The last two years have been an economic nightmare for this country, especially the automotive industry. It finally looks, though, like things are on the mend -- or at least that the free fall has been stemmed -- and Americans are once again spending money on cars, although not much.
A few weeks back, we reported that the domestic automakers demonstrated higher initial quality than the imports for the first time in the 24-year history of J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Study. Today, J.D. Power released its annual Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, which shows that for the first time in more than a decade, domestic auto brands have surpassed import brands as a whole in vehicle appeal.
(Chant with me now: USA! USA! USA!)
Unlike Power's Initial Quality Study, which ranks what's wrong with cars, APEAL addresses what's right. It takes into consideration owner evaluations of more than 90 vehicle attributes, from stereo system to suspension, and gives each vehicle a rating on a 1,000-point scale. Surveyors found that the average score for U.S. domestic brands was 787, or 13 points higher than the average score for import brands (counted as automakers headquartered in Europe or the Asia-Pacific region). By comparison, in 2009, import brands outpaced domestic brands by five points. Improvement in 2010 is driven primarily by high-performing models from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., including several models that are all-new or have undergone major redesigns.
Ford captured five segment-level awards -- more than any other vehicle brand in 2010 -- for the Expedition, Explorer Sport Trac, Flex, Fusion and Taurus. Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen each garnered two awards. Audi received awards for the Q5 and Q7. BMW models receiving awards were the 3-Series and 5-Series. Chevrolet received awards for the Avalanche and Camaro, while Mercedes-Benz earned two nods for the E-Class Coupe and S-Class (for a fourth consecutive year) and Volkswagen for the GTI and Routan.
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class achieved the highest APEAL score of any model in the industry. Also receiving awards were the GMC Terrain, Honda Fit, Land Rover Range Rover, MINI Cooper (for a third consecutive year) and Nissan Cube.
Only two models ranked highest in their respective segments in both the 2010 APEAL Study and the 2010 Initial Quality Study released in June: the Chevrolet Avalanche and the Ford Taurus.
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