Four Canadian-made vehicle models—up from three last year—are the best-made products in their segments, according to the annual Power and Associates initial quality survey.
The segment-topping vehicles include the Chevrolet Silverado LD assembled at the General Motors plant in Oshawa, Ont., which GM announced Tuesday will close next year.
It was ranked highest in the large pickup segment of the closely watched study of problems encountered during the first 90 days of ownership, seen as an indicator of long-term quality.
Other top-rated Canadian-assembled models were the Pontiac Grand Prix large sedan from GM’s Oshawa car plant; the Honda Civic from Alliston, Ont., which ranked highest in the compact car group for the second year in a row; and the Lexus RX premium multi-activity vehicle from Toyota’s factory in Cambridge, Ont.
Additionally, the Mercury Grand Marquis from Ford’s plant in St. Thomas, Ont. was third among large cars according to the survey, released Wednesday.
Overall, the Power study, which assesses defects, malfunctions and design flaws, found initial quality “has improved significantly in 2008, with substantial gains by nearly three-fourths of the 36 ranked nameplates.”
Overall quality improved to 118 problems per 100 vehicles, compared with 125 in 2007.
“This gain is driven by strong advances not only from many of the high-volume brands such as Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota, but also by very significant improvements by many other automakers,” said David Sargent, Power’s vice-president of automotive research.
At the same time, design issues “with difficult-to-use audio and entertainment controls and voice command recognition failure are among the top 10 problems most frequently reported by customers,” Sargent said.
Honda captured three segment awards, more than any other nameplate, with the CR-V “compact activity vehicle”—the term SUV has been banished from the categories—and the Fit subcompact car joining the Civic at the top of the rankings.
Chevrolet’s newly relaunched Malibu was cited as highest-quality midsize car—ahead of the Mitsubishi Galant and Ford Fusion, which beat out the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Sargent noted the Malibu’s quality was “particularly impressive” because new models in the past have tended to suffer numerous glitches.
The Porsche 911 had the fewest quality problems in the industry—67 per 100 vehicles—and the low-volume, high-priced German performance carmaker topped the overall manufacturers’ ranking for the third straight year with 87 problems per 100 vehicles.
It was followed by Nissan’s premium Infiniti nameplate, Toyota’s Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota. Jeep had the shakiest quality, averaging 167 complaints per 100 vehicles.
