Honda continues to be in the middle of the pack in a J.D. Power and Associates rating of how gratifying an auto brand is to own and drive.
The brand received a score of 791 out of 1,000 points in the research firm’s annual Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout — APEAL — study. That was slightly below the industry average of 795, but above average among nonluxury brands.
Honda ranked ahead of brands such as Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota.
“Overall, (Honda) really performed better than their competitors,” said Raffi Festekjian, director of automotive research for J.D. Power.
Acura, Honda’s luxury brand, received a score of 811.
This year, J.D. Power changed its formula to reflect the growing importance of on-board electronics. The revision was the first since 2006, and because of it, the firm is urging caution when comparing the results with previous years.
Last year, Honda had 771 points, Acura had 816, and the industry average was 788.
Honda, which makes the Accord, CR-V and Acura TL in central Ohio, tends to perform well in J.D. Power’s ratings of reliability, and less well in this assessment of the driving experience.
The Honda Odyssey, assembled in Alabama, received the highest score in the minivan category. The Accord ranked among the top three in the midsize-car segment. No other Honda or Acura models were listed among the top three in a category.
“We’re very pleased to see that the improvements we’ve made to core models like Civic and Accord have been appealing to customers,” said Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman.
Luxury brands dominated the ratings. Porsche retained its spot atop the list with the highest score, 884 points. The other leaders, in descending order, were Audi, BMW, Land Rover and Lexus.
The top nonluxury brand overall was Ram, with 817 points. At the bottom was the subcompact Smart brand, with 739.
“Even within the same vehicle segment, consumers are willing to spend substantially more on vehicles that they find attractive, provide the performance and utility they are looking for, and have well-executed interiors,” David Sargent, vice president of global automotive at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “These vehicles also sell more quickly.”
The results are based on survey responses from 83,000 drivers of 2013 model year vehicles.
Source;
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2013/07/24/honda.html
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