The annual Consumer Reports quality and reliability subscriber surveys generate annual predictive reliability ratings for brands and models in the United States. The latest report's findings suggest that the Asian makes still dominate the US market, but Ford is seeing some improvements after its troubles with MyFord and MyLincoln Touch, while General Motors (GM) continues to be the most reliable domestic company, with Chrysler seeing a notable decline.
IHS Automotive perspective | |
Significance | In the latest survey, only vehicles on sale with approximately three years worth of data have been included. The results can't be used by manufacturers in advertising, according to Consumer Reports guidelines, but new-car buyers reference the publication's ratings while shopping. |
Implications | While the Asian brands typically dominate the results, Consumer Reports has called out issues with first-year models, particularly those with high levels of infotainment and technology. |
Outlook | The landscape for quality overall has changed dramatically over the past decade, and it is difficult to find true sub-standard quality. However, consumers continue to look for differentiators as they shop, and Consumer Reports provides a generally consistent and trusted third-party resource. |
Consumer Reports' director of automotive research, Jake Fisher, and automotive editor, Mark Rechtin, presented the latest results of the publication's annual quality survey to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit (United States) yesterday (27 October 2014). Of the 28 brands reviewed, the top four were Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, and Honda. Audi slipped one spot to fifth place, but this is still an accomplishment given its lower-third positioning as recently as 2011. Buick placed sixth – a jump of six places compared to last year, the highest among the domestic brands, and the only one to place above average, with each of the brand's models ranking average or above. The Asian brands took seven of the top 10 positions.
As well as dominating the top half of the chart, most Asian brands saw improvements. Notable exceptions were the Infiniti and Acura, with Infiniti dropping 14 places on the new Q50 and QX60, both scoring much worse than average. Nissan as a whole fell below GM as a result. While the Nissan brand improved six places, Fisher says the results indicate a mixed bag, with older Nissan models performing well and newer entries struggling. Kia pulled up to tenth position versus Hyundai at 13th, both improving over 2013. Fisher suggested that Kia's stronger performance may be a result of the brand generally offering new platforms second, after Hyundai has effectively worked out the first-year kinks. Kia's Cadenza is coming out of the block strong as well, with an above-average rating in its first year.
Porsche was the only other European brand in the top 10, placing in ninth position. Volvo, which made the top 10 last year, slipped to eleventh. Mercedes-Benz dropped 11 spots to 24th position; the technology-laden S-Class and the entry CLA both performed poorly and brought the brand down. Volkswagen (VW) landed in 17th, three spots higher than in 2013. BMW was relatively flat, moving up one position.
While last year GMC was the only domestic brand in the top 10, this year it fell to 19th. GM's full-size pick-ups performed below average, which pulled down both GMC and Chevrolet (Chevrolet ranked 21st). Chevrolet's results were also impacted by the Cruze and Sonic performing below average, though other models showed improvement. Cadillac slotted just above GMC, a gain of seven for the luxury brand. Cadillac's CTS performed above average – unusual for a first-year model, according to Fisher – and the brand moved up to 18th position from 25th in 2013.
Ford improved compared to 2013, as updates in second-year models and to the MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch resulted in a better performance. The company improved from 63% worse than average to 28%. The Ford brand ranked 23rd, while Lincoln fared better at 15th. Ford also saw difficulties with the Fiesta and Focus. Lincoln was the most improved brand, up 12 places from 2013 results. Only 23 of Ford's models were tested; the 2015 Ford F-150 is too new to have been included.
For 2014, the distinction of worst-rated vehicle went to the Fiat 500L; Fiat as a brand also came in last place. Chrysler Group saw an overall dramatic decline, with Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Fiat the four lowest-placed brands. Chrysler placed 22nd, ahead of the Ford brand and Mercedes-Benz as the 300 slipped to below average. As a whole, Chrysler Group dropped from 18% worse than average in 2013 to 68% worse in 2014, and Consumer Reports gave only the Dodge Durango and Challenger its "recommended" rating. Chrysler is showing signs of more problems as it implements UConnect across more models, Fisher said.
Last year's story centered on the improvement of the domestic brands, particularly GM, contrasted with difficulties for the Japanese brands. This year's presentation focused on the impact of first-year production problems, particularly when it comes to infotainment issues. However, of those vehicles that reflected poor showings on infotainment issues in their first year out, most saw dramatic improvements as quickly as the second year. The Infiniti Q50, with an all-new Intouch infotainment system, performed worse in its first year than Ford or Lincoln did when MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch were added. The Consumer Reports results show that the 2011 Ford Explorer had a 10% complaint rate on MyFord Touch, which peaked at 28%, for example, but for 2014 the sport utility vehicle had a 3% complaint rate for the same trouble areas. Common issues from past surveys included unresponsive touchscreens and reluctance to pair phones – issues that still remain, but have been joined in some cases by problems including multi-use controllers that don't function properly. In a company statement, Fisher said, "Infotainment system problems generally don't exist in a vacuum. A close look at the results suggests that cars with a lot of in-car electronic issues usually have plenty of other troubles, too." The survey suggests that the top five complaint areas include infotainment systems, noises and leaks, body hardware, power equipment, and paint and trim.
Brands not included due to insufficient data included Jaguar, Land Rover, MINI, and Mitsubishi. New or redesigned 2014 or 2015 model-year vehicles not rated included the Audi A3, BMW 2-Series, Chevrolet SS and Suburban, GMC Yukon XL, Ford Transit Connect, Hyundai Genesis and Sonata, Maserati Ghibli, MINI Cooper, Mitsubishi Mirage, Range Rover, and Range Rover Sport. Consumer Reports said this year that the survey focused on digital responses, with data on 1.1 million vehicles. The ratings are for only the most recent generation of vehicles and limited to a maximum of the three most recent years as it strives to predict reliability based on past performance.
Outlook and implications
The Consumer Reports quality surveys are closely watched by the industry as a strong placement can offer a third-party legitimisation of their own internal claims of quality. Additionally, as a statistically-based survey of vehicle owners, sales volume is weeded out as a factor. While OEMs cannot advertise their placement, many consumers look to the publication for reliability data as they shop for new vehicles. The 2014 results identify that infotainment equipment continues to be difficult for automakers to get right out of the gate, but also indicate that issues can be addressed relatively quickly.
While Ford has improved its infotainment systems, it does still present issues, as well as some pushback on transmissions. GM slipped a bit, with the new pick-ups having "teething issues" their first year out, though the company remains stronger than Ford or Chrysler. The European brands have traditionally been mixed throughout, rarely dominating the results but not all below average either. Audi's continued strong performance is notable, as is the decline in Mercedes-Benz's line-up on both ends of its vehicle range. The poor performance of the CLA could leave the brand at risk for disappointing conquest buyers, to which the company says the CLA sells 75% of its volume. Among the concerning results is that of Chrysler. Despite some compelling products, the company continues to struggle and returned a notably poorer performance for 2014 than 2013.
There is little correlation between sales volume and Consumer Reports brand rankings. In 2013, the top five brands by sales were Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, but only two of these were in the top 10 in Consumer Reports rankings, and those were in the top five. Among the positive indicators are the improvements in the performance of infotainment systems, and the speed with which updates are resulting in better ratings on this metric.