Top 10 Brands With the Highest Quality in 2021 According to J.D. Power

Published on August 31, 2021 in Top 10 by Guillaume Rivard

Last year it was Dodge. Now, another brand from Stellantis (formerly FCA) sits atop J.D. Power’s 2021 Initial Quality Study. Are you surprised that it’s Ram?

The IQS considers the number of problems per 100 vehicles based on the responses from more than 110,000 purchasers and lessees of new 2021 model-year vehicles who were surveyed after 90 days of ownership.

Once again, infotainment systems are the most problematic area with almost a quarter of all problems cited by new-vehicle owners. For the first time since 2011, voice recognition is not the top problem cited by new-vehicle owners. The top complaint this year is Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity, which worsens significantly.

Overall, mass-market brands continue to outperform premium brands, and some have made impressive leaps in the rankings. Tesla is not officially ranked due to a lack of data, but the company has slightly improved its position from last year when it finished dead last.

Before you check out the top 10 brands with the highest initial quality in 2021 according to J.D. Power, here are all the vehicle category winners:

10th Place - Chevrolet
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 151

8th Place (tie) - Jeep
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 149

8th Place (tie) - Hyundai
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 149

7th Place - Genesis
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 148

6th Place - Kia
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 147

5th Place - Nissan
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 146
(The Maxima achieved the highest score of any model)

3rd Place (tie) - Mitsubishi
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 144

3rd Place (tie) - Lexus
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 144

2nd Place - Dodge
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 139

1st Place - Ram
Number of owner-reported problems per 100 vehicles: 128