The 13 Least Appealing 2015 New Cars

Cars and Drivers

Published: July 22, 2015 2:10 pm

Last Updated: April 28, 2020 5:57 am

After a buyer drives a new car off the dealer’s lot, that buyer is usually pretty well-disposed toward that new car. After all, it probably cost several thousand dollars and comes with a monthly payment that lasts anywhere from two to six years. The new owner had better like that new car.

But if that car was made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU), the chances are the new owner is much less satisfied than average. Of the 13 brands that scored below average in the 20th annual J.D. Power Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, four are from Fiat Chrysler, far more than any other maker. For the APEAL study, J.D. Power surveyed more than 84,000 new car purchasers and lessees of 2015 model-year cars in a four-month span from February to May of this year on 77 different attributes and asked how appealing their new cars were after 90 days.

The least appealing car of all, and the lowest scoring brand in the study, was the smart car, the diminutive electric car from Daimler, makers of Mercedes-Benz, which scored just 683 out of a possible 1,000 points. The industry average for 2015 was 798. Here is a list of all 13 brands that scored below the average and their scores:

smart, 683
Fiat. 749
Mitsubishi, 755
Jeep, 763
Toyota, 781
Nissan, 786
Honda, 786
Subaru, 788
Chrysler,788
Dodge, 795
Scion, 796
Mazda, 796
Chevrolet, 797

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) were surprisingly far down the list. Toyota’s Lexus brand scored in the top 10, but Honda’s Acura could climb no higher than 12th. Luxury brands dominated the top 10, although the Fiat Mini was ranked 10th, and it was the only non-premium brand to break into the top ranked vehicles.

ALSO READ: The 10 Most Appealing New Cars of 2015

The four Chrysler brands that ranked below average — Fiat, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge — are not, except for Jeep, among the company’s top sellers. The company’s best-selling vehicles, the Ram pickups, scored 803 in the APEAL survey, the only Chrysler vehicle to score above the industry average.

Detailed vehicle ratings by category are available from JD. Power’s website.

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