Tag Archives: JD Power

Maybe Software Isn’t Their Strong Suit

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Things don’t necessarily get better with time. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

In the J.D. Power 2022 Initial Quality Study, which looks at how owners feel about vehicles they’ve had for 90 days, things had gone south compared to the study performed for 2021.

The research organization has released figures for the 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability study, which is based on how owners feel about their vehicles three years later.

Not so good at the start. Not so good now.

That is, J.D. Power uses a metric called “problems per 100 vehicles” (PP 100).

The 2025 study finds that the industry average is 202 PP 100, which is a 6% increase (or 12 PP 100) compared to people who had owned their vehicles three years last year.

The primary problem is software.

Connecting Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to the vehicle is the top problem. Odds are, this is a problem with the OEMs, not the folks in Cupertino or Mountain View.

J.D. Power says that half of the top 10 problems are related to smartphone integration, usage or connectivity.

Now one of the features that is being boasted about by vehicle manufacturers is “over-the-air” (OTA) update capability. This means just like for your smartphone software can be sent to your OTA-capable vehicle and functions can improved or fixed.

Of those surveyed for the 2025 study, 36% said they’ve performed an OTA during their time with their vehicle.

Then the proverbial shoe drops. . .

• 30% of those owners said there was an improvement after the OTAs. Or 70% evidently didn’t see much in the way of a change.
• 56% said there was no noticeable improvement. Which presumably means that if that 70% perceived hints, this 56% saw nothing.

OEMs are busy working on “software-defined vehicles.” Which means, in part, there can be improvements to a vehicle over its lifetime by the addition of new functions and features. . .through OTAs.

Given what J.D. Power is finding there are probably a lot of people who are not going to speed to their local dealerships when the software-defined vehicles become available.

And it leads to the question of whether the OEMs are really any good at software.

To be sure, things have gotten better between now and then, but odds are if you own a three-year old iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, it was good when you got it and is good today. And there are new features to your phone between then and now, and odds are they work as expected.

Some companies are just better in some areas than they are in others, even if they don’t want to admit it.

About Automotive Loyalty

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Put out good products, and people will come back and buy. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

J.D. Power has a simple way to calculate customer loyalty to a brand.

Not easy.

But simple.

That is, it gets information from some 16,000 dealers about sales.

Then it creates a subset of those sales: Those that included a customer replacing an existing vehicle with a new one.

Then it creates a subset of that: Those transactions in which the old and new are the same brand.

And so it has released its “J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Automotive Brand Loyalty Study” based on sales between September 2023 through August 2024.

The study includes some things that might be expected and some surprises.

As for the expected: Porsche is the highest-ranked Premium Car and Ford has the high-ranked Truck.

But then things get interesting.

As in the top brand for loyalty in the Premium SUV category: Lexus.

And the Mass Market SUV isn’t something from Ford or GM but Honda.

When it comes to Mass Market Car, the top two are Toyota and Honda.

Of course, when it comes to Mass Market Cars you can’t get one from Ford or GM, as they have abandoned the segment.

Here’s the thing: in the first half of 2024

  • Toyota sold 277,233 Camrys and Corollas
  • Honda sold 210,509 Accords and Civics

I suspect that both companies are making some money on those vehicles.

What’s more, as Lexus is a Toyota brand and as Honda is, well, Honda, they are doing well loyalty-wise when it comes to their SUV offerings, too.

2025 Genesis GV80 3.5T Prestige AWD

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Where style is tied with technology. . . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

A colleague and I were sitting in a new vehicle, an SUV. A premium vehicle. We were checking it out, looking at the surfaces, the way they met, the textures, the fabrics. We looked at the infotainment system and gauge cluster. Where they were positioned. How they were integrated into the overall IP. We adjusted the HVAC louvers. Opened and closed the glovebox.

We gave the interior a solid inspection.

“Does this look like the interior of an $80,000 vehicle?” I asked.

My colleague pondered for a moment.

“Well, it surely isn’t like the interior of something like a Genesis GV80,” he responded.

“Yes, I know. I’m driving one right now.”

And I didn’t make that scene up.

The interior of the GV80 has a lot of tech but it is executed in a way that is more about comfortableness rather than “Gee whiz—look at me! (Images: Genesis)

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A couple weeks later J.D. Power released its 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study.

Kathleen Rizk, senior director of user experience benchmarking and technology at J.D. Power, said one determination that they made of the study is: “A strong advanced tech strategy is crucial for all vehicle manufacturers, and many innovative technologies are answering customer needs.”

Genesis ranks highest in the study for innovation, not only in the premium segment that it is included in, but with its score of 584 on a 1,000-point scale, highest overall, including mass market brands.

In the premium segment it is 49 points ahead of Lexus (at 535) and BMW (at 528).

The study looks at four categories: convenience; emerging automation; energy and sustainability; and infotainment and connectivity.

So clearly Genesis pays sufficient attention to these things in order to take the top position.

And it should be worth noting that this makes it four times in a row that Genesis has taken the top spot in TXI.

So within that GV80 not only is there an interior that is comfortable, but an array of infotainment technology.

Which makes it a proverbial double win for those who are within the cabin of the crossover.

If the impressive exterior styling is taken into account, then this means that the vehicle wins a trifecta.

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For the 2025 model year GV80 there was a focus on upping the interior.

While the interior designers followed a design approach they describe at “Beauty of White Space,” it isn’t at all some sort of minimalist execution, not something that makes you think you are sitting in the capsule of a space ship.

Yes, there is a 27-inch wide OLED screen which is as technological as any you’ll find.

But the sumptuous, quilted available Nappa leather seats, the use of real wood and real aluminum for trim, the ergonomic arrangements of the interfaces all make this something that brings to mind a comfortable study more than a department at the local BestBuy.

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The GV80 is powered by a 375-hp 3.5L twin turbo engine that is mated to an eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

The 2025 GV80 features a new front end with the “Two-Line Crest Grille” that accents the “Two-Line” headlamps.

It has multi-link suspension setups with high-performance gas shock absorbers all around.

It rides on 20-inch aluminum wheels.

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The whole GV80 package is something that could be characterized as being an “executive car.”

It is stylish but not flashy, powerful but restrained.

It is in a space that used to be wholly inhabited by German marques.

But it more than holds its own compared with them.