Pretoria - Honda has retained its position as the top-ranking passenger vehicle nameplate in South Africa, according to the latest initial quality study by JD Power and Associates.
Honda had 150 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by BMW with 154, Mercedes-Benz (157), Subaru (166), Audi (169), Hyundai (190), Toyota (197), Kia (200), Chevrolet (213) and Daihatsu (214).
The average number of problems per 100 passenger vehicles was 239. Nameplates below the average were Tata with 598, Volkswagen (VW) with 347, Fiat (346), Citroen (287), Renault (258) and Ford (243).
Toyota was the highest-ranked pick-up truck nameplate with 202 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Isuzu with 267.
BMW's Rosslyn plant was the top-ranked South African plant in initial quality for a third consecutive year with 88 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by DaimlerChrysler's passenger vehicle plant, which produces the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and had 100 problems, and Toyota's Durban truck line, which produces the Toyota Hilux pick-up and had 155.
Brian Walters, a senior director of JD Power's Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, said this week that the South Africa study, a customer-driven measure of problems experienced during the first three to seven months of ownership, had been completely redesigned this year to more precisely monitor consumer attitudes.
The study examined 228 individual problem symptoms across nine categories: vehicle exterior; the driving experience; features, controls and displays; audio systems, entertainment and navigation; seats; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; vehicle interior; engine and transmission; and other problems.
"Continued quality improvements have caused consumers to focus more attention on soft quality issues, or vehicle design-related problems, rather than solely on a more traditional view of quality characterised by defects and malfunctions."
To facilitate a deeper analysis, Walters said problems had been further classified in two dimensions: defects or malfunctions, and design-related problems.
Nameplates with the fewest defects and malfunctions included Audi, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Subaru, while those with the fewest design-related problems included Audi, Daihatsu, Honda, Subaru, Toyota and Volvo.
"To satisfy owners and fully understand consumer perceptions of quality, manufacturers must consider both dimensions of vehicle quality.
"For instance, BMW models, along with those from Honda and Mercedes-Benz, have among the fewest defects and malfunctions. Yet BMW's approach to features, controls and displays often creates some problems for customers, which ultimately contributes to more overall design-related anomalies compared with Honda and Mercedes-Benz," he said.
Toyota's RAV4 compact special utility vehicle had fewer problems than any other model and was one of four Toyota models to receive initial quality study awards for ranking highest in their segments.
The others were the Tazz in the upper compact car segment, the Hilux Single Cab (1 ton single cab pick-up) and the Hilux Double Cab (1 ton double cab pick-up).
Honda's Civic was ranked highest in the upper small car segment. Its Jazz was one of the top-performing models in the industry and has led the lower small car segment in initial quality for three consecutive years. Other models leading their segments in initial quality were the Hyundai Atoz in the lower compact car segment, the VW Touran (compact multipurpose vehicle), the Opel Corsa Utility (compact pick-up) and the BMW 3 Series, which has been the top-performing medium car for three years.