J.D. Power APEAL: Porsche win the most appealing nameplate for 5th year straight

J.D. Power and Associates has released the results of the 2009 Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL) Study. It’s not surprising that Porsche ranks as the most appealing brand for the fifth straight consecutive year. Volkswagen had the most segment-leading models in APEAL, including the CC, GTI, Passat, and Tiguan. That's more than any other brand in 2009.

The APEAL study measures how satisfied new owners are with their vehicles after the first 90 days of ownership, with questions regarding more than 90 vehicle attributes. It gathered responses from more than 80,900 purchasers and lessees of 2009 model-year vehicles between February and May of this year.

Yet Porsche only had one top-placing model in Power's study, the Cayenne. Across all models, the 2009 Mercedes-Benz S-Class receives the highest APEAL score for 2009, for a third consecutive year. Other repeat segment winners in Power's APEAL include the Chevrolet Avalanche, Dodge Challenger, Hyundai Genesis, and MINI Cooper (all for the second year), while both the 2009 Honda Odyssey (also an IVA winner) and 2009 Honda Ridgeline receive segment awards for the fifth consecutive year.

From the result, there are some points we can notice. The overall level of APEAL scores has risen quite significantly this year. The average score across all models in 2009 is up 9 points from 2008 to 779. A large part of that increase is attributed to a boost in owner satisfaction with fuel economy, according to J.D. Power vice president David Sargent.

In the same way, American carmakers have a huge improvement in design and build quality of American vehicles. In 2007, domestics fell 27 points short of imports, while in 2008 that shrunk to 15 points. This year there's just 5 points between domestics and imports.