Lexus Loses Its Luster in J.D. Power Quality Explore
South Korean carmakers Kia Motors Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co. could use a shot in the arm. A big victory in an influential quality examine might give them a boost.
While Kia and Hyundai have been losing market share in the U.S., they scored fine marks in J.D. Power’s initial quality explore, which measures the number of problems in the very first ninety days of ownership. Kia took very first place for the 2nd year in a row and Hyundai’s Genesis luxury brand placed 2nd in its inaugural year in the survey. The mainstream Hyundai brand ranked eighth.
That’s a switch of fortune that has been in the works for several years. Toyota Motor Corp. has long ruled over quality studies among American car owners, with its luxury Lexus line being the top nameplate for fourteen of the thirty one years J.D. Power has done the survey. This year, Lexus finished below average for the very first time, and the Toyota brand trailed all Korean makes, as did Honda.
“The numbers across the industry are amazingly low,” Christopher Richter, a senior research analyst with CLSA Japan, said by phone Thursday. “The quality of cars across all brands is very high. And that does create a problem for Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda, which have built a lot of their brand equity around quality.”
That could benefit the Korean brands. Hyundai’s market share is on rhythm to drop for the fifth time in six years in the U.S., and is down to Four.Two percent from Four.Three percent this time last year. Kia’s U.S. share has declined to Trio.Four percent from Three.7 percent, according to Autodata Inc., a research rigid.
Luxury Challenges
Lexus ranked 15th out of thirty two brands, falling from seventh last year and very first as recently as 2012. For most of its 28-year history, Lexus has successfully marketed its quality and customer service credentials. The brand once had ads displaying a pyramid of champagne glasses on the spandex hood of a car while it runs one hundred forty five miles per hour on a dynamometer, and the glassware doesn’t budge.
“Like everybody else, they’ve had challenges with fresh technology and they haven’t shown improvement while many others have,” said Dave Sargent, vice president of global automotive at J.D. Power, referring to Lexus.
Owners of Lexus reported ninety eight problems per one hundred vehicles in the very first three months of ownership, plagued in part by issues with complicated electronics systems. The industry average for brands improved to ninety seven problems, from one hundred five a year ago.
Meantime, Korean brands have steadily improved. After fighting with a reputation for poor quality in the 1990s, Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-Koo commenced studying Toyota and other high-caliber carmakers and put a similar ethos to work with his companies’ vehicles.
Kia’s back-to-back showings as the industry’s top brand “reflect the exacting standards and craftsmanship our team members instill into every car, crossover and SUV Kia builds,” Michael Sprague, chief operating officer of its U.S. sales unit, said in a statement.
The “results reaffirm Hyundai Motor Group’s strenuous efforts to build highest-quality vehicles,” the carmaker said in an email.
Lexus wasn’t the only luxury brand with a weaker ranking this year. Mass-market brands performed better than premium counterparts for only the third time since 1987, according to J.D. Power. 
“Lexus’ high quality remained constant in the most latest Initial Quality Probe, but we recognize the industry is improving, especially in the area of connectivity,” Lexus spokeswoman Nancy Hubbell said in an email. “We are certain we will proceed to shine on quality surveys.”
Luxury brands have one excuse for the falling rankings: They tend to pack their cars with more of the latest electronic gadgets, opening themselves up to extra opportunities for things to go wrong.
More problems pertaining to features, controls and displays were reported than last year, the only category of eight to diminish in the latest annual explore. Problematic features such as adaptive cruise controls and lane departure warnings are some of the devices that will be key to developing autonomous vehicles.
The traditional Detroit Three automakers performed better than import brands for the 2nd year in a row and only the third time in the probe’s 31-year history. Domestic brands averaged a rate of ninety three problems, while import brands had 99.
Ford Motor Co. leaped to fourth place this year from 11th and had sixteen fewer problems per one hundred vehicles than in 2016. General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet slipped one spot to seventh, but owners reported a rate of seven fewer problems than last year.
Fiat placed last with a rate of one hundred sixty three problems. Fiat Chrysler Automobile NV’s Dodge and Chrysler brands, which share parts with Fiat vehicles, also rank below average. Among the company’s brands, only Ram trucks finished above average.
— With assistance by Claire Ballentine, John Lippert, Kevin Buckland, and Sohee Kim