Porsche tops J.D. Power study of most appealing new vehicles

Porsche regained the top spot in J.D. Power's annual study of new-vehicle appeal, nudging past BMW and 2018 leader Genesis, while Ram led mass-market brands and was the most improved marque from last year.  Last year Genesis snapped Porsche's 13-year streak in the No. 1 spot.

Luxury brands again dominated J.D. Power's Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout Study, which was released Wednesday. Following the top three brands were Audi, Volvo, Land Rover and Lincoln.

The study measures vehicle owners' emotional attachment and level of excitement with a new vehicle across 77 features and can help automakers reevaluate the design or redesign of cars and light trucks. Brands are scored on a 1,000-point scale.

Porsche's appeal score jumped eight points from last year to 891 while BMW and Genesis tied for second with 868. BMW rose five points from a year earlier and Genesis fell 16.

Dave Sargent, vice president of global automotive at J.D. Power, told Automotive News that the less-expensive Genesis G70 is what pulled down the brand’s score down.

“While the G70 performed very well within its segment, it is a less expensive vehicle than the G80 and G90,” Sargent said.  “It’s more of the natural consequence of moving into less expensive segments.”

Ram improved 26 points to 851. Other brands showing significant improvement from last year were Dodge (848, up 24 points), Jaguar (843, up 16), Land Rover (860, up 15), Audi (867, up 14) and Jeep (813, up 14). Audi's A7 was the highest-scoring model in the study. Ram's new 1500 pickup truck scored significantly better than its predecessor did last year, Sargent said.

Overall, the average industry score improved three points from last year to 823, with 22 of 32 brands evaluated posting gains over 2018. It's the fifth year in a row overall new vehicle appeal has improved.

The average score of mass-market brands rose to 818, a four-point increase. The average score among luxury brands rose two points to 853.

“Luxury vehicles tend to be faster, more comfortable, more luxurious and have more features,” Sargent said.  “They always have scored better than mass-market vehicles and possibly always will, although the gap is narrowing.”

Ford Motor Co. received five model-level awards across vehicle segments for the Ford Expedition, Ford F-150, Ford Ranger, Ford Super Duty and Lincoln Navigator. The Expedition, Honda Accord, Mini Countryman and Nissan Maxima each received a model award for a second consecutive year. Meanwhile, the F-150 and Porsche Cayenne received model awards for the third straight year.

All 10 vehicle categories that the study examines improved from 2018. In fact, categories that showed the most improvement are infotainment, up 10 points, and visibility and safety, up 6 points.

The infotainment industry is always learning to make systems sophisticated but also easier to use, Sargent said, and the greater use of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto helped the score. The visibility and safety category improvement was primarily due to a shift toward CUVs and SUVs, which generally score higher, and wider adoption of advanced safety systems, Sargent said.  

The study is based on responses from nearly 68,000 buyers and lessees of new 2019 vehicles who were surveyed after 90 days of ownership. Responses were gathered from February through May.

The study has been published 24 consecutive years and provides automakers information on why certain vehicle features are more attractive and appealing to consumers than others. Power said Fiat and Tesla were not ranked because of small sample sizes.