General Motors Co., boosting the reliability of Cadillac and Chevrolet models, had its best performance ever in J.D. Power & Associates’ new-car quality survey, with three of four brands above the industry average.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus luxury line topped the survey for the second consecutive year and its namesake brand ranked eighth. Honda Motor Co. had the highest-rated mainstream brand at No. 5, one spot ahead of its Acura luxury line. Jaguar leaped 18 spots to a tie for second with Porsche AG.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan Motor Co.’s Infiniti also placed in the top 10.

GM’s Cadillac luxury line climbed to fourth from ninth on the Westlake Village, California-based market research firm’s Initial Quality Study, which measures consumer complaints in the first 90 days of ownership. GM’s GMC truck and sport-utility vehicle brand ranked 12th, while Chevy was 15th, just above the industry average, J.D. Power said today in a statement. GM’s Buick brand ranked 17th, two levels below the industry average.

“This is GM’s best performance in the 26-year history of the study,” David Sargent, J.D. Power vice president for global vehicle research, said in an interview. “They’ve come a long way, they’ve focused their attention on four brands and a smaller product lineup.”

Ford Motor Co. continued to suffer from complaints about its touch-screen dashboard controls, as its namesake brand fell for a second year to 27th and Lincoln remained below-average at 18th. Ford, which ranked fifth in the study two years ago, was one of only five brands to fall in the study. Twenty-six brands improved, and one, Lexus, stayed the same, while Fiat and Smart were not in the rankings last year.

J.D. Power’s study is a bellwether quality survey that helped established Honda’s and Toyota’s reputations for reliability in the U.S. The study is considered an indicator of long-term dependability, which leads to better resale value. Automakers work hard each year to improve their scores.

Jaguar, owned by India’s Tata Motors Ltd., jumped on the strength of its XJ model, which was the most improved vehicle in the survey, Sargent said. The car was new in 2010, when it had more than 40 problems per 100 cars just on its navigation system in last year’s survey, said David Pryor, Jaguar North America vice president.

“There are some misperceptions out there about where our quality is from the past,” Pryor said in a telephone interview. “This is one of those really strong proof points out there for consumers that quality has gotten a lot better at Jaguar.”

GM’s Chevy Malibu was the top ranked mid-size car, beating out the Ford Fusion and Honda Accord, which tied for second. The GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado were the top two full-size pickups, while the Cadillac SRX ranked third among mid-sized premium SUVs.

The Cadillac Escalade, which won the large premium SUV category, was the third best vehicle in the study, behind the Lexus LS and the Porsche 911, Sargent said.

“We’ve moved well ahead of the other domestic brands,” Bob Ottolini, GM’s executive director of global quality strategy, said today in an interview. “We really don’t want this disclaimer that says you’re better than the domestics. You really want to be looking at what it takes to be in the top.”

GM this year is replacing the Malibu with a redesigned version of the car. The Detroit-based automaker was helped by not having many new model introductions, Sargent said.

“GM had a year when they didn’t have a lot of big launches, where there is more opportunity for things to go wrong” he said. “GM was swimming with the tide a bit this year.”

Chrysler Group LLC also rose in the rankings, led by its Ram truck brand climbing to 14th, two spots above the industry average. Last year, Chrysler had no above-average brands and its Dodge line was the market’s worst. This year, Dodge ranked 29th, tied with Mitsubishi and Volkswagen and leading small-car brands Mini, Fiat and Daimler’s Smart.

“Chrysler improved more quickly than the average,” Sargent said. “But they’re coming off a fairly low base, so as a whole, they’re still below average.” Chrysler is majority owned by Fiat SpA.

Chrysler’s Jeep brand improved one step to rank 23rd on the strength of the Grand Cherokee, which was in a four-way tie for third place among mid-size SUVs. Chrysler’s namesake brand fell to 25th place this year, from 16th last year.

Chrysler has boosted headcount in the division of the company that works on quality by about 40 percent since May 2009 to more than 1,100 employees, Ann Smith, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

“We value customer feedback, including IQS, and use it to continuously improve our products,” Doug Betts, Chrysler’s senior vice president of quality, said in a statement.

Ford’s fall can be attributed almost entirely to consumer complaints about its MyFord Touch dashboard controls, Sargent said. Its Mustang, Taurus and Expedition SUV, none of which are equipped with MyFord Touch, all ranked best in their categories.

“If it wasn’t for the MyFord Touch system, Ford would be average or better,” Sargent said. “But Ford is going to roll this technology on to more and more vehicles. So as it becomes more prevalent across the Ford portfolio, there is a danger that things will get worse before they get better.” 

(Bloomberg)