2007 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study Results

The 2007 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS) ranking are in. Although the study primarily focuses on North America, many of the models sold in the region are also offered in Australia.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class, SL-Class, and the S-Class were all awarded for their quality. The Mercedes S-Class ties with the Audi A8 (total) for having the fewest quality problems in the industry, with 72 problems per 100 vehicles.

It seems that Mercedes have turned the quality problems around, the new range of vehicles have improved quality considerably.

“Mercedes-Benz shows dramatic improvement, particularly with its newly-redesigned S-Class…Overall, Mercedes-Benz improves its nameplate rank by 20 positions—the greatest rank increase of any nameplate in the study.” said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis at J.D. Power and Associates

As mentioned before, Porsche topped the quality list for the second consecutive year. The rankings read:

1. Porsche
2. Lexus
3. Lincoln (owned by Ford – US only),
4. Honda
5. Mercedes-Benz

Honda was the only non premium Japanese manufacturer in the top 5. The company earned awards with the Civic and CR-V.

Other Asian manufacturers also fared well, Kia improved quality from 24th in 2006 to 12th in 2007; the Korean manufacturer was also awarded for the Kia Rio for the second year in a row.