The 2026 JD Power Initial Quality Study is out and it found that automobiles have gotten a lot better this year.
The report surveys owners after 90 days of ownership, asking them to rank their vehicles on dozens of points that include reliability and functionality.
Porsche landed the top spot this year and was followed by Genesis and Ford, which was both the highest-scoring mainstream brand and American automaker. Ford was below average in the 15th spot in 2025.
The industry average improved dramatically this year, from 192 problems per 100 vehicles to 175. While infotainment system interfaces remain the main hurdle to high scores, they were outweighed by a far more analog feature.
“Cupholders are the biggest single contributor to the year-over-year improvement in initial quality based on more accessible location and capacity to hold a variety of sizes of cups/water bottles,” the report said. “This year also saw significant improvements in driving assistance alerts, electric vehicle range, road noise and body panel fit and finish.”
Chevrolet and Buick were the only other U.S. brands above average this year. As far as individual models are concerned, the Porsche 911 was the overall winner, while BMW Group had the most with six, Hyundai Motor Group five and General Motors four.
The Ford F-150 was the top light duty truck and the American-made Nissan Rogue number one in the compact SUV segment, which is the country’s largest. The full report including all segments is available by clicking here.
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