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Chevrolet Ranks Average In J.D. Power 2021 U.S. APEAL Study

Chevrolet was on par with the industry average in the 2021 J.D. Power Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study, which ranks automakers based on the emotional attachment and level of excitement experienced by a brand’s customers.

The APEAL study uses survey data to try and measure owners’ emotional attachment and level of excitement with their new vehicle. To conduct the study, J.D. Power surveys owners and asks them to consider and score 37 different attributes of their vehicle, including comfort, driving engagement/excitement and technology. The market research firm then uses survey responses to award brands an APEAL score based on a 1,000-point scale, ranking them in order based on this score.

Chevy was directly on par with the average for mass-market brands in the study with a score of 845. Dodge and Ram were first and second with scores of 882 and 881, respectively, while Nissan was third with a score of 866.

Chevy’s main rival, Ford, outperformed it in this study with a score of 858 – enough to place it fifth among mass-market brands. While Chevy lagged behind the competition, GMC performed slightly better in this study with a score of 861, which was good enough for fourth among mass-market brands.

Impressively, Chevy took home three model-level awards in this study. The C8 Corvette Stingray was first in the Premium Sporty Car category, while the Chevy Blazer topped the Midsize SUV category and the Chevy Tahoe won the Large SUV category.

The GMC Sierra HD and Cadillac CT5 also won their respective model categories in this study, making GM the automaker with the most model-level awards for 2021. This suggests that certain vehicles GM makes resonate very well with owners early in the ownership cycle, but its average performance in the brand-level ranking would suggest not all of its vehicles have this same emotional impact on owners.

Survey data for the 2021 APEAL study is the same as the data used in the 2021 J.D. Power U.S. Initial Quality Study, which is based on the responses from 110,827 purchasers and lessees of new 2021 model-year vehicles after 90 days of ownership.

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Comments

  1. It’s Chevy why would anybody expect more?

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  2. Chevy owners do expect more that is why they are more critical. These poles can be structured to get a desired response. They really don’t mean much. There’s nothing that would make me inclined to buy any of the vehicles that supposedly neat out Chevy. Point is most other owners feel the same about what they bought.

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    1. No they don’t chevy is a cheap entry level vehicle that is not a secret.

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  3. Perhaps JD is ranking noise. What, pray tell, is the standard deviation of these scores?

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  4. I am a loyal Chevy guy all my life. Here is my comment…I am driving a 2002 Silverado LS with over 100,000 miles. When looking at the new Silverado’s, I am looking at a new Silverado about two steps above the work truck. Prices are enough to give me a heart attack.! My brilliant idea…Why don’t Chevy take ONE model of Silverado AND STRIP ALL THE NEW COMPUTER BS, ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER HIGH COST STUFF LIKE MY 2002 DOES NOT HAVE, AND SELL IT AT AROUND $30,000. Chevy could not made enough of these basic trucks to fill the demand!!! Just an old man’s logical idea.

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    1. The base price of a new Silverado is less than 30K, and it comes with AC.

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    2. Before the chip fiasco, one could buy a 5.3 1/2-ton extended cab with the All Star package and trailer brake etc. at the big Chevy dealer in Ontario California for $28,995 all day long on weekends. Yes, the ad was marked (so many) at this price, but they had tens if not hundreds in stock, and didn’t seem to limit the buying. Probably $32,995 in today’s dollars, but far from a fortune. Maybe add a couple or three grand for 4WD. Other volume dealers do the same. I told a local bud about this. He called the dealer, ordered one, and flew out there to get it. The salesman picked him up at the airport, and three hours later was headed for home.

      Unless you want the leather seats that vibrate your butt cheeks when you drift out of your lane and all manner of other nonsense, one could get a usable truck for a fair price.

      I read laments about $75,000 trucks, and wonder what they are getting for the money.

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      1. Grizzly
        I agree with you on getting a vehicle that does what it does and no fluff. But most buyers want the extras. And I’d say ALL GM definitely Chevy products are very desirable at the top trim package and not so much at the base trim.if you were to compare Toyota and Chevy. Chevy vehicles for most part get people’s attention based on appeal and fluff. Toyota not to many people are seduced by there appeal. It’s more about reliability and more of an appliance. Chevy owners I think do have higher expectations and are proud and if anything goes wrong there devastated.. as far as taking all the computer stuff out and making it like a 2002 idk if regulation allow it

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  5. Let’s face it we live in a capitalist country. It’s all about money any ranker that I know of can make money from any company when they vote their juke number one. I know two people with Ram’s they both wish they would have bought another truck yet hear JD votes them at the top? Very strange, but not really.

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    1. The communists love money too. Lol

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  6. I’m really in love with my 2021 Corvette. Having said that though, being in the middle of the pack on this rating is really nothing to write home about.

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  7. MOPAR My old pig ain,t runnin. FORD Forget out running dale. DROF. Driver returns on foot. J.D. Power must use college nit wits for these types of surveys. I would bet most of them don,t know the difference between a push rod and a crank shaft. You can bet they know the difference between weed and nose candy. You think they would use any nose candy before doing these surveys

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    1. Cheap heap every valve rattles oil leaks every time. Cheap hardly efficient virtually runs on luck every time. Or maybe this is more your style gay mans chevy. Gotta mechanic coming.

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    2. Car has extensive valve rattle on long extended trips. Gay mans chariot

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      1. Just turn up the stereo and you won’t hear it.

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        1. Constantly having every vehicle recalled over lousy engineering techniques. Built under inspection of crazy Korean

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  8. But if you look at the data, there is only a 3% difference between Chevy and Dodge. That’s pretty negligible.

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    1. That, and Chevy is ahead of the oh-so-perfect Toyota and ahead of the flawless, German Engineered VW.

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  9. Is there anything that is a bigger waste of time than JD Power surveys?

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    1. Consumer Reports.

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      1. I tried to give your comment the thumbs up to add to the 9 that had already but it reset to zero.

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    2. Your comment for starters

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  10. Just show me 3-5 year dependability and reliability scores. Of all the brands we have owned Honda CRV and Honda Pilot were far and away the most trouble free. We love our Tesla but it is far from trouble free. The worst vehicle we ever owned was a Ford F-350. We also owned Chevy, Oldsmobile, GMC, Saturn, Pontiac, VW, BMW. Currently my wife has a new RAM, so far very good but too soon to fawn over it. She bought it because of the best in class interior and very smooth ride loaded or unloaded. Several of her friends have RAMs.

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    1. A few years ago really no one would of bought a RAM because reliability was so bad. They keep working on the truck and investing. While Chevrolet really did not a lot.

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  11. Congratulations to the Big Three

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  12. Corvette is GM’s most profitable car. They are nothing spectacular but the people that own them form a group and like anything else it’s the best to them because of that group feeling and belonging to something, as a car, average. GM at the hands of Barra is going down hill. I have always preferred GM, but today that is questionable. There are other manufacturers that are much better, to bad they are foreign.

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  13. The second sentence says it all, emotional attachment and level of excitement is not what you expect from Chevy just look at their lineup. Corvette yes, full-size suv somewhat, but everything else is a hell no!

    Reply

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