J.D. Power’s most recent APEAL study came out and it looks like the two brands ranking the highest for mass-market vehicles are Dodge and Ram. The two popular American car brands proved to be among the favorites of vehicle owners. How well did the automakers do and how did J.D. Power come up with scores? Also, how did other brands do in the study?

Dodge and Ram are at the top

J.D. Power’s recent Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout study (APEAL) shows that for mass market brands, Dodge and Ram are the two highest-ranking automakers among the study participants. Dodge scored an 887 out of 1,000 points. Ram wasn’t too far behind with a score of 873. The segment average is 837, so the two brands far exceeded that. 

When it came to individual vehicles Dodge was the highest-ranked in the midsize sporty car segment with its Challenger. Ram took second in the Large light-duty pickup class with its Ram 1500. 

The two automakers are 15-29 points ahead of the GMC, who came in third place with 858 points. Mini takes the fourth spot with 856 and Kia lands in fifth with 851. Dodge and Ram blew some of its competitors out of the water, though. Toyota and Subaru are at the bottom with a score of 824. Chrysler sits dead last in the mass market brand segment of the study with 810. 

How does J.D. Power come up with the scores for the APEAL study?

J.D. Power sends out surveys to owners of various vehicles to find out how they rank their purchases in a few different areas. This time they received 84,555 responses to the study based on 90 days of ownership of their respective vehicles. Data was collected from February 2023 through May 2023 and included questions in a few different areas. A few of them include:

• Entering and exiting the vehicle
• Preparing and starting the vehicle
• How well it drives
• Driving comfort
• Fuel economy ratings

Once the responses are calculated, J.D. Power analyzes the findings and releases the APEAL report to show which brands are the highest-ranked, which vehicles are in the top three of each segment analyzed, and how well each owner liked certain features of the vehicle, like the infotainment system. 

What else does the study reveal?

Hyundai landed in seventh place in the mass market brands segment with 844 points. However, they received nine awards from J.D. Power for each model that ranked high among consumers of the brand. The models that were favored by owners were the Kia Telluride, Rio, Stinger, Carnival, K5, Forte, EV6, Hyundai Santa Cruz, and Genesis GV60. 

The highest-ranking premium brand goes to Jaguar with a score of 887 points. Land Rover took second with 883 points while Porsche landed in the third spot tied with Land Rover in points. In fourth place is BMW with 878 points, and taking fifth is Genesis with 877 points. 

When it comes to individual models the top overall vehicle goes to the Porsche 911, which was the highest-ranked car in the Premium sporty vehicle class outshining the second-place Chevy Corvette. Nissan’s Titan truck was the highest-ranked model in the Large light-duty pickup class while its Frontier truck took second in the midsize pickup class. 

Both Dodge and Ram proved to be among the most favorite brands for the period of February to May 2023. In 90 days of ownership, both companies didn’t let down their consumers with vehicles that performed as needed. Now, if the brands can continue that for another few years, both could have more vehicles flying off dealership lots.