It’s not much of a surprise considering how well they did in last year’s survey, but the Ram and Dodge brands from Stellantis are creating a lot of buzz, for placing No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the 2021 Initial Quality Study from J.D. Power.
“This is not a data point; this is a trend,” said Mark Champine, head of North America Customer Experience at Stellantis. Stellantis was formed by the January 2021 merger between the former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France’s Groupe Peugeot SA.
The Jeep brand was also well above industry average. The Alfa Romeo brand was well below industry average, though, and the Chrysler brand was in last place in the 2021 IQS. Last year, Dodge was No. 1, the first time a domestic brand was the overall winner, and Ram was No. 3.
“It’s not like it’s come from nowhere,” said Dave Sargent, vice president of automotive quality at J.D. Power, in an online press briefing Aug. 31.
He said the Ram brand deserves extra credit because it’s the first No. 1 brand in IQS that mostly sells full-size pickups. “Full-size pickups are complicated. They’re difficult to build,” Sargent said.
In addition to pickups, Ram also sells a much smaller volume of vans that are intended for commercial use.
Ram and Dodge didn’t come “from nowhere,” but a decade ago, Dodge was in last place out of 32 brands in the 2011 IQS. Jeep, Ram, and Chrysler were all below industry average back then — although not by much, in Chrysler’s case.
The Initial Quality Study measures “things gone wrong” in the first 90 days of ownership. Scores are based on the number of problems consumer report, per 100 vehicles.
Ram’s winning score in the 2021 IQS was 128 problems per 100 vehicles, vs. an industry average of 162. Dodge had a score of 139 problems per 100. Jeep had a score of 149. In the cellar, the Chrysler brand, which is mostly minivans, had a score of 251 problems per 100.
The results are based on 110,827 online surveys completed for all brands combined, by owners of 2021 models that were registered from November 2020 to February 2021, J.D. Power said. The survey was fielded from February to July 2021. Respondents are invited by mail to complete the online survey, the company said.
