J.D. Power study shows buyers happy with new cars

McClatchy-Tribune Newspapers

Buyers for new cars and trucks may be scant these days, but most are pleased with their purchases — an important element in the auto industry's recovery. J.D. Power and Associates, which conducts widely watched quality studies on new vehicles, also measures owner gratification with its APEAL study (Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout) released recently.

This year, the average score for new and redesigned models was 790 on a 1,000-point scale — 11 points higher than last year.

The winners included the Dodge Challenger, Mini Cooper and four Volkswagens.

"People expect and want more than just reliability," said David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power. "If you design a vehicle that just gets people from Point A to Point B, that's today's bad vehicle."

When the economy begins to improve, anxious consumers may need a reason to venture back into the new-car market, said Drew Campbell, president of the New Car Dealers Association of Metropolitan Dallas.

"Styling will do it," he said. "Technology will do it. You've got to have a catalyst to wake people back up."

Nearly 81,000 new-vehicle buyers were asked in the survey to assess 90 attributes.

For the fifth consecutive year, Porsche had the highest composite score for its new vehicles at 869, followed by Jaguar (859), Cadillac (852), Audi (846) and BMW (844).

Toyota, Honda and Nissan — the Japanese Big Three — all ranked below the industry average, as did Pontiac, Chevrolet, Mercury, Chrysler and Jeep. Suzuki finished last in the survey.

The overall gap between imports and domestics narrowed in this year's study to just five points, with domestics rating higher among nonpremium models and imports maintaining an edge among premium models.

"There's a whole array of great vehicles out there," Sargent said. "When people do come back to the market, they will be pleasantly surprised at how good cars have gotten."