The summer of reviews has already begun, and automakers across the world are getting what they deserve – praise. Organizations and publications have been handing out awards and putting together “Best of lists” all year, but one name has a lot of authority behind it. That name is “J.D. Power”. Every year, J.D. Power conducts various studies to measure a vehicle’s worth, typically after 90 days of ownership (purchased or leased). In June 2020, J.D. Power released the results of the 2020 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) with Chevrolet climbing the ranks and Dodge and Ram Trucks claiming the top. Back with results for the 2020 J.D. Power Automotive Performance Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study™, J.D. Power highlights the highest-ranking automotive brands.

Making history, Dodge and Ram Trucks have one again raced to the top of the charts and were ranked number one and number two, respectively, out of all mass-market brands. That’s a competition of 33 competing automakers, and Dodge and Ram outperformed them all in the 2020 J.D. Power APEAL Study. This is also the first time a mass-market brand ranks as number one in the IQS and APEAL in the same year. It’s going to be a good year for Dodge, Ram, and maybe all of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (2020).

Going into its 25th year, like the 2020 J.D. Power IQS, the APEAL study was redesigned for 2020. The APEAL Study scores a vehicle on a 1000-point scale, with vehicle scores based on owners’ emotional attachment and level of excitement with their new vehicle across 37 attributes. To keep scoring from being subjective, J.D. Power always sends out surveys for the study to owners and lessees of new model-year vehicles after 90 days of ownership. Fielded from February 2020 to May 2020, the 2020 APEAL Study averaged all of the results from 87,282 surveys to find this year’s rankings. Dodge ranked highest with a score of 872-out-of-1000 points, but that’s not all – select vehicles also received high rankings, as well as for their respective model segments.

“Purchasing the ‘right’ vehicle is influenced by a variety of factors, depending on each buyer’s specific tastes, wants and needs…The APEAL Study measures an owner’s emotional attachment to their new vehicle and in what areas that vehicle may not be delivering on all of the positive experiences that were hoped for. Understanding this is just as valuable to automakers as knowing about quality issues and owner acceptance of new technologies. The goal for automakers is to delight customers on all these dimensions. Some are better than others at doing this.” - Dave Sargent, vice president of automotive quality at J.D. Power

The 2020 Dodge Challenger was ranked first in the Midsize Sporty Car category, the Dodge Charger showed up as the second highest ranked Large Car, and the Dodge Durango as the third-ranked Upper Midsize SUV. The Kia Telluride was the highest ranked model in the Upper Midsize SUV segment, and the 2020 Ram 1500 took was ranked number one for the Large Light-duty Pickup segment. In the Hyundai Motor Group, the Kia Stinger was the highest ranked Midsize Premium Car, with the Kia Rio ranked third for the Small Car segment – the highest ranked was the Chevrolet Sonic. Chevrolet also had the highest-ranked Midsize Car, the Chevy Malibu. The Chevrolet Trax, Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Tahoe, and the Chevrolet Blazer all landed in the top three for their respective segments (Small SUV, Compact SUV, Large SUV, and Midsize SUV. The Chevy Colorado was also the second-highest ranked Midsize Pickup Truck, whereas the Chevrolet Silverado HD ranked second for the Large Heavy Duty Pickup Truck segment.

That’s a whole lot of bragging rights for a lot of great vehicles. You can have all of these cars and more when you shop for a new car online with NowCar.

Photo Source/Copyright: Dodge and J.D. Power