Porsche, MINI Lead Most Appealing and Satisfying Car Brands in 2024
Owner satisfaction with new vehicles has rebounded after two years of unprecedented decline. And surprisingly, electric vehicles from other brands than Tesla are not only achieving all-time high satisfaction, but also surpassing Elon Musk’s company.
That’s according to J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, which is based on responses from nearly 100,000 owners of new 2024 model-year vehicles who were surveyed after 90 days of ownership. It asks owners to consider 37 attributes, ranging from the sense of comfort they feel when climbing into the driver's seat to their exhilaration when they step on the throttle.
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“Traditional manufacturers have listened to the Voice of the Customer. They’re launching enhanced vehicles that are more in line with what customers want, including improved interior storage and higher quality materials, as well as ensuring features have ease of use,” said Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power. “For EVs, recent launches from traditional manufacturers have surpassed perennial leader Tesla when it comes to owners’ level of emotional attachment and excitement with their new vehicle.”
If there’s one area that continues to put a damper on excitement and drag satisfaction levels down, it’s infotainment. Granted, things have slightly improved from a year ago, as the latest APEAL Study revealed, but automakers still have lots of work to do. Satisfaction with native infotainment systems remains well below that of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.
Top Brands in 2024
J.D. Power noted that the gap between mass-market and luxury brands has basically stayed put during the past year, with the latter still stirring more emotions than the former.
When looking at the entire auto industry, Porsche ranks number one with a score of 891 points out of a possible 1,000. Jaguar (886) and Land Rover (882) round out the podium, despite both having a poor reputation for reliability, as the following table shows:
MINI ranks highest among mass-market brands with a score of 858. It is followed by Ram (854) and Kia (853). Dodge, which topped the ranking for the past three years, is now 9th:
Once again, we can see that Japanese brands, despite their strong reputation for quality and reliability, are largely those that consumers find the least attractive and exciting.