DETROIT, May 7 (UPI) -- The quality of new vehicles stalled in 2003 after five years of steady improvement, according to the latest J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality Study.
New car quality of Japan's Toyota and Honda, perennial quality champs, both declined although they ranked No. 1 and No. 4, respectively. Porsche of North America was second and BMW of North America third. To illustrate that price is not the determining factor, GM's $50,000 Hummer H2 ranked dead last in quality with 225 defects per 100 vehicles.
Lexus remained the top car brand for quality. The ES300 was top entry luxury car, GS 330/GS430 top mid-luxury and LS430 top premium luxury car. Mazda's two-seat Miata was the top sporty car and the Mercedes-Benz SLK Class was the top premium sports car.
The study surveyed 52,000 owners three months after they bought or leased new vehicles and ranked the new cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles by the number of problems per 100 vehicles. One finding was cautious consumers often won't buy a newly introduced model the first year.
"Consumers often delay purchasing a model in its first year, waiting for the manufacturer to get the so-called bugs out," said Joe Ivers, executive director of quality/customer satisfaction. "Yet the quality of most new model launches is actually very good."
However, the much-watched auto industry study found for the first time since 1998, there was no year-over-year improvement in initial quality overall from 2002 models to 2003 models, after a 6.7 percent improvement last year.
The industry average for new car complaints held steady at 133 problems per 100 vehicles. The good news is the problems are smaller than in 1987, when the first Initial Quality Study was released.
Complaints 16 years ago were likely to be more about cars that stalled or didn't start, or arm rests, knobs, trim or buttons that fell off. Today, the biggest complaint is wind noise and poor mileage. The muscular Hummer -- a truck-based SUV that gets about 11 mpg -- was criticized for both. Other problems were brake noise, chipped paint, and balky doors, trunk lips and lift gates.
General Motors Corp. maintained its ranking as the best quality domestic automaker with 14 vehicles in the top three in various segments.
"All of these gains came while 44 percent of GM's production volume was in launch," said Gary Cowger, president GM North America. "It was risky and ambitious to launch such a high volume of vehicles but it was also necessary in our successful bid to increase market share and profitability."
Japan's Suzuki improved 31 percent over 2002, the best for any auto manufacturer as the all-new Aerio earned high marks. Quality of Mercury, South Korea's Kia and Jaguar rose 22 percent, 21 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Toyota's gas-electric hybrid Prius was the top-ranked compact, followed by the Corolla, Mitsubishi Lancer and Toyota Echo. But the Prius did not live up to its promised 45 mpg city/52 mpg highway fuel economy. A redesigned, larger and more efficient Prius is being introduced.
The Chevrolet Malibu was the top entry midsize car; the Mercury Sable, top premium mid-size, and the Ford Crown Victoria, top full-size car.
Ford Motor Co. models ranked highest in five categories as domestic automakers caught up with European automakers in quality. The quality of Korean vehicles improved significantly since 1998 but still trailed Japan.
Vehicles built by German and Japanese manufacturers in their home markets overall ranked higher in initial quality than models produced in North American plants. But Acura, Mazda and Subaru models made in North America actually were better in initial quality than models made in Japan.
In other autos news, Ford said it would match customer down payments up to $1,000 on Windstar vans, which already offer zero-percent financing for up to 60 months or $3,000 cash back rebates. Active duty and retired military members and reservists qualify for a $750 Military Appreciation discount on most Ford vehicles.
