New-Vehicle Owner Satisfaction Keeps Sinking, Study Finds
As we reported last month, the initial quality of new vehicles keeps declining and the number of problems reported by owners is the highest in 37 years according to J.D. Power.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that owner satisfaction is down for the second consecutive year based on the research firm’s U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study released today. This is a first in 28 years.
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The study measures owners' emotional attachment and level of excitement with their new vehicle. It is based on responses from more than 84,000 owners of new 2023 model-year vehicles who were surveyed after 90 days of ownership from February to May 2023.
“Despite the technology and design innovations that manufacturers put into new vehicles, owners are lukewarm about them,” says Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power. “While innovations like charging pads, vehicle apps and advanced audio features should enhance an owner’s experience, this is not the case when problems are experienced. This downward trajectory of satisfaction should be a warning sign to manufacturers that they need to better understand what owners really want in their new vehicles.”
The study looked at 10 different factors, nine of which have declined year over year. The only factor to improve is fuel economy. By the way, owners of battery electric vehicles continue to be more satisfied than those driving conventionally powered vehicles. Satisfaction with exterior styling on new models in 2023 is particularly unremarkable, J.D. Power found, while built-in infotainment systems are a prime example of a technology not resonating with today’s buyers.
What Are the Highest-Ranking Brands?
A bit shockingly, Jaguar and Land Rover sit atop the ranking of premium brands in the 2023 APEAL Study despite being close to average in initial quality and among the worst for reliability, per J.D. Power. Porsche is tied with the latter (the 911 is actually the highest-ranking model overall) and BMW comes right after.
Dodge leads all mainstream brands for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Ram and GMC. Incidentally, Tesla remains one of the higher-performing brands in the industry. However, satisfaction scores for Elon Musk’s company have declined year over year in all 10 factors. Check out the photo gallery above to see the full rankings.