Hyundai slides, Kia climbs in U.S. rating

The Santa Fe from Hyundai Motor Co

Hyundai Motor Co. saw its nameplate ranking among non-luxury brands slip to sixth this year from No. 1 a year earlier in the annual initial quality study by JD Power and Associates, according to the U.S.-based consumer research agency yesterday.
The annual initial quality study ranks vehicle models based on complaints from customers who bought new model-year vehicles and owned them for at least three months. Gauges range from design to mechanical quality, according to JD Power.
Customer complaints over Hyundai cars totaled 125 per 100 cars on average, the survey showed, taking the same sixth spot as its sister carmaker Kia Motors Corp. Kia, which took the 15th spot last year, scored within the top 10 for the first time, largely helped by its quality improvement, according to JD Power. Notably, its Pride subcompact (known as Rio) ranked as No. 1 among subcompact and compact cars.
Hyundai, which relies on overseas sales for over 70 percent of its entire sales revenue, also tumbled to the 12th spot in overall nameplates when including luxury brands. Last year, it stood next to Porsche and Lexus.

Kia Motors Corp.’s Rio, right. The subcompact Rio is known as the Pride in the Korean market. Provided by the companies

Hyundai Motor’s public relations team blamed quality problems that occurred at the initial stage of mass production of the Santa Fe, saying, “Temporary quality instability has led to a larger number of customer complaints.” The carmaker’s Alabama plant started churning out 2007 Santa Fes midway through last year.
Respective models from Hyundai experienced slumps in rankings, too. While its Tucsan sport utility vehicle topped the multi-activity vehicle category, and the Grandeur large sedan and the Avante XD compact sedan placed second in their own size segments in the 2006 study, the Verna compact (known as Accent in the United States), the Avante compact (known as Elantra) and the Tucsan stayed at the third place this year.
Honda topped the non-luxury segment this year.

By Seo Ji-eun Staff Writer [spring@joongang.co.kr]