Porsche 911 tops US JD Power rankings

The Porsche 911 is the highest-ranked model in the JD Power 2022 US Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS). It is the third time in the past four years that the German sports car has taken the honours.

The study, now in its 33rd year, measures the number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) experienced during the past 12 months by original owners of three-year-old vehicles. A lower score reflects higher dependability. This year’s study was based on 2019 model-year vehicles.

The Porsche 911 came in with 94 PP100, the fewest of any model across the automotive sector. Korean brands Kia, Genesis and Hyundai earned three of the top four rankings in the study. Kia was the highest-ranking brand overall in vehicle dependability, with a score of 145 PP100. This is the first year Kia led the overall ranking after placing third in 2021. Other mass market brands ranking high for vehicle dependability include Buick (147 PP100), Hyundai (148 PP100), Toyota (158 PP100) and Dodge (166 PP100).

Genesis (155 PP100) ranked highest in the premium segment, followed by Lexus (159 PP100), Porsche (162 PP100) and Cadillac (168 PP100).

Land Rover was the worst performing brand on 284 PP100.

Mass market brands average 190 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), which is 14 PP100 lower than for premium brands (204 PP100). Premium brands typically incorporate more technology in their vehicles, which increases the likelihood for problems to occur. At the same time, the build quality of mass market vehicles has improved considerably and now matches that of the premium brands.

The infotainment category continues to be the most problematic, with an average of 51.9 PP100, which is more than twice as many problems as the next-highest category. Seven of the top 10 problem areas in the study are infotainment-related, including built-in voice recognition (8.3 PP100); Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity (5.4 PP100); built-in Bluetooth system (4.5 PP100); not enough power plugs/USB ports (4.2 PP100); navigation systems difficult to understand/use (3.7 PP100); touchscreen/display screen (3.6 PP100); and navigation system inaccurate/outdated map (3.6 PP100).

The study also now measures satisfaction with the vehicle’s condition after three years of usage; whether owners find their vehicle as appealing now as when they first bought it; and what software updates have been made to the vehicle.

“Automakers are increasingly looking at owners’ relationships with their vehicles as having similarities to other consumer technology,” said David Amodeo, director of global automotive at JD Power.

“For instance, cellphones update all the time with over-the-air software releases and, increasingly, automakers must take advantage of this approach to fix problems, improve features and add capabilities to keep owners satisfied. Automakers that are able to do this best will have a huge advantage.”