Hearts have been broken and dreams were smashed. Don’t believe me? The J.D. Power APEAL study’s results were released today and it is clear that tides are turning in the automotive kingdom.
APEAL is an acronym for automotive performance, execution and layout. The purpose of the survey is to understand how pleasurable new vehicles are to own and drive, based upon owner evaluations of 90 attributes. According to J.D. Power, 80,900 new owners of 2009 model year vehicles participated in the study after the first 90 days of ownership.
As a whole, the automotive industry average improved to 779 points from 770 – on a 1,000 point scale. J.D. Power says that this is linked with lower fuel prices, owners switching to more fuel efficient models and automakers designing, and producing, more fuel efficient autos.
A very telling statistic from the survey showed that more than one-half of all the vehicles surveyed were powered by four-cylinder motors. One year ago, this figure was merely 39 percent.
The gap between domestic cars and imports is beginning to close and proving this were the study’s four most-improved brands: Dodge, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac, respectively. Sadly, the Pontiac which has made such improvements will not be around much longer.
If that is not enough, the overall gap between domestics and imports has shrunk as tight as the Strait of Gibraltar. In 2008, the gap stood at 15 points and in 2007 it was a mammoth 27 points.
In 2009, it was only five points.
Vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power, David Sargent, said “Consumers have a great array of appealing vehicles to choose from by both domestic and import brands.”
In addition, there were some heart breakers in this year’s survey.
Smart’s fortwo took highest ranks in the sub-compact car segment, edging out the Scion xD and Honda’s Fit. In the compact car segment, the MINI Cooper took the crown. Volkswagen’s Jetta, said to have made vast improvements in fuel efficiency due to the TDI model, landed behind with Mitsubishi’s Lancer.
In the entry premium segment, Volkswagen’s Passat CC wowed owners and took the highest ranking position. Closely following were the Cadillac CTS and Audi A4/5. Where was BMW’s 3-series and Mercedes’ C-class? For the CC this is a tremendous victory, proving that the people’s manufacturer can build luxury vehicles too.
A surprise showing by Pontiac’s G8 sedan in the large car segment was not enough to beat Nissan’s new Maxima, which took the top spot. Hopefully in 2010 the new Chevrolet Caprice has enough mustard to take over the segment.
But, I have saved the best for last.
Easily the largest defeat of the survey was left to the midsize premium car segment where the new Hyundai Genesis took top honors. Right behind were the Jaguar XF and BMW 5-series.
Clearly, this shows that Hyundai has what it takes to play with the big boys. In the 2010 survey, will we see the upcoming Equus unseat the S-class?
How valid is this list? Do you think that J.D. Power’s findings are inconclusive? What do you say, Spies?
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