Honda and Porsche have a certain APEAL
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That well-known marketing information company, JD Power & Associates, has found out something shocking: we’re not enjoying our cars so much these days. Who’d have thought -- especially with gas prices being what they are? Every year, this company polls over 81,500 car buyers and/or lessees between February and May for opinions after their first 90 days of ownership. The collated facts make up the Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study.
Now in its 13th year, the 2008 APEAL findings show a significant decrease in ‘owner delight’, with fuel economy accounting for 50% of this drop. On a 1,000-point scale, an average APEAL score is 770, a decline of 2% since last year. Considering fuel prices went up by 27% over the same period, car manufacturers seem to be doing a good job of easing the pain.
They’re accomplishing this with toys. Only in the audio, entertainment and navigation category have scores improved. “Manufacturers are working to increase customer delight by introducing entertainment and navigation technology that owners find particularly appealing,” says David Sargent, VP of automotive research at JDPA. “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.”
Two words: BMW and iDrive. To be fair, though, this system gets easier with each new model.
The happiest responders were Honda drivers, citing the Fit (for the second consecutive year), the Odyssey (for a fourth consecutive year) and the Ridgeline (again, for four years running) as the cars with real APEAL appeal, coming top in their respective classes. Although, as is so often the weird way with statistics, Honda saw a decrease in owner satisfaction, dropping 12 points from last year’s 776.
The most dramatic fall, however, was Scion’s shedding of 36 points to 773. Other interesting facts: the Ford Focus was declared the industry’s most improved vehicle and Porsche was the highest-ranked nameplate for the fourth year in a row.