanese vehicle brands fell below industry average on initial quality, according to a consumer survey by J.D. Power & Associates.

The surprising result is less a measure of faltering by the Japanese and more a reflection of how must faster other brands are improving. The Japanese brands improved marginally, but failed to keep up with the rest of the industry. By volume Japanese brands are still above the average, with the top four constituting 3.8 million total sales, versus 2.4 million for the bottom six.

J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study, which measures problems experienced by vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership, was released today at a meeting of the Automotive Press Association.

Korean brands led the industry in initial quality by the widest margin ever, averaging 90 problems per 100 (PP100) vehicles, an improvement of 11 PP100 from 2014. For the first time in the study, European brands (113 PP100) surpassed Japanese brands (114 PP100), which were tied with domestic brands for only the second time in the study’s 29-year history. Only four of the 10 Japanese brands included in the study posted an improvement.