Auto Quality Survey
It has been reported through a survey on early qualities of automobile brands for domestic sales that Korean car models have moved ahead of imported cars for the first time in history.
To be specific, Hyundai brand models had better early qualities than Audi brand models, proving the increased reputation of Hyundai car qualities with domestic consumers.
According to Marketing Insight’s survey results on October 15, Korean cars had fewer problems in early quality testing compared to imported cars. This is the first time since Marketing Insight began the survey in 2008 for domestic models to have beaten imported models in early quality evaluations. 4,112 consumers who purchased new vehicles within the past six months were surveyed.
The survey results were calculated by averaging the number of quality-related problems per newly-purchased vehicle, experienced by consumers in three months of usage. The smaller the numbers were, the fewer problems there were.
According to the survey, Korean cars had an average of 1.62 problems while imported cars had 1.72, meaning that domestic cars have better early qualities. The largest number of complaints on imported cars occurred in AV systems, electronic devices, and accessories, including navigation. On the other hand, Korean cars had frequently reported problems such as noise, engine, handling, and steering.
By brand, BMW had an average of 1.22 problems, having the best early quality. Mercedes-Benz with 1.37 came in second. Hyundai ranked third place with an average of 1.43 problems, which is better than Audi with 1.54. Kia had 1.62 problems, coming in fifth place after Audi.
Among Korean brands, the model with the fewest reported problems was the Accent WIT (Hyundai), followed by Cruze (GM Korea), Avante MD (Hyundai), K3 (Kia), and 5G Grandeur (Hyundai).