Porsche is having a bang-up year. Last week it earned the highest rating of any carmaker in J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Survey--and that's the fourth time they've done so in five years. Earlier this spring Porsche also won top honors in JD Power's prestigious vehicle dependability study.
It's no big surprise that Porsche is receiving accolades for its high quality. But it may be shocking to hear that in 2010 the world's most reliable cars don't come from Europe: They're straight out of Detroit, Mich. For the first time ever, domestic brands as a whole earned higher initial quality scores than imports in JD Power's 2010 vehicle dependability study.
J.D. Power compiled its 2010 Initial Quality Study by surveying 82,000 buyers and lessees of new, 2010 model-year vehicles, asking them what problems they've had with their cars. The study was conducted from February to May of this year, and cars were scored based on how many problems were reported per 100 vehicles. The industry average score this year is 109, up slightly from 108 last year
In our list of highest-quality cars we include only those cars that earned the very highest marks for quality: For a complete list, including winners in the truck and SUV segments, see the full JD Power study.
Among American manufacturers, Ford performed particularly well in 2010: Twelve of the company's cars ranked within the top three in their segments, more than any other car company. And the $22,145 Mustang coupe, $25,170 Taurus sedan, and $16,290 Focus compact car all make our list of the year's highest-quality cars.
One reason for Ford's strong showing? Defect-free new launches. The redesigned Mustang and Taurus each won their respective segments in their first year out of the box. Other manufacturers also put out reliable new models: Lexus' $65,380 LS 460 and $54,070 GS both make our list, and the $51,970 Lexus GX 460 SUV won its segment. Even though Porsche's first-ever sedan, the $74,400 Panamera, didn't win its segment, it received notably high initial quality scores as well.
