Quality or at least customer perception of its quality, can affect the reputation, market standing and eventually the sales of car manufacturers. For this reason manufacturers and their own team of engineers, designers and even marketers ensure that cars that are rolled out from factories have met internal quality controls and requirements. But not all car manufacturers are successful in their efforts to provide the buying public with quality and reliable cars. There are cars that were considered low performers quality-wise, and the reason isn’t just about perception. New industry benchmarks and studies have been released including J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study (IQS) and reviews by Consumer Reports that put car brands into test through valid and verifiable tests. So what are the worst car brands in the market right now in terms of quality? Here’s a countdown of the worst brands today according to different industry authorities.
1. Volkswagen
Volkswagen’s presence in the list of worst car brands in the market is actually interesting since some of the automakers within the VW group of companies are highly cited for their quality. For example, Porsche and Audi, both owned by Volkswagen are considered premium brands when it comes to quality. But when it comes to actual cars that carry the Volkswagen name, the quality starts to dip. In fact according to the 2015 IQS, VW owners shared that they have encountered 123 problems for every 100 vehicles. This is not the worst, but his record puts the iconic VW into an unwanted group.