Tesla Tanks In J.D. Power Initial Quality Study - Forbes

Consumers reported 250 problems per 100 Tesla vehicles in the 2020 J.D. Power IQS. — Tesla vehicles are on display at a Tesla store in Palo Alto, California, United States on October 3, ... [+] 2019. Tesla had the lowest score in the 2020 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (Photo by Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images

They say you never forget your first time, but electric carmaker Tesla TSLA may well want to forget its initial appearance in the annual J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). The study is based on surveys completed by consumers regarding quality issues they experience in the first 90 days of 2020 model year vehicle ownership.

In this year’s IQS the industry average for problems reported per 100 vehicles was 166. The average for Tesla, however, was a glaring 250. If it were ranked against every other brand included in the study it would be dead last, behind Land Rover, which had 228 problems reported per 100 vehicles. But a move by Tesla hampering the sample size saved the brand from that dismal distinction.

“Unlike other manufacturers, Tesla doesn’t grant us permission to survey its owners in 15 states where it is required,” said Doug Betts, president of the automotive division at J.D. Power, in a statement. “However, we were able to collect a large enough sample of surveys from owners in the other 35 states and, from that base, we calculated Tesla’s score.”

While bad news for the Fremont, Calif.-based automaker, the results were much better for Detroit-based companies—their best ever performance compared with import brands in the history of the study, according to J.D. Power.

Seven domestic brands performed better than the industry average:

Dodge-136 PP100

Chevrolet and Ram-141 PP100

Buick-150 PP100

GMC-151 PP100

Jeep-155 PP100

Cadillac-162 PP100

Japanese brands which once topped the study, have regressed, falling behind most Korean and U.S. brands. Mitsubishi (148 PP100), Lexus PLXS (159 PP100) and Nissan (161 PP100) were the only Japanese brands to beat the industry average.

“W. Edwards Deming said, ‘Quality is to fulfill the requirements of customers and satisfy them,’ and Japanese automakers excelled at this for quite some time,” said Dave Sargent, vice president of automotive quality at J.D. Power in a statement. “But some other automakers have surpassed them in recent years by understanding better what quality means for today’s owners.”

Consumers reported only 103 problems per 100 vehicles for the Chevrolet Sonic. — 2020 Chevrolet Sonic was the highest rated vehicle in the 2020 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study.
General Motors Corp.

In fact, Dodge and Kia at 136 reported problems per 100 vehicles topped the list and the Chevrolet Sonic was the highest rated vehicle with just 103 problems per 100 vehicles.

The Hyundai Palisade SUV is one of Hyundai's most popular new models. — 2020 Hyundai Palisade. Hyundai won the most model-level awards in the 2020 J.D. Power Initial ... [+] Quality Study with seven.
Hyundai Motor Group

South Korean automaker Hyundai received the most model-level awards at seven, with General Motors Corp. GM close behind with six, BMW, Ford Motor Company F and Nissan Motor Co. with three each and Toyota Motor Co. with two.

What Tesla and other brands scoring poorly may have in common is the infotainment technology that both makes them attractive and maddening to consumers. According to the survey almost a quarter of consumer complaints related to infotainment features that include built-in voice recognition, Android Auto/Apple AAPL CarPlay connectivity, touch screens, built-in navigation systems and Bluetooth® connectivity.

This is the 34th year J.D. Power has released the study and over that time has tweaked the questions to keep them relevant. This time around the study was redesigned to measure components “that fail and features that are difficult to use, hard to understand or don’t work the way owners want,” according to a release.

Over the past few years several brands suffered in the study because of complaints that infotainment systems were difficult to operate or they simply fell short of expectations forcing automakers to make adjustments. As they add even more technology to vehicles such as advanced driver assist systems (ADAS), consumers will continue to be challenged to learn how to operate them correctly without spending a lot of time diving into owner’s manuals or online guides.

Tesla did score a win in a consumer survey by South Jordan, Utah-based InMoment, which describes itself as an “experience intelligence provider.” That company’s eNVy awards are based on its New Vehicle Customer Study which measures how a vehicle stacks up against customer expectations, experiences, shopping and buying patterns.