Kia Achieves Overall 1st Place in JD Power U.S. Durability Quality Study

Hyundai 3rd · Genesis 4th... Quality Recognized
1st Place Among 32 Brands Including Toyota and GM

Kia 2019 Sorento

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Hyundai Motor Group has achieved its highest-ever ranking in the United States' most prestigious quality survey, earning recognition for world-class quality.

According to industry sources, in the '2022 Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS)' announced by U.S. market research firm J.D. Power on the 10th (local time), among a total of 32 brands including luxury brands, Kia ranked 1st (145 points), Hyundai Motor Company ranked 3rd (148 points), and Genesis ranked 4th (155 points, 1st among luxury brands), all placing in the top tier and achieving their best-ever results.

The Vehicle Dependability Study surveys customers who have owned their vehicles for three years, assessing satisfaction with 184 durability-related items and tallying the number of problems per 100 vehicles. A lower score indicates higher quality satisfaction.

Kia received the 'Best Brand Award' by ranking 1st overall this year, following its 1st place among non-luxury brands last year. This is the first time in history that a non-luxury brand has topped the overall Vehicle Dependability Study, surpassing luxury brands.

Hyundai Motor Company also improved its ranking by four places from 7th last year to 3rd overall, following Kia and Buick (147 points).

Genesis rose three places from last year to 1st among luxury brands (4th overall), surpassing Lexus (159 points), and received the 'Best Luxury Brand Award.'

As a result, Hyundai Motor Group recorded the lowest average score of 147 points among 15 global automotive groups, ranking 1st ahead of Toyota (158 points) and General Motors (172 points).

Additionally, by vehicle segment, ▲ Hyundai Santa Fe ranked 1st in the midsize sport utility vehicle (SUV) category, ▲ Hyundai Sonata ranked 1st in the midsize category, and ▲ Kia Sorento ranked 1st in the midsize SUV category, with a total of three models receiving the 'Best Quality Award.'

Furthermore, ▲ Hyundai Elantra (Avante) received the Excellence in Quality Award in the compact car segment, ▲ Hyundai Tucson in the compact SUV segment, ▲ Hyundai Veloster in the compact sports car segment, ▲ Kia Sportage in the compact SUV segment, ▲ Kia Soul in the small SUV segment, and ▲ Kia Optima (K5) in the midsize car segment also received Excellence in Quality Awards. As a result, Hyundai Motor Group set a new record for the most awards ever, winning a total of 11 awards across 2 brand categories and 9 vehicle categories.

The excellent results achieved by Hyundai Motor Group in the Vehicle Dependability Study, considered one of the two major benchmarks for automotive quality evaluation along with the Initial Quality Study (IQS), are expected to greatly contribute to enhancing brand image and expanding sales in the future.

This year's Vehicle Dependability Study was conducted on a total of 29,487 vehicles from 139 models across 32 brands sold in the United States from July 2018 to February 2019. The total number of survey items was adjusted from 177 to 184, and due to newly added items this year, the industry average for the overall brand vehicle dependability index increased from 121 points to 192 points.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.