Arguably one of the most powerful consumer report outfits, J.D. Power and Associates, recently revealed the results of their annual Initial Quality Study for the automotive industry. Like years past, the 2011 study ranks the manufactures by standard features, consumer reports, dealership backing and so on. A nice surprise from this year is the large number of manufactures that achieve a high score meaning that the industry as a whole is doing better than previous years. In the past six years, quality has improved by an average of 3 percent each year.
Some highlights from the 2011 study include Toyota’s luxury brand, Lexus earning top spot among all other manufactures. The brand’s quality rating improved 17 percent from last year and four of its vehicles earned individual segment awards. For the second year in a row, the flagship Lexus LS earned the highest-performing model award for initial quality.
Ranking second for manufactures was Honda which also became the highest ranking non-premium brand. For individual segment awards, the Japanese manufacture won its most of any year with a total of seven. Such models as the Fit, new Civic and Accord Crosstour won segment awards.
Four models earned Initial Quality Awards for the first time. Honda’s Insight, Dodge’s Challenger, Chevrolet’s HHR and Mercedes-Benz’s GLK all received awards for their respective segments. Winning the “most-improved” award was Land Rover due majorly in part to its new ownership by Indian Tata Motors. The top four individual models revealed the new Hyundai Equus to be the fourth highest ranking for initial quality while the one, two and three spot went to the Lexus LS, Lexus ES and Porsche 911 respectively.
To see the full results and to check if your vehicle made the list, follow the link to J.D. Power and Associates site: http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/2011-Initial-Quality-Study-Results/page-3/
