New vehicles score well with consumers, J.D. Power finds, but will it help sales?

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Americans may not be buying many cars these days, but they still like what they see in showrooms.

New or significantly redesigned vehicles notched an average score of 790 (on a scale of 1,000) in J.D. Power and Associates latest APEAL survey, which queries car buyers on “how gratifying a new vehicle is to own and drive,” based on such factors as performance, fuel economy and cockpit design.

The results for new and redesigned vehicles were up 11 points from the 2008 survey and 15 points better than the average score for 2009 carryover models.

Seven new and redesigned models ranked highest in their respective categories, including the Dodge Challenger, Ford F-150 (in a tie), Ford Flex, Hyundai Genesis, Nissan Maxima, Volkswagen CC and Volkswagen Tiguan.

Overall, 2009 model-year vehicles had an average score of 779 in the survey, up from an industry-wide average of 770 a year ago.

“Most automakers are on track in terms of designing new models that are highly appealing,” said David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power.

“The greater challenge for manufacturers lies in creating models that launch with both strong appeal and high quality, which ultimately lead to improved sales through greater customer loyalty and advocacy.”

The primary driver behind this year’s higher score was increased owner satisfaction regarding fuel economy, J.D. Power said. That was due in part to lower gas prices, but owners are also switching to more fuel-efficient vehicles — more than half of the vehicles in this year’s survey had four-cylinder engines versus 39% last year -- and popular models such as the Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram pickups, the Cadillac Escalade SUV and the Volkswagen Jetta all debuted more fuel-efficient powertrains.

Volkswagen captured four segment-level awards — more than any other vehicle nameplate in 2009 — for the CC (entry-level premium vehicle), GTI (compact sports car), Passat (mid-sized car) and Tiguan (compact SUV).

Other multiple winners were Ford, which received model-level awards for the F-150 (in a tie) and Flex (mid-sized SUV); Honda, which received awards for its Odyssey minivan (for a fifth consecutive year) and Ridgeline pickup (also for a fifth consecutive year); and Mercedes-Benz, which received awards for its S-Class full-size premium car (which achieved the highest score of any model in the industry) and SLK-Class (compact premium sports car); and Nissan, which received awards for the Armada (large SUV) and Maxima (full-size car).

Porsche was the highest-ranking nameplate for the fifth straight year (the top 12 makes were all luxury marques.) Suzuki came in last for the second year in a row.

You can see the complete rankings here.

Domestic automakers have made notable progress in closing the gap with foreign rivals in consumer appeal over the last several years, according to the J.D. Power survey. Overall, U.S. brands lagged German and Japanese makes by five points in this year’s survey, compared with a 15-point lag in 2008 and 27 points in 2007.

It remains to be seen whether the improved reception by consumers translates into higher sales. Through the first half of the year, automakers were on track to sell 9.7 million cars and light trucks in the U.S. in 2009 — down 40% from the industry’s typical yearly sales rate this decade.

According to J.D. Power, the latest APEAL (which stands for Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout, by the way) study is based on responses gathered between February and May 2009 from more than 80,900 purchasers and lessees of new 2009 model-year cars and trucks who were surveyed after the first 90 days of ownership.

-- Martin Zimmerman