In an interesting twist, GM’s global brand has the highest overall quality rating.

The new 2020 JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) has just been released. The VDS looks at the dependability of vehicles three years old. Its data comes from owners – like you – of the products it ranks. This ranking is not based on the opinions of the company that produced the report. Interestingly, GM’s global brand, Buick, is by far the highest-ranked brand at GM.

The Buick Encore and Regal topped their segments. LaCrosse and Enclave had podium finishes in their segments. As an overall brand, Buick finished way ahead of GM’s other three brands. The lower score indicates a lower report of problems.

Here is the ranking of the GM brands:
Buick – 103 – Third overall in the American Auto industry behind Genesis and Lexus
Chevrolet – 123 – A solid rank in the top quarter of the industry overall and well above average
Cadillac – 131 – Just above the industry average of 134.
GMC – An embarrassingly poor 162. Near the very bottom of the industry overall

What is remarkable about the rankings is that GM’s Cadillac is not first and GMC second. Based on the caste system rankings GM imposes on its family tree of remaining brands shouldn’t they be numbers one and two? Shouldn’t Cadillac be among the most reliable brands in the world? Doesn’t “Professional Grade,” GMC’s tagline in its advertisements, have any real meaning?

GM’s Chevy Silverado topped its segment as did the Equinox. These are GM’s number one and number two selling vehicles. Perhaps there is a link to their success? The Suburban, Impala, Sonic, Bolt, Cruze, and XT5 earned podium finishes. Sadly, many of the sedan models that GM plans to eliminate are industry leaders in reliability.

If studies like this tell us anything, it is that the marketing and pricing of the brands at GM do not correlate to their durability.