A new survey revealed that luxury cars are more problematic than mainstream brands such as Toyota, Ford and Chevrolet, which is largely due to their lack of technology.
According to the J.D. The J.D. Power study, which included 29,487 owners of 2019 model year vehicles, found that the biggest problem reported by owners was their infotainment system.
David Amodeo (director of global automotive at J.D.), said that many owners keep their cars longer. Power, said. “So long-term dependability are even more important.”
According to Amodeo, the study revealed that there is a significant gap between the top and bottom brands. For every 100 Kia vehicles that were included in the survey, owners reported on average 145 issues. Power-speak refers to this as “145 PP100.” Land Rover, which was at the bottom of the list, had almost twice as many complaints with 284 PP100.
The industry average of the vehicles included in the 2022 Vehicle Dependability Study had 192 problems per 100. Surprisingly, mainstream brands like Kia, Toyota, and Chevrolet outperformed luxury marques like Lexus and Cadillac by an average of 190 versus 204 PP100.
One reason seems to be the high use of digital technology.
Amodeo stated that “some automakers are doing better than others at preventing problems.” These problems can be found in the vehicle’s exterior and interior, as well as the infotainment and driver assistance systems.
Stuart Schorr, Jaguar Land Rover’s VP Communications, stated in a statement, “In the past year, we have begun rolling out a new infotainment system with simplified screen menus and hands-free operations, pairing with smartphones, and other features.”
The main problem area in the initial review was infotainment. We have been rolling out a new infotainment platform over the past year with simplified menus, hands-free operations, and pairing with phones.
Another important finding of the study was the loss of reliability and quality by Japanese automakers. Toyota was ranked No. Toyota ranked No. 5 in the power study, while luxury brand Lexus was ranked No. 6 Many familiar Japanese brands, including Honda and Nissan, were rated below average.
Three of the top four spots were taken by Korean brands Kia and Hyundai, as well as Genesis. These brands are long regarded for their quality. General Motors, which has had a poor reputation over the years for its inferior quality and struggled to make a name for itself, was another leader in this study. Its Buick brand was the No. 2 spot.
Difficult Balance
Although owners have reported having problems with their vehicles’ engines and transmissions in the past, these issues are far less common today than they were a decade ago. Digital technology has a greater propensity to fail today.
The study found that infotainment systems were responsible for 51.9 complaints per 100 vehicles. The single most common complaint was about built-in voice recognition systems. However, there were also complaints about Bluetooth connectivity and Apple CarPlay.
This presents a problem for automakers. Automakers know that customers want more advanced features and may go elsewhere to obtain the most up-to-date infotainment or safety systems. This is the challenge.
Amodeo said that manufacturers will be looking into solutions such as smartphone-style, over-the-air updates. Although it won’t solve all problems, it will allow automakers to fix the problem without having to force customers to return to their dealerships.
