Auto Bild magazine have published the Quality Report 2015 in their issue 50/2015, and it shows Kia Motors in first place in terms of customer satisfaction, long-term quality, and reliability.
A total of 20 different automotive brands sold in Germany were included in the study. Kia and Mazda shared the top spot with a total rating of 2.14 out of 5.
Auto Bild has been producing this report annually since back in 2001, and they use a 7 different sets of data to come up with the overall rating.
Included in the data are vehicle recalls and remedial work, manufacturer’s warranties, and the latest TÜV report.
Autobild magazine car quality report (Germany)
The Auto Bild editors have also come up with 3 categories of their own: garage test results, long-term vehicle results, and complaints and issues pulled from letters to the magazine over the course of the year, with the total number of letters I question topping the 10,000 mark.
Steffen Cost, COO of Kia Motors Germany, spoke about the commitment to quality that takes place in the design studios, R&D centers, and the production facilities, based in Slovakia, where about 50% of the new Kia cars sold in Germany are assembled.
He also spoke about the work that the company has performed in restructuring the dealership network in order to better show off the quality of Kia vehicles to the German consumer.
Kia has also long been known for its excellent warranty, and it was that amazing offering that allowed them to be the only brand to score a 1 in the warranty segment.
Kia also managed great numbers in the recall and satisfaction surveys, as well as in the complaints letters.
In the case of long-term testing, Kia also managed to consistently receive “good” to “very good” results.
Excellent, Kia!
This was unheard of 10-15 years ago. Back then I was already taking notice of the good reliability and good build quality, fun to drive, great Warranty and nice body designing coming from Kia Motors. Kia just continues to amaze me – I am kind of digging the Forte5 of late, the new Optima looks awesome, my ’11 Soul 5-speed performs flawlessy and a new 2016 Kia Soul 6-speed would thrill me so.
But, Kia fans, you know what I’m gonna wait for? The RWD Kia GT sports sedan. I hope Kia doesn’t design out any of that exciting body when they build it for production. I’m thinking they will build it as exciting as all get out. That’ what I’m thinking.