Automakers Don’t Seem To Know What Customers Want

A new study shows owners’ satisfaction with their new vehicle’s design and performance has declined for the second consecutive year. According to Automotive News, that is the first time in the 28-year history of J.D. Power’s U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study. Overall satisfaction is now sitting at 845 out of 1,000 possible points. That’s two points lower than 2022 and three points lower than 2021.

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Auto News reports that nine out of the 10 considered factors saw declines this year in the survey that looked at 84,555 owners of 2023 model-year vehicles. The only one that didn’t? Fuel economy, baby. That ended up 15 points higher than it was in 2022. However, even that may not be all it’s cracked up to be. A spokesperson for J.D. Power told the outlet that the satisfaction bump may be due to lower gas prices.

Enough of the good news, though. The outlet reports that the biggest drop was seen in satisfaction with vehicle exteriors. It dropped from 894 in 2022 to 888 this year. That’s an oof. Perhaps designers are doing too much. J.D. Power’s spokesperson reportedly said the dip was “kind of concerning.” He added that the designs we’re seeing just aren’t hitting with customers the way they used to.

He also told Automotive News that the survey’s results show that even though automakers collect tons of data, they still don’t really know what customers want. An example he reportedly mentioned was Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen developing advanced native infotainment centers. Apparently, less than half of owners want to use built-in information systems for phone calls, voice recognition and navigation. Folks just want to mirror their phones.

Even Tesla saw a drop this year, and there’s probably a good reason for that. It’s reportedly very likely that more and more mainstream buyers are joining Tesla’s early adopters who end up being less inclined to put up with Tesla’s issues.

Overall the top five most satisfying luxury brands to own were Jaguar (887), Land Rover (883), Porsche (883), BMW (878) and Genesis (877). The segment average was reportedly 871 out of 100. The top five mass-market brands were Dodge (887), Ram (873), GMC (858), Mini (856) and Kia (851). The mass-market segment average was reportedly 837

That’s all well and good, but let’s look at the bottom five in each category… for fun.

The least satisfying luxury brands were Alfa Romeo (859), Volvo (856), Audi (855), Infiniti (854) and Acura (853). The least satisfying mass-market brands were Mazda (828), Volkswagen (827), Subaru (824), Toyota (824) and poor lil’ Chrysler (810).