• Owners of vehicles from Hyundai Motor Group nameplates report the fewest problems and frustrations compared to owners of other automotive brands in the U.S. 
• Kia ranks top brand overall and Genesis ranks top premium brand
• Hyundai Motor ranks third overall, improving by four positions
• Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe and Hyundai Sonata take top honors in the upper midsize SUV, midsize SUV and midsize sedan vehicle segments, respectively

Hyundai Motor Group is the top-ranked automaker in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) with its Hyundai, Kia and Genesis nameplates taking three of the industry’s top four brand rankings overall, including the top spot. 

Kia is the top-ranked brand overall, including all mass-market and premium brands, and Genesis is the top-ranked premium brand and fourth overall. Hyundai Motor is ranked third overall, based on VDS’s PP100 (problems per 100 vehicles) scoring criteria.

Hyundai Motor also took top honors in the midsize SUV and midsize sedan segments with Santa Fe and Sonata, respectively. Kia Sorento took the top honor in the upper midsize SUV segment for the second consecutive year. 

“We at Hyundai Motor Group hold long-term ownership satisfaction as one of the key benchmarks for success,” said Seog-ju Cha, Head of Quality Division at Hyundai Motor Group. “The VDS results speak to Hyundai, Kia and Genesis’s dedication to delivering vehicles that not only excel in areas long-appreciated by owners, like design and driving experience, but also across innovative technologies that have become a crucial part of the overall ownership experience. We strive to maintain these high standards in all the vehicles we build.”  

Based on the new criteria, Kia jumped two positions to take the top spot overall with a PP100 score of 145, beating the industry average by 47 points. It is the second consecutive year that Kia has claimed the top spot among mass-market brands, coming in third overall last year behind two premium brands. This is the first time that a non-premium brand has been awarded first overall in the ranking in the history of VDS.

Genesis improved four positions overall and three positions in the premium category with a top-ranked PP100 score of 155, beating the industry average by 37 points. 

Hyundai Motor improved its rating by four positions overall and one position in the mass-market category to place third with a score of 148, beating the industry average by 44 points and securing its highest-ever ranking in the VDS study. 

For the 2022 VDS, J.D. Power surveyed 29,487 customers in the U.S. across 32 automotive brands. Only verified purchasers and lessees of new 2019 model-year cars and light trucks registered for personal use were considered. After the study’s redesign, the industry’s problem levels are 59 percent higher in 2022 than in 2021, with the industry average increasing from 121 to 192.