Over the last two years, the frequency of initial quality issues has risen by 30 problems per 100 vehicles. The automotive industry’s quality troubles are so bad that J.D. Power’s director of auto benchmarking, Frank Hanley, says he’s never seen anything like it.
“The automotive industry is facing a wide range of quality problems, a phenomenon not seen in the 37-year history of the [Initial Quality Study],” said Hanley. “From persistent problems carrying over from years past to an increase in new types of problems, today’s new vehicles are more complex—offering new and exciting technology—but not always satisfying owners.”
The average automaker now experiences 192 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), which is 12 more than in 2022, and 30 more than in 2021. Not every automaker was worse off in 2023, though. Stellantis achieved a significant improvement with three of its brands, securing the top three positions in the Initial Quality Study (IQS).
Dodge ranked first with 140 PP100, Ram followed closely in second place with 141 PP100, and surprisingly, Alfa Romeo secured the third position with 143 PP100. By contrast, the previous year saw Ram below the industry average with 186 PP100, while Alfa Romeo ranked as the seventh worst performing brand overall with 211 PP100.
Read: High Tech In Luxury Cars Comes With A Reliability Tradeoff, J.D. Power Study Shows
Troublesome findings for EV makers
Although they aren’t officially ranked because their sample sizes were too small, J.D. Power found that EV maker Tesla (257 PP100), Rivian (282 PP100), Polestar (313 PP100), and Lucid (340 PP100) were the worst performing brands in the initial quality survey. Their poor scores may hint at what lies at the heart of this issue.
A focus on technical innovation over reliability has led to more issues. This has led to more complaints and problems across the board, from bad audio systems, lane departure warnings that glitch out, to an unreliable Android Operating System, and wireless smartphone chargers that can’t be trusted.
And new technology’s foibles aren’t just affecting infotainment systems, they’re even causing problems with very basic things like doors. Newly designed handles in seven of the 10 most popular EVs have been highlighted as a problem by users, the survey found.
Although shoppers are attracted by high-tech features and innovative design, automakers will likely have to focus on quality soon before it becomes too big a problem for buyers to ignore. As Hanley puts it, “The industry is at a major crossroad and the path each manufacturer chooses is paramount for its future.”
Correction: In a previous version of this article, there was an unintended implication that Stellantis brands Alfa Romeo and Ram achieved their top spots due to a decline in overall quality. We would like to clarify that their IQS scores actually improved. Carscoops sincerely apologizes for any confusion caused and has revised the text to accurately reflect the reality.
