Cars and Drivers

The 10 Most (and Least) Appealing New Cars of 2016

Paul Ausick

Published: July 28, 2016 8:35 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 5:11 am

Auto industry researchers at J.D. Power released their 2016 U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study on Wednesday. For the 12th consecutive year, Porsche is the highest ranking brand, followed by BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz.

J.D. Power surveyed more than 80,000 new car purchasers and lessees of 2016 model-year cars in a four-month span from February to May of this year on 77 different attributes to find out how appealing their new cars were after 90 days of ownership.

New technology plays a big role in owners’ satisfaction with their new cars. For example, the overall score among owners of vehicles with blind-spot monitoring and warning systems is 33 points higher than among those without them. A J.D. Power executive noted:

Technology-enabled safety features help drivers feel more comfortable and confident while driving their vehicles. These features are also ‘gateway technologies’ to autonomous driving capabilities, so the continued level of consumer interest in them will be a critical metric to watch as the industry evolves toward including more automation  in new vehicles.

Out of a possible 1,000 points, Porsche scored 877 this year, a slight increase from last year’s 874. The industry average score this year was 801, up three points year over year. The average score for premium brands was 844 and the average score for non-premium brands was 794.

Here’s the complete list of the top 10 with their APEAL scores:

• Porsche: 877
• BMW: 859
• Jaguar: 852
• Mercedes-Benz: 852
• Land Rover: 843
• Lexus: 843
• Lincoln: 843
• Audi: 842
• Volvo: 839
• Cadillac: 836

The 10 brands with the lowest APEAL scores were:

• smart: 745
• Fiat: 755
• Jeep: 756
• Mitsubishi: 770
• Chrysler: 774
• Scion: 782
• Mazda: 783
• Nissan: 784
• Dodge: 791
• Subaru: 793

J.D. Power also lists the top cars in each auto segment.