The annual J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study℠ was just released.  Remember report card day at the end of the school term? That’s today in the world of auto manufacturing.  The highlights:  Quality continues to rise, with some brands rising more than others. Cadillac moved from 10th to 3rd, one of bigger gains in the industry.  

Probably raises some questions, right? So let’s talk about it:
Q: OK, who’s ahead of Cadillac?  
A: That would be runner-up Porsche and first-place Lexus.  

Q: How many brands total?
A: I counted 37 brands on the list.  

Q: How many of those were “above the industry average?”  
A: That’d be 12.  

Q: What about the other luxury brands?  
A: Mercedes appears in 5th, Infiniti 11th, BMW 15th, Audi 20th.  

The entire IQS study goes only to J.D. Power customers (www.jdpower.com/corporate.)  The key conclusions are released publicly today. Here are some other highlights from the excerpt of the study that they made public today: Cadillac CTS tied for 2nd with Infiniti G as runner up behind Lexus IS in the Entry Premium Vehicle category.  Escalade was 2nd behind Lexus LX is the “Large Premium MAV” category.