Porsche No. 1 with GMC rumbling higher in quality study

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., June 19 (UPI) -- The truck division of U.S. automaker General Motors rumbled from 12th to second place in vehicle quality, the annual J.D. Power quality study said.

The J.D. Power Initial Quality Study tracks customer complaints within the first three months of ownership of a new vehicle.

The study ranks each car by "Problems Per 100" vehicles sold. The fewer the problems, the higher the ranking.

The 2013 rankings put German automaker Porsche at the top spot with 80 Problems Per 100 cars sold. GMC ranked second with 90 PP100. Lexus was third on the list with 94 PP100, followed by the Infiniti with 95 PP100 and Chevrolet with 97 PP100.

J.D. Power also ranks cars in a variety of segments based on size, pricing and design. Among the 26 model-level segment awards, Chevrolet received five for the Avalanche, Camaro, Impala, Silverado HD and Tahoe. Honda received two for the Civic and CR-V, Kia received two for the Soul and Sportage, Mazda for the Mazda2 and MX-5 Miata and Porsche fr the Boxter and 911.

The highest score for an individual model was for the Lexus LS, which was also highest ranked in the Large Premium Car segment with 59 PP100.

J.D. Power, which also studies auto industry factories, said the Toyota Motor Corp. Lafayette B Plant in Indiana was awarded the Platinum Plant Assembly Line Quality Award for producing vehicles with the fewest defects or malfunctions for 2013.