Porsche, the German maker of the 911 sports car, had 87 problems per 100 new vehicles in the J.D. Power & Associates survey, followed by Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti luxury brand at 98 and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus with 99. Ford Motor Co.'s namesake brand and General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac were among U.S. vehicles that climbed in the ratings.

The industry average fell to 118 problems per 100 vehicles from 125 per 100 last year and 124 in 2006, reflecting better design and manufacturing among 2008 models, J.D. Power said. The 12 highest-rated vehicles were equally balanced among Asian, U.S. and European automakers, underscoring progress by Ford and GM in reducing flaws in the first 90 days of ownership.

"Due to some strong new-vehicle launches, in addition to a continued reduction in the level of defects and malfunctions, overall quality improves by 6 percent in 2008," David Sargent, vice president of J.D. Power, said in a statement.

Automakers often use the survey, which measures quality over a 90-day period, in advertisements to boost consumer confidence in their products.

All three Chrysler brands had worse-than-average scores. Chrysler LLC's Chrysler came in 29th with an average of 142 problems per 100 vehicles. Dodge had a 141, and Jeep was last with 167.

The results suggest Cerberus Capital Management LP, the private-equity firm that took over Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler in August, has work to do in improving the automaker's image. J.D. Power said.

Honda Motor Co.'s Honda brand ranked seventh with 110 problems per 100 vehicles. Three Honda models ranked best in their class: the Fit subcompact car, the Civic compact car and CR-V compact sport-utility vehicle.

Consumers are shifting away from larger vehicles as fuel prices rise, J.D. Power said in the statement. The firm forecast 28 compact models will be introduced by 2010.

Automakers' reports Tuesday showed cars made by Honda and Toyota outsold Ford's F-Series pickups in the U.S. last month, the first time in more than 15 years any car topped the Ford vehicle in sales. Ford and GM are slashing truck production and closing plants as they switch to an emphasis on cars.

Toyota brand vehicles tied for fourth with Daimler AG's Mercedes Benz at 104 problems per 100 vehicles, the survey showed. Ford's Mercury was sixth. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker's namesake brand was tied for eighth with Jaguar, the automaker Ford sold this week to India's Tata Motors Ltd.

"We're thrilled with the results," said Mike Hardie, director of global operations for Ford. "We've had steady improvement in the study since 2004." Ford brand vehicles rose from tenth place a year earlier, though the company's Lincoln fell to 15th from third.

While Toyota was pleased to be highest-ranked of the large brands, the company is focusing on long-term quality improvements rather than year-to-year comparisons, said spokesman John McCandless.

"This survey measures more of sprint than a marathon," McCandless said. The company is based in Toyota City, Japan.

Among the five largest automakers by U.S. sales, Toyota's brands had the fewest problems on average, with 114 per 100 vehicles.

Detroit-based GM's Cadillac, Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Buick all ranked in the top 16, above or equal to the 118-problem industry average for the 36 vehicle brands in the study.

Chevrolet and Cadillac, which was 25th last year, tied for 10th with Volkswagen AG's Audi.

The survey was based on responses from more than 81,500 purchasers or lessees of 2008 model-year cars, and took place from February to April. The study, along with Consumer Reports' annual vehicle rankings, is one of the most-watched quality assessments in the U.S. auto market.

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