South Korea’s second-largest automaker Kia Motors Corp. ranked first place in an initial quality study (IQS) of new vehicles sold in the United States, becoming the first Korean auto brand to remain at the top spot for two consecutive years.

According to Kia Motors America on Wednesday, local time, the carmaker earned the highest score of 72 among 32 automotive brands in the annual quality study conducted by global market research company J.D. Power. The latest measurement was based on a customer survey of new vehicles released in the U.S. from November last year to February this year. J.D. Power assessed customer satisfaction on the quality of new vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership based on 233 different criteria. The score is added by determining the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles - the lower the score, the higher the quality.

Kia Motors said that it is the first time for a Korean auto brand to claim top position for a second consecutive year in J.D. Power’s IQS that was first published in 1987. Kia Motors claimed top position for the first time last year from Porsche that was ranked first place for three consecutive years.

Among other car brands owned by Hyundai Motor Group, the new premium brand Genesis that was launched in the U.S. market in August last year scored 77 points, coming in second in the survey in its first year of survey. Genesis was top-rated among premium brands, taking over first place from Porsche that was in the lead for four years since 2013.

Hyundai Motor vehicles, however, ranked sixth with 88 points, falling from third place last year.

Other brands named in the top 10 list included Porsche (78 points), Ford/Ram (86 points), BMW (88 points), Chevrolet (88 points), Lincoln (92 points), and Nissan (93 points).

By Woo Je-yoon

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