Marketing information firm has just published their 2019 Initial Quality Study (IQS) research for Malaysia, which measures the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100) during the first two to six months of ownership.
The J.D. Power study is based on responses from 1,904 new vehicle owners who purchased their vehicles between July 2018 and August 2019.
Now in its 17th year, the IQS market research includes specific diagnostic questions around eight problem categories – exteriors; driving experience; features/controls/displays; audio/communication/entertainment/navigation; seats; heating/ventilation/air conditioning; interiors; and engine/transmission.
These problem categories are further examined in two distinct groups – design-related problems, and defects/malfunctions.
From the 50 different passenger cars (12 brands) included in this study, three Honda models took home top spot in their categories – the Jazz, City, and CR-V ranked highest in the city compact, entry midsize, and large SUV segments respectively. The Perodua Aruz was awarded top position in the compact SUV segment. Full breakdown can be found in the image below:
J.D. Power noted that “There must be at least three models in any given award segment, and at least one with an IQS score better than segment average for an award to be presented.” Due to the criteria not being met in the midsize, premium midsize, MPV/van, and pick-up segments, no awards have been issued for said segments.
The study also shows that overall, the industry average has decreased to 85 PP100, from 89 PP100 in 2018. J.D. Power claims that the drop in the number of problems encountered is largely attributed to a reduction in manufacturing-related issues, which has been on a decline for the past three years to 51% in 2019 from 74% in 2016.
Majority of the reduction from last year are noise-related issues, such as wind noise, abnormal suspension noise, seat noise, abnormal transmission noise, and other interior storage compartment noises. With that being said, these issues still account for 36% of all manufacturing issues identified by owners this year.
Excessive wind noise and road noise continue to be the top-cited issues encountered by car buyers, while Bluetooth connectivity issues moved up to third from fifth last year.
The Study also now includes the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures customers’ likelihood to recommend their vehicle model and brand. Among new vehicles owners who did not indicate any problems, 49% said they “definitely will” recommend their brand and model to peers, while only 37% of those experiencing issues said the same.
