While gearheads tend to focus on how quickly a car can reach 60 mph, or how effectively a machine can get itself around a corner, auto manufacturers have a lot more on their plates. While performance-focused versions of their offerings are built to answer those kinds of questions, they aren’t the primary source of income these brands rely on. Instead, offering cars to the vast majority of the population that don’t care about performance, and rather dependability and quality, is their real bread and butter.
As a result, securing a good result with quality studies is crucial, as this could prove to be the difference between selling millions and tens of millions of units. JD Power is one of the leading authorities in this respect, courtesy of its Initial Quality Study, which gathers responses from owners of current model year cars covering any issues they’ve run into over their first 90 days of ownership. The study gives a clear insight into how well cars are built directly from the factory, and bad results will cast a spotlight on brands within the auto industry that have excellent quality control, and those that don’t.
The latest study is now out, and we took a look at the brands that won and lost in 2026.
Porsche Made A Huge Improvement To Come Out On Top
2026 Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric Front 3/4Porsche Newsroom
The undoubted hero of the 2026 JD Power IQS is Porsche, which managed to vault from a mid-table position in 2025 to lead the way just a year later. Despite suffering from well-publicized financial concerns in recent months, the German performance brand clearly hasn’t fallen into the trap of letting its standards slip, with quite the contrary being the reality. Having ranked only 13th in the 2025 study, with a score of 188 problems per 100 vehicles, it performed decently, and nothing more. Porsche’s average score across the survey was 192, so it at least managed to narrowly eclipse industry par.
2026 JD Power IQS Best Performers (Problems Per 100 Vehicles, 2026 vs 2025)
Porsche
-50 (13th to 1st)
Volvo
-47 (30th to 22nd)
Audi
-44 (31st to 24th
Ford
-41 (14th to 3rd)
Land Rover
-36 (21st to 10th)
Spin the clock forward a year though, and Porsche has wrestled the top spot from Lexus with a vastly improved score of 138 problems per 100 vehicles. Its margin of victory was pretty commanding too, since second-placed Genesis landed on 151 PP100V. To add to Porsche’s accolades, its 50-point improvement also ensures it grabs the title for the most improved carmaker, too.
Several Other Brands Got Their Act Together
2026 Genesis Electrified GV70 Exterior rear 3/4 shot from above parked in cityGenesis
Speaking of Genesis, the Korean luxury brand was another big mover. Having ended 2025 down in tenth with a score of 183 PP100V, reducing its performance by more than 30 is an impressive effort in just 12 months, ensuring its runner-up result is richly deserved. There’s also good news for Ford and Land Rover, two manufacturers that have been hammered in recent years regarding the level of quality their cars have been showing after leaving the factory.
Having languished in 14th and 21st positions in 2025, the marques have risen to third and tenth, respectively, following the 2026 study. The manufacturers have clearly been hard at work trying to rid themselves of the negative headlines, with Ford in particular standing out with an improvement of 41 PP100V in just 12 months. Land Rover also did well, reducing its score by over 30 year-on-year.
Lexus Dropped Off The Podium
2026 Lexus UX 300h F-Sport Front ViewLexus
And now we come to the brands that didn’t perform as well as they should have. One of the most notable changes comes with Lexus, the Toyota-owned manufacturer, which has tended to lead the way in most reliability and quality-focused studies. Despite improving its score from 166 to 156, this wasn’t enough to fend off the advances of Porsche, Genesis, and Ford, so it has dropped to a relatively disappointing fourth. Given its reputation though, don’t expect it to be satisfied with being dumped off the overall rostrum for long.
2026 JD Power IQS Worst Performers (Problems Per 100 Vehicles, 2026 vs 2025)
Cadillac
+29 (18th to 25th)
Volkswagen
+8 (28th to 26th)
Ram
+4 (24th to 23rd)
Ram and Volkswagen also flattered to deceive, with the brands’ rather sub-par 2025 performances failing to improve. While the former’s score got worse to the tune of four, VW dropped to second from last, having already been placed pretty far down the standings. Both manufacturers have serious work to do if they are to lift themselves up from the foot of the table, and if they’re to rebuild their reputation with buyers. When you bear in mind Ram led the fixture just two years ago, the drop is especially concerning, and Stellantis needs to pull the reins harder before its slump gets any worse. Still, it could be worse.
Cadillac Plunged Down The Table
2021-2026 Cadillac CT4Cadillac
Comfortably the worst performer in the 2026 study was Cadillac, the General Motors-owned luxury marque falling from 18th to 25th overall thanks to a drastically worse result. Having netted a 200 PP100V score last year, Cadillac could only muster 229 this year, marking a concerning 29 PP100V drop in just 12 months. In other words, it has gone from sitting just below the industry average in 2025, to being the third-worst performer ahead of only Volkswagen and Infiniti.
Related
The Most Dependable Car In America Runs A 12-Year-Old Engine – On Purpose
This Lexus combines modern tech with a trusty engine that has proven itself over more than a decade.
Audi And Volvo Still Sit Towards The Bottom, But Much Improved
2026 Volvo EX30Ian Wright/CarBuzz/Valnet
One of the eye-catching placements from the 2025 IQS was that of Volvo and Audi, which comfortably locked out the bottom two spots. Having posted scores of a rather miserable 258 and 269 PP100V, respectively, which were well over 50 adrift of the study average, both brands made a concerted effort to improve for 2026. Volvo did the better job of the duo, with the Swedish manufacturer ending the study as the second-best improver, with its 47 PP100V decrease ensuring it jumped several positions up the leaderboard.
Audi also did well, with its score dropping by 44, though it’s still fourth-from-last due to being so far behind in the first place. Still, if they can keep improving in this fashion, either could thrust itself into the top 10 in 2027. Toyota is also worth a mention, even if it still sits comfortably below the industry average, which is surprisingly subpar for such a well-storied brand when it comes to quality. With a decrease from 200 to 181 over the last 12 months, it will need to work harder if it wants to catch its luxury stablemate.
Related
Can You Guess The Brand With The Best Resale Value For 2026?
You can probably guess the best brand for residual value in 2026, but JD Power’s pick for best luxury automaker might surprise you.
The Hyundai-Kia Group Showed Solid Progress As A Whole
2026 Hyundai Venue front 3/4Hyundai
Another notable mention needs to go the way of Hyundai-Kia, which saw its namesake brands record solid improvements, though just not to the same extent as its Genesis luxury arm. Both Hyundai and Kia lowered their PP100V scores when compared to 2025, but larger improvements from their rivals ultimately meant that both slipped down the leaderboard. Hyundai went from a strong third in 2025 to seventh in 2026, while Kia slipped from eighth to 11th. The Korean train continues to gather steam.
On another note, the good news is that manufacturers across the board are clearly taking quality control seriously, seeing as the industry average dropped considerably between 2025 and 2026. Having sat at 192 in the former year, it dropped to just 175 for this term, the largest improvement since 1997. This is encouraging from a consumer standpoint, as it shows that cars are leaving the factory with fewer issues than in the past.
The Porsche 911 Continues To Leave The Best Early Impression
2025 Porsche 911 Carrera S CabrioletPorsche
Porsche securing the top-performing baton in 2026 was definitely no accident, with most of the heavy lifting being done by its 911 sports car. Aside from snatching the award for being the best quality sporty car of the year, it also secured the accolade for having the best overall score when it came to every car tested. This is particularly impressive when you consider the model was awarded the title in the 2025 edition of the study too, illustrating the consistency of Porsche’s quality control system.
Related
The Most Innovative Car Brands In America Aren’t American
A J.D. Power study reveals which automakers are leading the innovation race in America.
Despite being just below the industry average in 2026, BMW secured the most category victories with six, narrowly heading Kia at five.
Up and down the 2026 JD Power IQS, there are plenty of movers and shakers, clearly showing the ever-fluid state of vehicle development. Premium automakers like Porsche, Genesis, and Lexus are leading the way due to their higher-end vehicles needing to automatically be held to higher standards considering their greater cost, but Ford performed excellently given its vehicles are generally cheaper.
It’ll be fascinating to see whether Genesis or Ford can continue their meteoric rise to the top spot in 2027, or whether another marque can stand above the rest.
Sources: JD Power.
