The Least Exciting Luxury Brand According to JD Power
If Audi wants to get drivers excited about its cars, the brand needs to appeal to the consumer’s emotional side.
Written by Allison Stone
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Let’s be honest—when shopping for a
luxury car
, the excitement factor is a big deal. Nobody wants to spend premium prices on a car that has no emotional allure or curb appeal, but it looks like that’s an area where Audi
is failing to satisfy consumers. Read on with the car ownership experts at Jerry about why Audi was deemed the least exciting luxury brand, and how the brand can ramp up its image.
How does the APEAL study work?
There are tons of resources shoppers can look over to learn about different aspects of car ownership.
You can look over vehicle safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), or check reliability scores from Consumer Reports.
If you what to know what brands make the most exciting cars, check out the APEAL study.
J.D. Power
created the Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study as a way to measure excitement and enthusiasm towards a new car from real drivers, and the latest report placed Audi dead-last among premium brands. The APEAL study surveyed 84,165 new owners of 2022 model-year vehicles after the first 90 days of ownership. The results were gathered from February 2022 through May 2022 and were based on vehicles registered from November 2021 through February 2022.
Owners rank their vehicles based on 37 attributes, and those responses are then aggregated to compute an overall APEAL Index score measured on a 1,000-point scale.
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Audi scored lowest among premium brands
With an overall score of 847, Audi ranked last in premium brands behind Acura (851) and Volvo (852). The segment average for premium brands was 871 points, and the leading scorers were Porsche (888), Genesis (886), and Cadillac (885).
Porsche is a consistent high-scorer in the APEAL study, and director of global automotive at J.D. Power David Amodeo attributed this to the brand’s strong attachment to owner identity. While these brands are very different, both Dodge and Porsche owners identify strongly with their vehicles,” said Amodeo. “That certainly contributes to their stellar APEAL Study results.”
There was an overall one-point decline in new-vehicle satisfaction across all brands, which Amodeo attributed to rising gas prices.
"The study was fielded as fuel prices were experiencing a meteoric rise, and that pinch at the pump is conveyed in lower vehicle satisfaction,” said Amodeo.
MORE: The Audi e-tron vs the Audi Q8: The Battle Between Two Audi SUVs
How Audi could improve its scores for next year
As fuel economy became an increasingly important factor for consumers, Audi could focus on creating more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and battery-electric vehicles all still have a lower composite score than gas-powered vehicles, but highly fuel-efficient gas-powered cars do well.
Still, that shouldn’t dissuade brands from producing electric vehicles. Interestingly enough, both the Porsche Taycan and the
Audi E-Tron GT
share an electric architecture, so the power of emotional appeal shouldn't be underestimated. If Audi can shift its focus on creating a stronger emotional relationship with its customer base, it could start scoring just as highly as Porsche.
MORE: Is the 2023 Audi e-tron GT Worth the Price?
You’ll love saving money on car insurance
At the end of the day, whether or not you will love a car comes down to personal tastes. One thing that’s a sure bet is that everyone loves saving money.
Both Audi and Porsche drivers can save hundreds on their car insurance plans with
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This level of service is why Jerry earned a 4.6/5 rating on the App Store and made it the top insurance app in the country.
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