Filed under: Car Buying, Marketing/Advertising
On first glance, General Motors seems to have a lot to crow about in the latest JD Power APEAL rankings. After all, its Chevrolet brand claimed three segment awards - the most of any single brand - and Cadillac finished tied for eighth place overall in the 2012 edition of the study. But upon closer inspection, the results may not be quite so rosy for The General.
The APEAL study ranks new vehicles for how "gratifying" they are, based on owner evaluations of some 80 attributes. Yes, this is something of an automotive popularity contest. And the problem for GM is that, overall, its customers just don't like its products as much as those who buy from other carmakers.
Buick, Chevrolet and GMC all scored below the industry average in the 2012 APEAL study. Despite Cadillac's top ten ranking, the only luxury brands it managed to beat were Acura, Lincoln and Volvo, luxury bottom-feeders all. To be fair, we should note that Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Nissan also failed to finish above the industry average, though both Ford and Chrysler did, but barely.
The Chevrolet vehicles that claimed segment awards sent something of a mixed message. While the Sonic finishing first among subcompacts has to be seen as a huge win for GM, the other segment awards went to the Volt and Avalanche, in the compact and large pickup categories, respectively. The Volt is a great car, but it isn't a volume product and the Avalanche is a dead truck walking, slated to go out of production after the 2013 model year. The only other GM vehicle to make the top three in any segment was the Cadillac Escalade in the mostly moribund Large Premium Crossover/SUV. Nary a Buick or GMC is to be found on the list in any position.
Meanwhile, down I-94 in Dearborn, Ford has six vehicles in the top three in their respective segments, including winners in Large Crossover/SUV (Expedition) and Midsize Crossover/SUV (Flex). Even Chrysler managed to snag two segment awards (Dodge Challenger and Charger) and land three other vehicles in the top three in their segments.
If we really wanted to crown an APEAL winner, that title might just go to Audi, whose A8 had the highest score of any model and also won a segment award for the A6, while placing third overall. Porsche, however, could rightly lay the best claim to the 2012 APEAL championship, considering it had the highest brand score and won two segments, for the 911 and Cayenne.
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Continue reading Chevy earns most nods in 2012 J.D. Power APEAL study... sort of
Chevy earns most nods in 2012 J.D. Power APEAL study... sort of originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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