Toyota’s Lexus Stays on Top in Annual Auto Quality Survey

Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus brand remained the top nameplate in an annual quality study released by J.D. Power on Wednesday, and 10 vehicles from the Japanese automaker won the highest scores in 18 segments of the market.

General Motors Corp., which has lost U.S. market share this year, had five vehicles winning top marks in quality. Its Hummer lineup of SUVs scored the biggest improvement among brands, J.D. Power & Associates said.

The 2005 Initial Quality Study, based on responses from 62,000 purchasers and lessees of new 2005 model-year cars and trucks, measures 135 vehicle attributes during the first 90 days of ownership.

Toyota’s Lexus brand, a perennial leader in the study, scored 81 problems per 100 vehicles, and the Lexus SC 430 luxury car was the top-ranked vehicle with 54 problems per 100 vehicles.

Ford Motor Co.’s Jaguar brand placed second at 88 problems per 100 vehicles and BMW’s brand ranked third at 95 problems per 100.

GM, which lost $1.1 billion in the first quarter partly because of production cuts, had two brands in the top five. Buick placed fourth with 100 problems per 100 vehicles, and Cadillac tied for fifth with DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes brand with 104 problems per 100.

GM’s “improvements of the quality of several models and at their North American plants are both very positive signs,” said Chance Parker, executive director of product and research analysis at J.D. Power.

GM’s Hummer brand jumped from being the lowest-scoring brand to tying for 10th with South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., finishing with 110 problems per 100 vehicles, down from 173 problems per 100 last year. Two years ago, when Hummer scored 225 problems per 100 vehicles, J.D. Power executives said it was partly because of complaints about the high fuel consumption of the H2 SUV, which gets about 11 to 13 miles per gallon.

GM’s Chevrolet, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn brands all scored below average in the study.

The Toyota brand placed seventh overall, making it the top-ranked mainstream brand. But Toyota’s new Scion brand of low-priced cars for young buyers ranked below average with 136 problems per 100 vehicles.

A few luxury brands ranked among the worst-scoring nameplates. GM’s Saab, Ford’s Volvo and Land Rover brands and Porsche all recorded 136 problems or more per 100 vehicles. Suzuki Motor Corp. was the worst-performing brand, with 151 problems per 100 vehicles.

The industry overall had an average of 118 problems per 100 vehicles, slightly better than the 119 score last year.