America’s Best and Worst New Cars
Courtesy of Subaru 26. Subaru > Problems in first 3 months: 113 > 2018 unit sales: 680,135 > Parent company: Subaru Corporation vw.com 27. Volkswagen > Problems in first 3 months: 113 > 2018 unit sales: 354,053 > Parent company:…
Once again this year Korean car brands ranked the highest in terms of quality, according to the J.D. Power 2019 Initial Quality Study. The study also found that the gap in quality between these brands — Genesis, Kia, and Hyundai — and all others had widened.
J.D. Power measures brand quality by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership (PP100). A lower score means higher quality. The industry average was unchanged at 93 PP 100.
American brands scored above average, while all 10 European brands on the list ranked below average. Ford, Lincoln, and Chevrolet were among the top-performing American brands. Ford and Lincoln ranked fourth and fifth, respectively — the first time Ford Motor Company landed two brands in the top five.
Land Rover was the most-improved brand, and Jaguar, Dodge, and Volvo all registered improvements. Despite its improvement, because of its hefty price tag among other factors, some Jaguar models are among the cars Americans don’t want to buy.
The best individual model was the Porsche 911, the second straight year the car had the best score of any model in the study. The Porsche 911 is one of these longest-running car models of all time.
Click here to see America’s best and worst cars
1. Genesis
> Problems in first 3 months: 63
> 2018 unit sales: 9,940
> Parent company: Hyundai Motor Group
2. Kia
> Problems in first 3 months: 70
> 2018 unit sales: 589,673
> Parent company: Hyundai Motor Group
3. Hyundai
> Problems in first 3 months: 71
> 2018 unit sales: 679,127
> Parent company: Hyundai Motor Group
4. Ford
> Problems in first 3 months:83
> 2018 unit sales: 2,386,588
> Parent company: Ford Motor Company
5. Lincoln
> Problems in first 3 months: 84
> 2018 unit sales: 103,587
> Parent company: Ford Motor Company
6. Chevrolet
> Problems in first 3 months: 85
> 2018 unit sales: 2,017,205
> Parent company: General Motors Company
7. Nissan
> Problems in first 3 months: 86
> 2018 unit sales: 1,344,597
> Parent company: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
8. Dodge
> Problems in first 3 months: 90
> 2018 unit sales: 459,324
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
9. Lexus
> Problems in first 3 months: 90
> 2018 unit sales: 298,302
> Parent company: Toyota Motor Company
10. Toyota
> Problems in first 3 months: 90
> 2018 unit sales: 2,224,156
> Parent company: Toyota Motor Company
11. Buick
> Problems in first 3 months: 92
> 2018 unit sales: 207,223
> Parent company: General Motors Company
12. GMC
> Problems in first 3 months: 94
> 2018 unit sales: 556,451
> Parent company: General Motors Company
13. Mazda
> Problems in first 3 months: 94
> 2018 unit sales: 300,325
> Parent company: Mazda Motor Corporation
14. Mercedes-Benz
> Problems in first 3 months: 94
> 2018 unit sales: 349,084
> Parent company: Daimler AG
15. Porsche
> Problems in first 3 months: 96
> 2018 unit sales: 59,116
> Parent company: Volkswagen Group
16. Honda
> Problems in first 3 months: 98
> 2018 unit sales: 1,445,627
> Parent company: Honda Motor Company
17. Cadillac
> Problems in first 3 months: 100
> 2018 unit sales: 153,863
> Parent company: General Motors Company
18. Jeep
> Problems in first 3 months: 100
> 2018 unit sales: 973,227
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
19. Infiniti
> Problems in first 3 months: 101
> 2018 unit sales: 149,280
> Parent company: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
20. BMW
> Problems in first 3 months: 102
> 2018 unit sales: 311,014
> Parent company: BMW Group
21. Ram
> Problems in first 3 months: 105
> 2018 unit sales: 597,368
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
22. Audi
> Problems in first 3 months: 106
> 2018 unit sales: 223,068
> Parent company: Volkswagen Group
23. Mini
> Problems in first 3 months: 107
> 2018 unit sales: 43,684
> Parent company: BMW Group
24. Acura
> Problems in first 3 months: 110
> 2018 unit sales: 158,934
> Parent company: Honda Motor Company
25. Chrysler
> Problems in first 3 months: 113
> 2018 unit sales: 165,964
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
26. Subaru
> Problems in first 3 months: 113
> 2018 unit sales: 680,135
> Parent company: Subaru Corporation
27. Volkswagen
> Problems in first 3 months: 113
> 2018 unit sales: 354,053
> Parent company: Volkswagen Group
28. Volvo
> Problems in first 3 months: 114
> 2018 unit sales: 98,786
> Parent company: Geely Holding Group
29. Alfa Romeo
> Problems in first 3 months: 118
> 2018 unit sales: 23,800
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
30. Mitsubishi
> Problems in first 3 months: 121
> 2018 unit sales: 118,074
> Parent company: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
31. Land Rover
> Problems in first 3 months: 123
> 2018 unit sales: 92,143
> Parent company: Tata Motors
32. Jaguar
> Problems in first 3 months: 130
> 2018 unit sales: 30,254
> Parent company: Tata Motors
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I'm a journalist who started my career as a sportswriter, covering professional, college, and high school sports. I pivoted into business news, working for the biggest newspapers in New Jersey, including The Record, Star-Ledger and Asbury Park Press. I was an editor at the weekly publication Crain’s New York Business and served on several editorial teams at Bloomberg News. I’ve been a part of 24/7 Wall St. since 2017, writing about politics, history, sports, health, the environment, finance, culture, breaking news, and current events. I'm a graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.
