In JD Power’s most recent APEAL (Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout) study, analysts were surprised to see the marked improvement, in the average domestic vehicle owners measure of delight.

The APEAL study measures owner delight with their vehicle’s design, content, layout and performance, following the first 90 days of ownership. This year, the study saw that overall delight dropped by a few points and they determined that the fuel economy index was the lone cause of that, but what was most impressive was that the eight most improved brands in the study were domestics. Buick, for example, increased its index score by 20 points and jumped eights spots on the list.

Much of the gain seen in domestic vehicles versus imports had to do with the overhaul many of the domestics went through, to make their vehicle line-up include a lot of the elements that made import vehicles so popular.

What should make the APEAL results attractive to domestic car dealers is the impact this could have on their WOM (Word of Mouth) related sales. We know that friends and family heavily influence approximately 40% of those buying vehicles, during the later phase of their decision-making process. The influence from WOM here could go as deep as to effect make and not just the model of vehicle. JD Power’s Dave Sargent (VP of Automotive Research) noted the study’s lead to WOM for manufacturers: “For vehicles that perform well on both IQS and APEAL studies, 76% of owners recommend them, versus 66% for vehicles that are below average on both.”

If all of the above is true, we may now start to see a shift in the auto industry. This would be a good thing for newspapers, niche magazine and third party sites, because even though we have seen heavy consolidation of domestic brand dealerships, their numbers far outshine the amount of brick and mortar imports dealers and as a result, they largely affect media advertising revenues, in the automotive vertical.

*Best Selling Vehicles of 2007

1. Ford F-Series, 588,952 unit sales / - 12.5%
2. Chevrolet Silverado, 526,275 unit sales / – 2.4%
3. Toyota Camry, 398,868 unit sales / + 6.4%
4. Honda Accord, 332,815 unit sales / +10.2%
5. Toyota Corolla/Matrix, 317,716 unit sales / – 4.4%
6. Honda Civic, 278,764 unit sales / +2.2%
7. Chevrolet Impala, 270, 504 unit sales / + 12.6%
8. Nissan Altima, 239,800 unit sales / +26.6%
9. Dodge Ram, 214,569 unit sales / – 29.3%
10. Honda CRV, 184,003 unit sales / +34.9%

**Forbes Magazine, 2007

written by Beverly Crandon