Stellantis Brand Rankings in the J.D. Power 2023 Initial Quality Study
Reliability is one of the main factors that people consider when buying a vehicle. It’s also one of the most difficult to navigate. This is made all the more difficult by the fact that things can change quite a bit from one year to the next, as models get redesigned or production moves from one factory to another. Fortunately, companies like J.D. Power track these kinds of things for us, and their findings can provide some excellent insight into which brands are having quality issues and which ones are on top of their game.
The J.D. Power IQS
As an aggregator of automotive industry data, J.D. Power has long been a leading authority on the most up-to-date information on automotive quality. Every year, they release the findings of the Initial Quality Study (IQS), a survey that tracks the problems encountered by the buyers of new vehicles within the first few months of ownership. Each brand is then given a “PP100” number, which represents the number of problems per 100 vehicles. So the lower the score, the better the quality. This is really the best metric that we have for predicting the reliability of new models, and even with models that have been around for a while, initial build quality is still obviously incredibly important.
For the 2023 IQS*, Dodge ranked #1 among all 33 brands that sell in sufficient quantities to be included in the survey. This is Dodge’s fourth consecutive year in either the #1 or #2 spot, a level of consistency that is not easy to achieve. This is thanks to a PP100 score of 140, which is significantly lower than the industry average of 192. Only just behind Dodge is Ram, with a score of 141, the third time it has landed in the top three since 2020. And while we aren’t an Alfa Romeo dealership, the brand is owned by the same parent company of Stellantis, so its third place finish (and first place among premium brands) is still significant, with a score of 143. This is especially significant for the Dodge Hornet, since it shares a platform and quite a few parts with the Alfa Romeo Tonale. A good score for both brands is a clear indication that the platform is solidly built.
What brands are ranked in Stellantis?
To give you a bigger picture of what you can expect from non-Stellantis brands, Tesla sits at the bottom of the rankings, with a score of 257. And Volvo sits just above it at 250. Even up near the top of the list, the next brand after Alfa Romeo, Buick, has a score of 162. There’s a big drop-off after the Stellantis brands, and that’s significant. Huge shifts from one year to another are normal, and Tesla’s score in particular is worse than last year’s by 31 points. New technology is often a major contributor to a high score, and infotainment systems in particular are an ongoing problem for a lot of the industry. But the Uconnect infotainment system is an exception, and being one of the most intuitive and easy-to-operate systems on the market doesn’t hurt either.
Getting such a low score obviously means that quality is excellent beyond the infotainment system as well, and Stellatin North America COO Mark Stewart had this to say on the subject: “We are clearly finding our rhythm. While that bodes well for our team, more importantly, it’s a signal to our customers that we are aligned with their concerns and responding in real time.”
