Hyundai nabs a win in J.D.

Power APEAL Study a month after

leading IQS
The Equus was Hyundai's top-rated car in the APEAL Study.
For the first time, Hyundai is the top-ranked nonpremium brand in J.D. Power and Associates
measure of new-car appeal -- a month after leading nonpremium brands in the companys
Initial Quality Study.
Hyundai is the first brand to rank highest among nonpremium brands in the Automotive
Performance, Execution and Layout Study and IQS in the same year.
The APEAL Study, now in its 19th year, measures how gratifying a new vehicle is to own and drive.
After the first 90 days of ownership, more than 86,000 purchasers and lessees judged their new
2014 model year vehicles across 77 attributes, which are combined into an overall APEAL score that
is measured on a 1,000 point scale. The higher the score, the better.
Hyundais 804 score was keyed by its strong performances in the audio, communication,
entertainment and navigation categories.
Their controls tend to be more intuitive than some of their competition, said Renee
Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive at J.D. Power, in an interview. Hyundai models
tend to score about 13 index points higher than their segment average.
Customers have responded well to Hyundais additions of safety features such as collision
alert, Stephens said, adding that people are pleasantly surprised with the storage
and space offered in its models.
Hyundai won the small-car segment with the Accent (782). The brands overall score also was
bolstered with the rising mid-sized Sonata (819), which improved 22 points.
We expect the all-new 2015 Sonata to do even better next year, said Mike
OBrien, vice president of corporate and product planning at Hyundai Motor America, in a
statement.
Hyundai cleared the nonpremium average (785) by 19 points, with a 12-point rise from 2013. It was
followed by last years leader Ram (800), Volkswagen (796), Mini (795) and Buick (792).
Porsche (882) scored best in the premium category, and overall, for the 10th consecutive year after
outpacing the premium average (840) by 42 points.
Jaguar (862), on the strength of its freshly launched F-Type, moved up six spots to second place after
a 23-point improvement -- the largest gain of any brand.
Audi (858) ranked third, Land Rover (853) remained in fourth with an unchanged score and BMW
(849) lost 5 points to fall to the fifth spot from third in 2013.
"It's a great achievement for the fourth generation Range Rover to be ranked highest in its segment
for the second year in a row and for the Jaguar brand to rank 2nd overall for both IQS and APEAL in
the same year," said Joe Eberhardt, President and CEO, Jaguar Land Rover North America, in a
statement. "This underscores the investment being made to innovation and engineering across both
the Jaguar and Land Rover product portfolio and the company's commitment to manufacturing
desirable cars that meet customers' expectations."
The Audi A8 (893) was the top-scoring vehicle, while the Chevrolet Corvette (890) came in fourth
overall to lead domestic models.
The Audi A8 tied with the Mercedes-Benz S class for highest-ranked model.
Tech and fuel economy
J.D. Powers findings show that while automakers are packing new cars with more
technologies and functionality, owner satisfaction with those models isnt much greater than
that of consumers with carryover products. New and redesigned models scored 805 compared with
791 for carryovers.
Consumers are pleased with the increasing fuel economy and interior styling that comes with new
and redesigned releases, and the scores in those areas show a clear separation between new and
carryover models to indicate improvement.
For instance, fuel economy was almost 5 percent better than carryovers, scoring 7.07 out of 10
compared with 6.75, Stephens said.
Newer models, however, didnt create the same separation from carryovers in categories
dealing with usefulness of controls and functions for navigation, voice recognition and other
technology features.
The ease of using voice recognition, for example, scored 7.37 in new vehicles as opposed to 7.34 for
carryovers. And ease of use for navigation systems rose to 7.56 for new models vs. 7.5 for
carryovers.
Scores fall
Ram and Cadillac had the steepest point drops, slipping slightly in the rankings.
The Ram 1500, the brands top-selling product, didnt score as well in 2014 and
carried the brand with it, Stephens said. The 1500 (804) still landed above the nonpremium and
industry average (794).
Cadillac was aided by the new CTS, which made up about 20 percent of the brands sales
volume, Stephens said. But its score was hampered by the backsliding ATS, which dropped 36
points, and the SRX, which fell 19 points.
Carryover gains
Brands with new-vehicle launches tend to attract higher scores that are fueled by the excitement of
consumers, Stephens said.
Models typically garner their highest scores during launch years and drop off as they age. Yet that
trend is being bucked by several carryover models that refuse to leave the stage.
She pointed to the Hyundai Accent, Dodge Challenger and Charger all segment winners
as older models with staying power.
Automakers are boosting the lifespans of their products with technology and interior refreshes,
Stephens said.
A customers positive experiences with good quality lead to greater satisfaction,
loyalty and the likelihood an owner will recommend their vehicle to friends and family, said
Doug Betts, Chrysler Groups senior vice president of quality. Personal
recommendations are the most powerful type.
The Challenger (840), which is being overhauled for the 2015 model year, saw its score jump 21
points to lead the mid-sized sporty car segment for the third time in four years.
The Charger (851) improved 7 points, beating out the newer Chevrolet SS (842) and Kia Cadenza
(835) in the large-car category for the fourth consecutive year.
Companies are now starting to do technology refreshes. Instead of doing a whole vehicle
refresh, theyre starting to refresh system by system a lot more than in the past. Or they look
at an all-new interior, Stephens said.
She added, Theyre looking at putting new options and features into the vehicles.
Customers are appreciating it.
You can reach Vince Bond Jr. at vbond@crain.com. -- Follow Vince on
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