JD Power Navigation And Entertainment Features improve Vehicles Overall Appeal

Year after year, J.D. Power has been helping us get a better understanding of the automotive market by conduction various studies about the domestic and global automotive market. After releasing reports on the increasing quality of vehicles in India and the 2017 India Customer Satisfaction Index Study (ICSIS) earlier this month, J.D. Power has now come out with a study titled ‘Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout’ (APEAL). According to the study, the number of buyers who prioritise styling as well as vehicle performance as the primary yardstick for buying a new car has gone up considerably.

The report also says that small car and UV buyers are now giving more importance to the car’s audio, entertainment and navigation system before buying it. This category weighs 11 per cent in the APEAL index and is among the top five weighed APEAL categories. The ten performance categories of the APEAL index are vehicle exterior; vehicle interior; storage and space, audio, entertainment and navigation systems; seats, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); driving dynamics; engine and transmission; visibility and driving safety; and fuel economy.

Here are the key findings of the study:

• Vehicles which are purchased as an upgrade have an average APEAL score of 880/1000, 14 points higher than the industry average.
• 57 per cent of car buyers cite ‘exterior design’ as a reason for upgrading to a high APEAL vehicle
• 59 per cent of car buyers cite ‘interior style and comfort’ as a reason for upgrading to a high APEAL vehicle
• 36 per cent cite ‘quality of workmanship’ as a reason for upgrading to high APEAL vehicle
• Airbag and ABS fitment rate have gone up by 12 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.
• Of the total cars sold in 2017, 63 per cent of them had dual front airbags while 57 per cent featured ABS.
• 17 per cent of all cars sold in 2017 were equipped with a navigation system
• The number of UVs fitted with a navigation system has gone up to 17 per cent from 12 per cent in 2016

Study Rankings:

• Hyundai has received APEAL awards in three out of the eight four-wheeler segments with the Eon (845), Grand i10 (880) and the i20/Active (883) in their respective categories.
• Honda has received two awards - the Amaze (883) and the City (887)
• Maruti Suzuki, Toyota and Mahindra have received one award each with the Celerio (865), Innova Crysta (890) and the XUV 500 (889) in their respective categories.

The 2017 APEAL Study is based on responses from 8,571 new-vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle between November 2016 and July 2017. The study included 83 models from 17 manufacturers and was held across 40 cities across the country.