Ford Motor Company has earned five awards in the 2019 J.D. Power U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study – the most awards of any company or brand.

The industry average satisfaction index score increased to 823 (on a 1,000-point scale) from 820 in 2018, with 22 of the 32 brands included in the study improving from last year.

“Every automaker is producing vehicles that consumers like, but some of them are doing it at a higher level than others,” said Dave Sargent, Vice President of Global Automotive at J.D. Power. “Satisfaction with new technology is improving, but infotainment remains an area where automakers can get better. Owners have higher satisfaction if their vehicle is equipped with safety features such as blind-spot monitor, collision avoidance and lane departure warning. This should serve as a positive sign for manufacturers, as these features are some of the early building blocks for fully automated vehicles.”

Following are key findings of the 2019 study:

• Scores in all 10 categories improve in 2019: The study examines 10 vehicle categories, all of which have improved in appeal from 2018. Categories showing the most improvement are infotainment (+10 points) and visibility and safety (+6).
• Gap between luxury and mass-market brands narrows: The average APEAL score for luxury brands is 853 points, compared with 818 for mass-market brands. This gap of 35 points is the narrowest in the study’s history and is down from 50 points just three years ago.
• Satisfaction gap between cars and SUVs shrinking: The slowdown in industry improvement for 2019 vs. 2018 is primarily caused by a lack of overall improvement in cars, whereas SUVs improve by 7 points. Cars continue to outperform SUVs for fuel economy and engine/transmission, largely because cars are lighter than SUVs. However, SUVs gain the advantage in most other areas, including driving dynamics; storage and space; visibility and safety; and seats. “Fuel economy will always be an important consideration for shoppers, but they are increasingly wowed by the capability of modern SUVs,” Sargent said.

Ford trucks swept all three pickup segments, with wins for the all-new Ford Ranger in midsize, F-150 for the third consecutive year in large light-duty and Super Duty in large heavy-duty.

Among large SUVs, Ford Expedition took top honours for the second straight year.

Among luxury vehicles, Lincoln Navigator earns its second consecutive win in the Large Premium SUV segment and continues to be a top three model in the industry. In 2018, Lincoln Navigator posted the highest APEAL score of any model in this generation of the study.

“Ford’s truck dominance now extends from Ranger to F-Series, thanks to our deep customer insights and constantly listening to deliver the smart and insightful features they want and appreciate,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford chief product development & purchasing officer, “Our additional results with Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator reaffirm we’re making the right choices with more to come.”

With four segment awards and a total score of 828 out of 1000, Ford brand vehicles improved by four points over last year, averaging 10 points higher than the average among non-premium brands.

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