Ram has taken out the top spot in JD Power’s Initial Quality Study in the USA for the first time, marking a significant milestone for parent company Stellantis with Dodge taking out second place.
The result is made even more impressive by the fact that just 24 months ago, Ram finished a less-than-impressive 21st place on JD Power’s Quality Study, managing to reverse the result with a third place last year and now top spot.
Overall, Ram scored 128 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), followed by Dodge with 139 PP100. Lexus and Mitsubishi tied with 144 PP100, and Nissan in fifth place with 146. Results were devised from 110,827 survey participants, focusing on the first three months of ownership of model year 2021 vehicles.
In terms of model segments, the Hyundai Accent and Chevrolet Spark took out the top spot for the small car segment, while the BMW 2 Series was ranked the best premium car. For the mid-size segment, the Nissan Altima ranked number one, ahead of the Chevrolet Malibu and Toyota Camry. The Cadillac CT5 and Lexus ES ranked the best premium mid-size vehicles.
For the SUV market, the Kia Soul was awarded the best small SUV, while the Lexus UX was awarded the best premium small SUV. The Lexus RX took out the premium mid-size SUV, while the Kia Telluride was awarded the best mid-size SUV.
Another significant finding of the study was that problems surrounding smartphone connectivity have become the most common gripe for new vehicle owners. The study reported that one in four problems cited involved connection issues with infotainment systems, and six of the top 10 problems industry-wide involved infotainment systems. Vice president of automotive quality at JD Power, Dave Sargent, said:
“Owners are caught in the middle when vehicle and phone technologies don’t properly connect. With more vehicles being fitted with the wireless technology owners want, the study reveals an increase in connectivity problems between smartphones and vehicles, leaving many owners unhappy.”
See below for the results. As usual, Tesla is not officially included in the list due to some states being excluded because of permissions restrictions.
