Problems reported by owners of the 2011 Sonata were the main reason for which Hyundai slid to 27th out of 32 places in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2014 Vehicle Dependability Survey.
Hyundai owners reported an average of 169 problems per 100 vehicles in the survey, which measures the average number of problems per 100 vehicles reported by owners who have owned their cars for 3 years. It was Hyundai’s second year of increasing problems after improvements recorded from 2009 through 2012.
The 2011 Sonata was not the only model responsible for Hyundai’s poor performance in the survey, with the 2011 Elantra compact car also contributing to the low scores. Both cars launched as 2011 models and are built in Hyundai’s Alabama plant in the United States, which has been working in three-shifts since the fall of 2012.
A Hyundai representative said in a statement that the company is “very disappointed” by the results and that it “is in the process of examining every component of the score to determine root-cause solutions and improve our products and processes.”
Hyundai vice chairman Chung Eui-sun visited the Alabama plant last week, but the company didn’t elaborate on the purpose of his visit.
While it is not uncommon for vehicles to have problems in their launch year, the Sonata launch had more problems than usual for Hyundai, said Dave Sargent, J.D. Power’s vice president of automotive, who leads the annual study. However, Sargent declined to identify the main issues that Sonata customers complained about.
By Dan Mihalascu
Story References: Automotive News 
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