Japan auto quality sinks below industry average

[Ivan_06]

After years of setting the standard for quality and reliability, Japanese brand autos have dropped below the industry average, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates.

The latest Initial Quality Study, which ranks brands based on consumer surveys after owning a vehicle for three months, shows the collective results of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru are not keeping pace with the industry as a whole and the Korean auto brands, in particular.

"It's not that the Japanese models are all getting worse, but this shows they are not improving as fast as their competitors," said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive quality at J.D. Power. "This is a clear shift in the quality landscape."

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102766497

 

[Emils]

This measures the owners' level of satisfaction after only the first 3 months of usage. What happens thereafter is not part of this survey. Also, I think there is a difference between quality and perceived quality...

[Ivan_06]

This measures the owners' level of satisfaction after only the first 3 months of usage. What happens thereafter is not part of this survey. Also, I think there is a difference between quality and perceived quality...

 

I agree on that.. But hopefully its a sign that Japanese car makers can no longer be complacent.

South Korean car makers score strongly in U.S. quality study

DETROIT

REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON

South Korean auto brands Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) and Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS) took top marks in a U.S. survey of new vehicle quality, besting Japanese rivals whose scores fell below the industry average for first time in 29 years.

Hyundai and its Kia affiliate led the industry by the widest margin ever, according to the J.D. Power initial vehicle quality study released on Wednesday. Kia led all non-premium brands in initial quality for the first time in the study's history.

The industry saw its performance improve 3 percent to a rate of 112 problems per 100 vehicles from model year 2015, with the Korean brands at 90, Europeans at 113, and the Japanese and Americans each at 114, J.D. Power said.

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"This is a clear shift in the quality landscape," J.D. Power vice president Renee Stephens said in a statement. "For so long, Japanese brands have been viewed by many as the gold standard in vehicle quality. While the Japanese automakers continue to make improvements, we're seeing other brands, most notably Korean makes, really accelerating the rate of improvement."

J.D. Power's study of long-term vehicle dependability, which is more heavily tracked by the industry as the difference in initial quality issues among automakers has shrunk, was released in February.

In that survey, which aims to show how well vehicles hold up over a three-year period, Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) Lexus luxury brand scored the highest for the fourth straight year.

The top three brands in the initial quality study that asks consumers to report problems in the first 90 days of new-vehicle ownership, were Volkswagen Group's (VOWG_p.DE) luxury brand Porsche, Kia and Tata Motor Ltd's (TAMO.NS) Jaguar.

While the Japanese brands, which have long enjoyed a reputation for high vehicle quality, reduced their issues slightly, their collective improvement did not keep pace with the industry, J.D. Power said. Only four of the 10 Japanese brands in the study posted an improvement.

Entertainment and troublesome electronics remain the most problem prone area for the third straight year, with voice recognition and Bluetooth pairing topping the problem list, J.D. Power said.

Porsche's top score was 80 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Kia (86), Jaguar (93), Hyundai (95) and Nissan Motor Co's (7201.T) Infiniti luxury brand (97), J.D. Power said. Finishing at the bottom was Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's (FCHA.MI) Fiat brand with 161 problems per 100 vehicles.

Four auto groups - General Motors Co (GM.N), Hyundai-Kia, Nissan and the Volkswagen - each had four vehicles recognized as having the best initial quality in their market segments.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Alan Crosby)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/17/us-autos-usa-quality-idUSKBN0OX28B20150617

 

[Blackyv]

This measures the owners' level of satisfaction after only the first 3 months of usage. What happens thereafter is not part of this survey. Also, I think there is a difference between quality and perceived quality...

The hard truth is just check out the k3 thread vs altis thread... All k3 owner only praise good but many altis owner complaint of quality issue... I understand the difficulty in accepting the hard truth but the signs are there.. Hehe..

[Wt_know]

just look at the new toyota vios and altis, honda city and civic, nissan latio and slyphy ... enough said

Edited June 20, 2015 by Wt_know

[7hm]

I think when they say quality, they do not mean reliability. Quality in this term is a quantative term for how "nice" the car is to buyers... satisfaction as they say.

 

In fact I concur - the Japanese brands need to wake up especially due to how the Koreans are so strong now.

Korean cars also so reliable now...

[Ishiwgao]

 

After years of setting the standard for quality and reliability, Japanese brand autos have dropped below the industry average, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates.

The latest Initial Quality Study, which ranks brands based on consumer surveys after owning a vehicle for three months, shows the collective results of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru are not keeping pace with the industry as a whole

 

 

 

Well I find this report very misleading. I dont know if I am interpreting it wrongly, but look at the graph provided in the website

 

 

If you just take a quick look, Toyota and Honda is still above industry average what.

 

Then if you take a closer look at the all the Jap brands they mention, their 2014 and 2015 rank hasn't changed that much. E.g., Subaru go from 27 to 30, Mitsubishi 30 to 26, Nissan 19 to 20. It's not like there was a HUGE drop in the standards. It's only a little shift here and there, which is expected from time to time. The news report make it like some big thing, which is quite misleading.

 

I dunno if I am reading correctly, but this is what I feel. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

[Wt_know]

it said japanese model is not getting worse but not improving ... even improve ... not as fast as competitor ...

if a brand is not improving ... it's going down .... sooner or later will be kicked out by competitor

 

It's not that the Japanese models are all getting worse, but this shows they are not improving as fast as their competitors

 

Then if you take a closer look at the all the Jap brands they mention, their 2014 and 2015 rank hasn't changed that much. E.g., Subaru go from 27 to 30, Mitsubishi 30 to 26, Nissan 19 to 20. It's not like there was a HUGE drop in the standards. It's only a little shift here and there, which is expected from time to time. The news report make it like some big thing, which is quite misleading.

 

Edited June 21, 2015 by Wt_know

[Ivan_06]

 

Well I find this report very misleading. I dont know if I am interpreting it wrongly, but look at the graph provided in the website

 

 

If you just take a quick look, Toyota and Honda is still above industry average what.

 

Then if you take a closer look at the all the Jap brands they mention, their 2014 and 2015 rank hasn't changed that much. E.g., Subaru go from 27 to 30, Mitsubishi 30 to 26, Nissan 19 to 20. It's not like there was a HUGE drop in the standards. It's only a little shift here and there, which is expected from time to time. The news report make it like some big thing, which is quite misleading.

 

I dunno if I am reading correctly, but this is what I feel. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

It's not misleading.. It refers to Japanese cars.. And in the group, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan and Mitsubishi are worst than industry average. Hence the overall quality of Japanese cars are worst taking the entire Japanese cars in consideration. Edited June 21, 2015 by Ivan_06

[Camrysfa]

Not surprising ..... the new generation of Japs ( I mean the people ) seems like over the hill in creativity.

 

1 generation of economic power - the next tend to be less hungry. The Koreans are rising ( the south ones ).

[Heartlander]

If the jap cars included in the study are mostly MIJ jap cars, then it would be more screwed over here with the abundance of MIT jap cars.

[Docomospur]

What the survey purports to measure:

 

"The study, now in its 28th year, examines problems experienced by vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership. Initial quality is determined by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality."

 

Based on the above, it appears to be a quantitative measure of problems experienced and largely an indicator of initial reliability, not of perceived brand quality or how nice or well-equipped a car is. Personally, I would find it interesting if J.D. did a study of longer term reliability as well (3-5 years, if the Americans change their cars more frequently?).

 

If we look at how the Japanese brands have done in terms of being above or below the industry average, it's actually largely unchanged from the previous year. If you count Infiniti as a Japanese make, they've actually "improved" as a group, as you now have 4 brands (Infiniti, Lexus, Toyota and Honda) above the line.

 

If we're focusing on the Japanese, the only conclusions I'd draw from this is that Lexus, Honda and Subaru need to figure out why their initial reliability has been significantly poorer over the past year, while Infiniti, Mazda and Mitsubishi should be lauded for making good progress. If we look at the Koreans, Kia has definitely done well but Hyundai, although ranked 4th, has also seen their reliability slip against the industry's overall improvement.

 

As usual, the need for a short, attention-grabbing headline can lead to misleading sweeping conclusions. Per what Heartlander has also mentioned, we ought to be mindful in drawing conclusions relating to our own experience here, as the study is US-centric and the points of manufacture and assembly (don't forget the US-made cars from the non-US brands) can be different.

[Ivan_06]

What the survey purports to measure:

 

"The study, now in its 28th year, examines problems experienced by vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership. Initial quality is determined by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality."

 

Based on the above, it appears to be a quantitative measure of problems experienced and largely an indicator of initial reliability, not of perceived brand quality or how nice or well-equipped a car is. Personally, I would find it interesting if J.D. did a study of longer term reliability as well (3-5 years, if the Americans change their cars more frequently?).

 

If we look at how the Japanese brands have done in terms of being above or below the industry average, it's actually largely unchanged from the previous year. If you count Infiniti as a Japanese make, they've actually "improved" as a group, as you now have 4 brands (Infiniti, Lexus, Toyota and Honda) above the line.

 

If we're focusing on the Japanese, the only conclusions I'd draw from this is that Lexus, Honda and Subaru need to figure out why their initial reliability has been significantly poorer over the past year, while Infiniti, Mazda and Mitsubishi should be lauded for making good progress. If we look at the Koreans, Kia has definitely done well but Hyundai, although ranked 4th, has also seen their reliability slip against the industry's overall improvement.

 

As usual, the need for a short, attention-grabbing headline can lead to misleading sweeping conclusions. Per what Heartlander has also mentioned, we ought to be mindful in drawing conclusions relating to our own experience here, as the study is US-centric and the points of manufacture and assembly (don't forget the US-made cars from the non-US brands) can be different.

Infiniti and Lexus are not your BnB car. Wouldn't be fair to include them in.

[Docomospur]

Infiniti and Lexus are not your BnB car. Wouldn't be fair to include them in.

 

But why not? The survey doesn't exclude them, and Lexus has actually done worse. In fact, if you exclude Lexus, I think the performance delta of the Japanese makers, as a group, might actually improve.

[Wt_know]

toyota and nissan brand lexus and infiniti as "premium" category

the price certainly not BnB

lexus and infiniti target to fill the gap for low entry level conti for best bang for the buck

 

Infiniti and Lexus are not your BnB car. Wouldn't be fair to include them in.

Edited June 21, 2015 by Wt_know

[Soya]

Infiniti and Lexus are not your BnB car. Wouldn't be fair to include them in.

An overpriced Datsun & Toyota is still a Datsun & Toyota.

[Furrynadz]

Infiniti and Lexus are not your BnB car. Wouldn't be fair to include them in.

 

 

lexus still classified under toyota in survey haha

[SGCMmadman]

Watever survey or studies or tests conducted.... many in sillypore will still feel made in thailand/indo jap brands to be 'higher class' den kimchi brands. Having bought new n 2nd hand jap (MIJ) n 2nd hand kimchi.... ive got a gd reliability wif my present kimchi. If only COE drops, will not hestitate to renew it.