J.D. Power just released their initial quality survey for new automobiles this week, and surprisingly, the overall quality of all the autos sampled have never tested higher.  Better yet, the quality gap between the Big Three and foreign automakers is shrinking.

Good news for consumers!  Bad news for parts suppliers and repair shop owners.

Not surprisingly, American autos only had one auto brand — Cadillac — in the top five for initial quality.  Yet, on a more positive note, quality from the Big Three as a whole improved 10% from 2008.

The big shocker would have to be the performance of Hyundai, which moved from #13 to #4.  I guess hiring (e.g. headhunting) all those engineers from Toyota and Honda was a good idea after all.

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Video highlights from the J.D. Powers Vice President interview:

Top 5 for Initial Quality

1. Lexus
2. Porsche
3. Cadillac
4. Hyundai
5. Honda

Bottom 5 for Initial Quality

1. Jeep
2. Saab
3. Smart
4. Land Rover
5. Mini

Most Improved for Initial Quality

1. Suzuki
2. Saturn
3. Jeep (strange since it was also in the most improved rank)
4. Cadillac
5. Scion

I’m actually fairly impressed with Hyundai’s performance.  I looked at them two years ago when I was in the market for a car, but passed because they didn’t rank very well in the quality department.

Based on the J.D. Power’s study, some of the CNBC staff gave their Hyundai Genesis gave it a thorough once over this morning on Squawk Box (see video).

The quality is there, the looks are there (looks somewhat like a Mercedes) and it’s a fairly good value considering Hyundai cars are very competitively priced since they’re trying to gain market share in the U.S.

I’ll be in the market for a new car next year, so I might have to give them the benefit of the doubt when the time comes.

~ ~ ~

More details can be found at J.D. Power’s 2009 initial quality survey.

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