Genesis upends Lexus as most dependable carmaker, says J.D. Power

The banner across the top of the entrance to the Los Angeles Convention Center couldn’t have been any bigger. It proclaimed the 2019 Genesis G70 as a prominent automotive publication’s Car of the Year.

The occasion was the Los Angeles Auto Show last November and the banner remained hoisted for about two weeks.

It was another award for the upstart manufacturer, the former luxury trim from Hyundai but now on its own.

And now comes another award: J.D. Power has named the Genesis, the industry’s most dependable in the renowned analysts’ detailed Dependability Study. The study is a comprehensive overview of owners’ repair history of their three-year-old models.

Now in its 31st year, the study quizzes original owners of 2017 models on the number of issues they’ve had in the last 12 months. It covers 177 potential problems, grouped into eight categories. From there, J.D. Power assigns a vehicle a problems-per-100-vehicles score (PP100).

The new study was based on responses from 36,555 original owners of 2017 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. The study was fielded from July through November 2019.

Genesis, now in its third year as a luxury segment of Hyundai, tallied a score 89 in PP100. Genesis earlier was named the best in the analytics company’s Initial Quality Report. But the Genesis was eligible for the first time this year in the Dependability Study.

Still in its infancy, the Genesis had only two vehicles in its first year in the study. But the automaker added the G70 to its lineup for 2019, and it was named also Car of the Year by J.D. Power. Genesis will debut the GV80, its first sport utility vehicle, later in 2020.

Automakers averaged 134 PP100, two problems fewer than last year.

Here’s the new list the top-10 of the Most Dependable Automakers for 2020, according to J.D. Power, and in reverse order:

10. Ford, 126; 9. Chevrolet, BMW (tied), 123; 7. Lincoln, 119; 6. Volkswagen, 116; 5. Toyota, 113; 4. Porsche, 104; 3. Buick, 103; 2. Lexus, 100; 1. Genesis, 89.

The Lexus ES is the highest-ranked individual model in the 2020 study. It scored 52 PP100 is the best in the history of the study.

To learn more about the U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/resource/us-vehicle-dependability-study.