J.D. Power’s findings literally show automakers up slightly this year, but mostly down. The February 2023 Vehicle Reliability Study showed an overall decline compared to 2022, and a month earlier the Customer Service Index study showed similar results. That trend reversed for him in June, with his 2023 US Electric Vehicle Review Survey overall score better than his 2022. It then dropped again in the same month, resulting in a lower initial quality survey overall score for 2023.the decline continues 2023 JD Power U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution, Layout (APEAL) Studythe overall satisfaction of 84,555 respondents decreased by 2 points overall compared to 2022, to 845 points out of 1,000.
Last year’s score dropped compared to 2021, making this year the first consecutive drop in the study’s 28-year history.
This research[measure] After 90 days of ownership, new owners were asked to rate 37 attributes about 10 areas around the car, such as the sensation they feel when they press the accelerator. Satisfaction in nine of those attributes is down this year compared to last year, with fuel economy being the only segment to show a 15-point higher satisfaction score.
Styling and infotainment have a big impact on satisfaction. Respondents for the appearance of their new car dropped to 888 points from last year’s 894 points, the biggest decline in this year’s survey.
On the digital side, less than half of those surveyed this year said they would prefer to use the manufacturer’s built-in infotainment. In 2020, 70% of respondents said he preferred to use the manufacturer’s in-house software instead of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay for audio playback, compared to 56% in 2023. Going all out to Google seems to work the best. JD Power said vehicles with both Google’s Android Automotive OS (AAOS) and Google Automotive Services (GAS) “score better in the infotainment category than vehicles without AAOS at all. AAOS without GAS score the lowest in the three categories for infotainment.”
“Despite the technological and design innovations manufacturers are putting into new vehicles, owners are lukewarm about them,” said Frank Hanley, senior director of automotive benchmarking at JD Power. “Innovations such as charging pads, vehicle apps and advanced audio features should improve the owner’s experience, but not when problems arise. This decline in satisfaction should serve as a warning signal to manufacturers that they need to better understand what owners really want in their new vehicles.”
It will be interesting to know if shoppers love a feature on the showroom floor but hate it while owning it, or if buyers don’t really understand the details of the technology and don’t think about it until they realize it doesn’t do what they want.
Dividing into the mass market and luxury segments yielded the same results, with both overall APEAL scores dropping slightly (4 points for mass market and 1 point for premium). The score difference between the two increased from last year’s 31 points to 34 points. Winners in both categories demonstrate the power of brand enthusiasm. In the luxury car sector, Jaguar ranked first with 887, Land Rover and Porsche second with 883, and BMW fourth with 878. Last year’s top five were Porsche, Genesis, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
In the mass market, Dodge (887 units) beat Ram (873 units) and GMC (858 units) to take the crown for the fourth year in a row. Same top 3 as last year.
If Tesla had been ranked in either group, it would have topped the list with 878 points, albeit nine points down from a year ago.
Hyundai Motor Group cleaned up again with nine individual model wins, and Kia Motor Group showed up with a giant Korean broomstick to win seven of those nine. Hyundai Santa Cruz and Genesis GV60 won their respective segments, as did Kia his Carnival, EV6, Forte, K5, Rio, Stinger and Telluride. Next he scored his five wins with the BMW Group in his 7 Series, iX, X4, Mini Cooper and Mini Countryman. The Porsche 911 won the category with 914 points, his highest APEAL score of all models.
