J.D. Power and Associates Reports:Fuel Price Concerns Lead to Decrease in Vehicle Appeal
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WESTLAKE VILLAGE CA 26 June 2008; In a reversal of a steady upward trend from previous
years, overall new-vehicle owner delight has declined slightly in 2008,
primarily due to owner concerns about fuel prices, according to the J.D.
Power and Associates 2008 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout
(APEAL) StudySM released today.
The study,
now in its 13th year, measures owner
delight with the design, content, layout and performance of their new
vehicles. APEAL complements 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 examines how gratifying
a new vehicle is to own and drive, based on owner evaluations of 10
measures, encompassing more than 90 vehicle attributes. Over the years,
vehicle models achieving high APEAL scores have been shown to benefit from
faster sales, reduced need for consumer incentives and higher margins on
each vehicle sold.
The overall APEAL score in 2008 averages
770 on a 1,000-point scale—a 2-point decrease since 2007. A
significant decrease in owner delight with fuel economy accounts for more
than one-half of the overall decline.
“Average prices at the
fuel pump have increased by 27 percent in the period between the 2007 and
2008 APEAL studies, creating heightened sensitivity to fuel economy among
new-vehicle owners,” said David Sargent, vice president of automotive
research at J.D. Power and Associates. “Even though more consumers
are now achieving the gas mileage they expect compared with previous years,
the increased cost of filling their vehicles still leads to a greater level
of dissatisfaction with fuel economy than in the past. Manufacturers that
deliver more fuel-efficient vehicles and integrate alternative fuel
technology into their designs stand a better chance of delighting their
customers and being successful in this rapidly changing
marketplace.”
The study finds that overall scores for most
APEAL performance measures have either stayed the same or declined since
2007; only performance in the area of audio, entertainment and navigation
improves slightly.
“Manufacturers are working to increase
customer delight by introducing entertainment and navigation technology
that owners find particularly appealing,” said Sargent. “The
key to doing this successfully is to develop technology features with the
needs and wants of the user in mind—most importantly, ensuring that
technology is designed to be consumer-friendly and intuitive to use.
Technology that is overly complicated to operate runs the risk of
disappointing the customer.”
The study also finds that, in a
departure from previous years, models that have been mildly
“refreshed” achieve higher APEAL scores, on average, than
all-new or redesigned models.
“Historically, all-new vehicle
models have been more successful in delighting customers than refreshed
models, but this year, launching appealing new models has been more
difficult for manufacturers,” said Sargent. “The long-term
success of a model can be predicted partially from how well it launches,
which underscores the importance of a strong debut. Those automakers that
manage to achieve high levels of both appeal and initial quality in their
models can expect to benefit not only from customer acclaim, but also
increased profitability.”
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APEAL Model-Level and Nameplate Rankings
Honda captures three model segment awards—more than any other vehicle nameplate this year—for the Fit (for a second consecutive year), Odyssey (for a fourth consecutive year) and Ridgeline (for a fourth consecutive year). Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen each garner two awards. Porsche models receiving awards are the Cayenne and Cayman (for a third consecutive year), while Toyota earns awards for the FJ Cruiser and Sequoia. Volkswagen receives awards for the GTI/R32 (for a second consecutive year) and the Passat. The Honda Fit and Toyota Sequoia are the only two models to rank highest in their segments in both the APEAL and IQS studies.
Also receiving awards are the BMW 5 Series, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Avalanche, Dodge Magnum, Land Rover Range Rover, Lexus IS, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and MINI Cooper.
Porsche is the highest-ranking nameplate in APEAL for a fourth consecutive year. Among the 36 ranked nameplates, 20 experience a decline in index scores since 2007, while 15 improve. Domestic brands comprise the eight most-improved nameplates. Buick posts the largest improvement, followed by Chrysler, Ford, Mercury and Dodge, respectively. A majority of the most-improved models are also from domestic manufacturers, including the redesigned Ford Focus, Dodge Grand Caravan and Chevrolet Malibu.
The 2008 APEAL Study is based on responses gathered between February and May 2008 from more than 81,500 purchasers and lessees of new 2008 model-year cars and trucks who were surveyed after the first 90 days of ownership.
Find more detailed findings on new-vehicle APEAL performance as well as model photos and specs by watching a video, reading an article and reviewing APEAL ratings at JDPower.com.
About J.D. Power and Associates
Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on boat ratings, car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor’s, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2007 were $6.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.