America’s Best and Worst New Cars

By John Harrington Updated Mar 19, 11:01AM EDT · Published Jul 8, 3:53PM EDT

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America’s Best and Worst New Cars — © Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

Once again this year Korean car brands ranked the highest in terms of quality, according to the J.D. Power 2019 Initial Quality Study. The study also found that the gap in quality between these brands — Genesis, Kia, and Hyundai — and all others had widened.

J.D. Power measures brand quality by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership (PP100). A lower score means higher quality. The industry average was unchanged at 93 PP 100.

American brands scored above average, while all 10 European brands on the list ranked below average. Ford, Lincoln, and Chevrolet were among the top-performing American brands. Ford and Lincoln ranked fourth and fifth, respectively — the first time Ford Motor Company landed two brands in the top five.

Land Rover was the most-improved brand, and Jaguar, Dodge, and Volvo all registered improvements. Despite its improvement, because of its hefty price tag among other factors, some Jaguar models are among the cars Americans don’t want to buy.

The best individual model was the Porsche 911, the second straight year the car had the best score of any model in the study. The Porsche 911 is one of these longest-running car models of all time.

Click here to see America’s best and worst cars

1. Genesis
> Problems in first 3 months: 63
> 2018 unit sales: 9,940
> Parent company: Hyundai Motor Group

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2. Kia
> Problems in first 3 months: 70
> 2018 unit sales: 589,673
> Parent company: Hyundai Motor Group

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3. Hyundai
> Problems in first 3 months: 71
> 2018 unit sales: 679,127
> Parent company: Hyundai Motor Group

4. Ford
> Problems in first 3 months:83
> 2018 unit sales: 2,386,588
> Parent company: Ford Motor Company

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5. Lincoln
> Problems in first 3 months: 84
> 2018 unit sales: 103,587
> Parent company: Ford Motor Company

6. Chevrolet
> Problems in first 3 months: 85
> 2018 unit sales: 2,017,205
> Parent company: General Motors Company

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7. Nissan
> Problems in first 3 months: 86
> 2018 unit sales: 1,344,597
> Parent company: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

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8. Dodge
> Problems in first 3 months: 90
> 2018 unit sales: 459,324
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

9. Lexus
> Problems in first 3 months: 90
> 2018 unit sales: 298,302
> Parent company: Toyota Motor Company

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10. Toyota
> Problems in first 3 months: 90
> 2018 unit sales: 2,224,156
> Parent company: Toyota Motor Company

11. Buick
> Problems in first 3 months: 92
> 2018 unit sales: 207,223
> Parent company: General Motors Company

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12. GMC
> Problems in first 3 months: 94
> 2018 unit sales: 556,451
> Parent company: General Motors Company

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13. Mazda
> Problems in first 3 months: 94
> 2018 unit sales: 300,325
> Parent company: Mazda Motor Corporation

14. Mercedes-Benz
> Problems in first 3 months: 94
> 2018 unit sales: 349,084
> Parent company: Daimler AG

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15. Porsche
> Problems in first 3 months: 96
> 2018 unit sales: 59,116
> Parent company: Volkswagen Group

16. Honda
> Problems in first 3 months: 98
> 2018 unit sales: 1,445,627
> Parent company: Honda Motor Company

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17. Cadillac
> Problems in first 3 months: 100
> 2018 unit sales: 153,863
> Parent company: General Motors Company

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18. Jeep
> Problems in first 3 months: 100
> 2018 unit sales: 973,227
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

19. Infiniti
> Problems in first 3 months: 101
> 2018 unit sales: 149,280
> Parent company: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

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20. BMW
> Problems in first 3 months: 102
> 2018 unit sales: 311,014
> Parent company: BMW Group

21. Ram
> Problems in first 3 months: 105
> 2018 unit sales: 597,368
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

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22. Audi
> Problems in first 3 months: 106
> 2018 unit sales: 223,068
> Parent company: Volkswagen Group

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23. Mini
> Problems in first 3 months: 107
> 2018 unit sales: 43,684
> Parent company: BMW Group

24. Acura
> Problems in first 3 months: 110
> 2018 unit sales: 158,934
> Parent company: Honda Motor Company

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25. Chrysler
> Problems in first 3 months: 113
> 2018 unit sales: 165,964
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

26. Subaru
> Problems in first 3 months: 113
> 2018 unit sales: 680,135
> Parent company: Subaru Corporation

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27. Volkswagen
> Problems in first 3 months: 113
> 2018 unit sales: 354,053
> Parent company: Volkswagen Group

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28. Volvo
> Problems in first 3 months: 114
> 2018 unit sales: 98,786
> Parent company: Geely Holding Group

29. Alfa Romeo
> Problems in first 3 months: 118
> 2018 unit sales: 23,800
> Parent company: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

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30. Mitsubishi
> Problems in first 3 months: 121
> 2018 unit sales: 118,074
> Parent company: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

31. Land Rover
> Problems in first 3 months: 123
> 2018 unit sales: 92,143
> Parent company: Tata Motors

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32. Jaguar
> Problems in first 3 months: 130
> 2018 unit sales: 30,254
> Parent company: Tata Motors

About the Author John Harrington →

I'm a journalist who started my career as a sportswriter, covering professional, college, and high school sports. I pivoted into business news, working for the biggest newspapers in New Jersey, including The Record, Star-Ledger and Asbury Park Press. I was an editor at the weekly publication Crain’s New York Business and served on several editorial teams at Bloomberg News. I’ve been a part of 24/7 Wall St. since 2017, writing about politics, history, sports, health, the environment, finance, culture, breaking news, and current events. I'm a graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.