2014 Hyundai Sonata Gls on 2040-cars

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What do J.D. Power's quality ratings really measure?

Check these recently released J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) results. Do they raise any questions in your mind? Premium sports-car maker Porsche sits in first place for the third straight year, so are Porsches really the best-built cars in the U.S. market? Korean brands Kia and Hyundai are second and fourth, so are Korean vehicles suddenly better than their US, European, and Japanese competitors? Are workaday Chevrolets (seventh place) better than premium Buicks (11th), and Buicks better than luxury Cadillacs (21st), even though all are assembled in General Motors plants with the same processes and many shared parts? Are Japanese Acuras (26th) worse than German Volkswagens (24th)? And is "quality" really what it used to be (and what most perceive it to be), a measure of build excellence? Or has it evolved into much more a measure of likeability and ease of use? To properly analyze these widely watched results, we must first understand what IQS actually studies, and what the numerical scores really mean. First, as its name indicates, it's all about "initial" quality, measured by problems reported by new-vehicle owners in their first 90 days of ownership. If something breaks or falls off four months in, it doesn't count here. Second, the scores are problems per 100 vehicles, or PP100. So Power's 2015 IQS industry average of 112 PP100 translates to just 1.12 reported problems per vehicle. Third, no attempt is made to differentiate BIG problems from minor ones. Thus a transmission or engine failure counts the same as a squeaky glove box door, tricky phone pairing, inconsistent voice recognition, or anything else that annoys the owner. Traditionally, a high-quality vehicle is one that is well-bolted together. It doesn't leak, squeak, rattle, shed parts, show gaps between panels, or break down and leave you stranded. By this standard, there are very few poor-quality new vehicles in today's U.S. market. But what "quality" should not mean, is subjective likeability: ease of operation of the radio, climate controls, or seat adjusters, phone pairing, music downloading, sizes of touch pads on an infotainment screen, quickness of system response, or accuracy of voice-recognition. These are ergonomic "human factors" issues, not "quality" problems. Yet these kinds of pleasability issues are now dominating today's JDP "quality" ratings.

Recharge Wrap-up: Uber app for Apple Watch, Hyundai brings ix35 Fuel Cell to Australia

Uber has updated its app to support the upcoming Apple Watch. Users will be able to hail a car with a single tap directly from the wearable device. The Uber app for the Apple Watch will also let the user check on the driver's progress. The Apple Watch launches on April 24. Read more at iPhone Hacks. The Place at Terracina in Austin, Texas will offer Car2go services onsite. Through a partnership with real estate group MC Companies, the carsharing service will have six dedicated parking spots at the community's entrance for residents and other nearby users. "We know our residents will benefit from the Car2Go service and hope it helps them share the good life with others," says MC Companies Vice President of Marketing Eric Brown. Read more in the press release from MC Companies below. Hyundai has debuted the ix35 (Tucson) Fuel Cell in Australia. Along with giving Australia its first hydrogen vehicle, Hyundai is also unveiling a solar hydrogen refueler. The refueling station, located at Hyundai's Sydney headquarters, uses solar power to run the electrolyzer to make hydrogen from water onsite. Hyundai's Bill Thomas told 3AW that a future where most vehicles on the road are powered by hydrogen is "a way off. We're working on our next-generation fuel cell vehicle which we're hoping to bring out in 2018, but even at that stage, we're only talking in small numbers." Listen at 3AW, and read more at RenewEconomy. MC Companies Partners with Car2Go Brings Innovative Service to The Place at Terracina with Car2Go SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cars are a costly investment. We can't all buy our own and we understand that life can get in the way of being financially stable enough to purchase one. Living expenses, bills and unexpected costs pop up all the time. Car 2 Go is making it easy to have access to a car no matter what life throws at you. MC Companies is teaming up with Car2Go to bring this convenient service to The Place at Terracina. Car2Go now has six spaces for cars to be dropped off and picked up at the entrance of the community and this is the furthest North location that Car2Go has in the city. This provides residents, and people in the area, with shared vehicles to help them navigate through their days with ease. "We are excited to have Car2Go on our property and can't wait to share it with our residents," says community manager Rachel Sypho.

Is Hyundai's conservative new Sonata struggling out of the gate?

"But so far, Sonata sales are up compared with last year even while we're still ramping up to full speed," - Jim Trainor
According to Reuters, the redesigned-for-2015 Hyundai Sonata is not enjoying the same degree of success in the early going as the previous sixth-gen model, which proved to be one of the most important models in the company's history and ushered in the company's so-called "Fluidic Sculpture" design language that we still see today. Citing a recent review from The New York Times that called the car's more conservative styling "bland" and "boring," Reuters also points to analysts who claim the higher price of the new Sonata, as well as smaller rebates and incentives, are hurting sales. Honda and Toyota both offered anywhere from $600 to $800 more on the hoods of their Accord and Camry sedans last month.