JD Power APEAL study winners announced

New Vehicle Designs are More Appealing to Consumers, Which Can Result in
Faster Sales and More Profit

Consumers continue to give new vehicle designs higher ratings, providing automakers who can turn out new designs faster an edge in the marketplace, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) StudySM released today.

The study, now in its 11th year, measures owner delight with the design, content, layout and performance of their new vehicles. The APEAL Study has been redesigned for 2006 to provide better coverage of new technologies that didn’t exist previously.

The study finds that all-new models or models that have undergone a major redesign generally receive APEAL scores that are higher than average. This is critical, since models with higher APEAL scores tend to have more satisfied owners, sell more quickly and generate more profit.

Conversely, carryover models (those with virtually no changes from 2005) have APEAL scores that are slightly lower than average. Surprisingly, models that have received what the industry refers to as a “freshening” from the previous year typically earn APEAL scores that are no better than carryover models.

“The importance of product development efforts by the OEMs can’t be overstated,” said Chance Parker, executive director of product research and analysis for J.D. Power and Associates. “On one hand, new designs are clearly better able to stand out in an increasingly crowded market. They tend to sell faster and generate more profit. On the other hand, minor improvements seem to go almost unnoticed. All in all, OEMs may be better served to stop spending money on many mid-cycle freshening efforts and redirect those dollars for more dramatic redesigns.”

A number of all-new and redesigned models lead the model rankings for 2006. The Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Azera, Lexus IS 250/IS 350, Porsche Cayman, Ford Fusion, and Infiniti M-Series each rank highest in their segments.

Nissan has three segment-leading models, more than any other brand: Murano, Titan and Armada. Infiniti also receives two awards for the QX56 and the M-Series. Other brands with multiple awardees include Honda, Ford and Porsche.

APEAL is designed to complement the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality StudySM (IQS), which focuses on problems experienced by owners during the first 90 days of ownership. APEAL measures how gratifying a new vehicle is to own and drive. While the redesigned Initial Quality Study included a new measurement for design quality, the APEAL Study finds almost no relationship between a model’s overall APEAL score and its IQS design score.

“There are basically two schools of thought among consumers in determining which new-vehicle model to buy,” said Parker. “Many consumers are looking for a painless, trouble-free ownership experience, which, as we find in IQS, is certainly important. However, there is a large group of buyers who are most interested in things like comfort, style and performance. This group is often willing to put up with a few quality snags to get a vehicle they truly feel passionate about. For this group of consumers, there is more to an appealing vehicle than a lack of problems—even a lack of design problems.”

Among the models ranking highest in their respective segments in APEAL, three also received top rankings in the 2006 Initial Quality Study. They are: Porsche Cayman, Lexus IS 250/IS 350 and Suzuki Aerio. This is the first time that a Suzuki model has ranked highest in its segment in both IQS and APEAL.

Porsche, which ranked highest in the 2006 IQS, is also the highest-ranking nameplate in APEAL. Volkswagen is the most improved nameplate in APEAL.

The 2006 APEAL Study is based on responses from more than 63,000 purchasers and lessees of new 2006 model-year cars and trucks who were surveyed after the first 90 days of ownership.

PlanoA4 - 6/28/2006 3:29:52 PM

+2 Boost

Think we are unique and don't fit in a mold?

Read this tidbit:

"There are basically two schools of thought among consumers in determining which new-vehicle model to buy"

1. “Many consumers are looking for a painless, trouble-free ownership experience, which, as we find in IQS, is certainly important."

Read that as our practical Lexus/Toyota camp.

2. "However, there is a large group of buyers who are most interested in things like comfort, style and performance. This group is often willing to put up with a few quality snags to get a vehicle they truly feel passionate about."

Read that as our fun loving Euro camp.

The Apeal is more like “Is this car everything you wanted in a car?”

Of the top 10 brands
7 are European
3 are Japanese
Proving these Marquees know who their customers are and are right on the mark.

chewy - 6/28/2006 5:25:10 PM

+2 Boost

Wow, they made an amazing discovery, the newer the car, the better it is. I would have never thought that before. WIth the millions of studies out there, who do you trust. A car can be number one in one particular one, but on the bottom in some other one. The more studies out there, the more I ignore them.

PlanoA4 - 6/28/2006 10:06:07 PM

+2 Boost

You are right on, these studies are just splitting hairs. You can take anyone of them and twist them to hat you want. You have to remeber these studies are made for one thing only. To make money for the company that creates them. The bigger the percieved differences, the bigger the revenue for the survey company.

PlanoA4 - 6/29/2006 8:41:06 AM

+2 Boost

Azera sexy? NOT.... But they are focusing in on a key element.

The public at large looks at the JD Power surveys. No question.

So you as an industry focus on what they test for to make a real good score. Toyota/Lexus both did it and look where it got them. Hyundai is repeating a successful example. There always will be a large percentage of people that make their shopping list off of the surveys and never consider a car outside of the top portion.

The sad fact is that most of these people have no idea how miniscule the differences really are. We just bought a new Pilot for our business and after two weeks I have a list of 5 minor issues. Nothing at all earth shattering, but that would put the Pilot at the bottom of the JD Powers listing. Would it sway my purchase again? Nope. However it would rule out the consideration for many.

The point is the avg consumer looks at these general surveys, and ”educates” themselves to the scores and makes an “informed” decision based off of them. They are influenced while having no idea what the scores actually mean nor do they know the criteria.

Funny this type of process is defined on the Web as:

Propaganda: A specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions of people, rather than impartially providing information.

wwww - 6/30/2006 1:31:43 AM

+2 Boost

On individuality, design, and the uniqueness of each brand. Surveys are a way to find a median or average as a collective whole. Sure some surveys are important for example quality, but only to the extend of quality control and how well the parts last in a car. This of course is a simple and core judgement. If your car breaks or if there is a warning light on, obviously thats something negative or bad. These quantitative measures are not as subjective and are more true to life surveys. Judging on how well a car last etc is a very good indicator and helps move the brands forward in their Quality Control.

HOWEVER, JD POWER had lost it. The surveys had now been a useless piece of material that is no more influential than an online poll of whats your favourite color, or what is the preferable color of your car. These are extremely subjective and do not reflect the true nature of the car's ranking. Sure some people can support JD's POWER's each and every survey by saying it reflects the True Consumer's Value in every aspect from Design to Appeal to Functionality to Reliability. But how many people actually thinks critically and down to the core about the design aspects of their car? Obviously everyone will have their own opinions as to where the buttons are suppose to be placed etc. Then you will be looking at an average result and the car companies which designs for the average appeal of interior design and quality would win over. Since it satisfied the most market. Also these surveys are concentrated for the general appeal. If most ppl bought a generally fine car lets say market share of 60%, then that brand or car would win out the others, since you are buying for what you like and following the trend of if this says is good then it must be great and if Bob and Susan also has it then it must be worth it.

If all the companies tries to satisfy these survey questions and result, we will end up with every car looking like one another. Since the general trend is this, all cars should be in that trend to succeed. But is it really successful in terms of design and etc? I personally don't follow and ignore these subjective and non-constructive surveys of comparing your "fav color" kinda ideal. I just hope the brands out there won't fall for the traps of JD POWER and really work at what reliable, long lasting have great egronomics instead of trying to satisfy an averaged result on taste. How can you judge taste when everyone has a different stance and How can you engineer Desire when desire is a feeling of subjectivity?

Surveys should go back to the basics and reflect the true reliability, both short and long term.

While Design, Appeal etc should really be surveyed at autoshows in polling stations, so everyone can have a real time comparison and factor out cost and etc cuz those are un-related to what you think and feel is beautiful. The mix of Logical thinking and Emotional response should always be a separate entity where Logical thinking should be restricted to pure logic and reasoning in buying a car and emotional response (desire, taste, appeal) should liberate away from the confinement of quantitative reasoning.

PlanoA4 - 6/30/2006 10:23:22 AM

+2 Boost

Dude, you took the words out of my mouth!

The only problem is that JD Power has done that in the past VDS. The result? They gave the automakers a target to shoot at, and after 10 years the got so much better at hitting it that the difference were very minor.

Look at the 2005 VDS point spread from best to worse. The difference is about 2.67 more issues in a three year span. I remember buying cars in the 80’s and having a three page list for the first service visit alone. Also with JD Power there is an information vacuum, what is an issue? I have no clue what the think constitutes as one.

There is a comment out there on this site where an owner considered a burned out tail light bulb as an issue and it was a factor in buying a car in the future. How do you make a judgment based off of a light bulb? That stuff happens but is not to me indicative of the quality of the make in general. The next VDS is typically out around this time frame, and if it holds true to the rest this year, it too will have been revamped to show bigger differences. The public will glaze over it and see a score and make choices bases off of the scores, not based off reality.

wwww - 6/30/2006 1:10:53 PM

+2 Boost

I mean unless they specify what is considered as a problem, or a design fault. These surveys can never be true to life/reality.

I knwo someone who got a new car recently and the JD POWER survey he got was a total nonesense. It was more biased towards the dealership experience and the salesperson. When it came to the questions about the actual car, it just asked whether or not u like the car and some other minor stuff which doesn't reflect the car or the brand as much.

I mean if you buy the car u would most likely LIKE the CAR (who drives a car that they hate?) Or you buy it due to its practical reason to get u from point A-B (for those who doesn't really care about the car obviously the result will be positive since they don't have much to expectation). Lastly as your comment about the light bulb- Thats really true! I mean most bulbs out there are don't last as long as compared to those made 10 yrs ago.

I usually follow CONSUMER REPORTS with their long term tests and other reports which examines the car truthfully. JD POWER seems more and more like a marketing scheme now. I guess once they build a reputation, ppl will just follow and praise everything they do and say.