By Nathalie Voit

The auto industry experienced its worst year on record for new-vehicle quality in 2022, automotive analytics firm J.D. Power said on June 28 in a press release.

According to J.D. Power’s 2022 Initial Quality Study (IQS), an annual survey that tracks new-car owner satisfaction based on the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100) in the first three months of ownership, new-vehicle quality dipped by 11% this year amid parts shortages, shipping disruptions, and reduced global trade. J.D. Power said this year’s reading was the worst in the survey’s 36-year history.

Although all vehicles reported an increase in problems in 2022, the report found the decline in initial quality was most evident among all-new models. The study found four times as many new launch vehicles performing worse than their segment averages.

Director of Global Automotive at J.D. Power David Amodeo said a shortage of critical components like computer microchips is also to blame for this year’s exceptional score:

“Supply chain disruption, especially the shortage of microchips, has caused automakers to seek alternative solutions to get new vehicles into purchasers’ and lessees’ hands. In some cases, new vehicles are being shipped without some features installed. Communication with them about the changes in feature availability, as well as when such features will be reinstated, is critical to their satisfaction,” he said.

In addition to a severe semiconductor shortage, the auto industry experienced major technology setbacks over the year.

According to the study, premium-brand vehicles performed significantly worse than their mass-market counterparts. J.D. Power blamed that on the increased technology that goes into engineering luxury-brand cars:

“Owners of premium-brand vehicles experience more problems than mass-market vehicle owners, continuing a trend that started in 2016,” Amodeo said. “But some brands, notably Genesis and Lexus, have largely been able to avoid that issue.”

On average, mass-market models reported 21 fewer PP100 than premium models.

The study also found that battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) are more problematic than conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

According to the 2022 IQS, ICE vehicles averaged 173 PP100 in 2022, while PHEVs and BEVs averaged significantly worse at 239 PP100 and 240 PP100, respectively.

Overall, the industry’s average score was 180 PP100, notably up from 2021’s average of 162. 

“Given the many challenges automakers and their dealers had to face in the past year, it’s somewhat surprising that initial quality didn’t fall even more dramatically,” Amodeo said.

“In general, initial quality has shown steady improvement throughout the history of this study, so the decline this year is disappointing—yet understandable. Automakers continue to launch vehicles that are more and more technologically complex in an era in which there have been many shortages of critical components to support them,” he added.

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